Pecan Crunch Pie

I wasn't quite sure how this pie was going to turn out. When I first read the ingredient list, it sounded a little...unusual, to say the least. And even the fact that it's called a pie, when it's actually more like a cake, added to it's interesting appeal.
I found the recipe in the cookbook I often go to for something a bit unusual, which may explain it's uniqueness! The book, "America's Best Lost Recipes" is, as you may know if you read many of my posts, one of my favorites. The whoopie pie recipe from the book is the best!

So, after reading all the notes on the recipe, especially the one about being careful not to overbake the pie, I gave it a try. And while we're on the subject of overbaking, I want to say that every time I read this in a recipe, I get nervous and tend to underbake what I'm baking!

The pie is quick to prepare, there's no crust to worry about because everything goes in the pie plate together ( which is why I think it's more like a cake), and it just has that old fashioned simplicity. Oh and yes, it's very good, a little sticky, a little chewy, not too sweet and the pecans give it a wonderful crunch. With a big scoop of vanilla ice cream...yum!


Place the graham crackers in your food processor to make the crumbs easily or if you don't have a processor, place them in a zip lock bag and crush them with a rolling pin or some other heavy object! Set them aside for a minute.

Place eggs, sugar, baking powder and vanilla in a mixer bowl and ...

Beat til tripled in volume about 5 minutes.

Fold in the graham cracker crumbs and pecans.

Once nicely folded in...

Spoon it all into your prepared pie plate.

Bake til well browned on top, about 30 minutes ( and remember...don't overbake!).

Mine came out nice and puffy but the center sank after a few minutes, which was actually okay. But, maybe I should have baked it a few minutes more. If any of you out there try this recipe, let me know how yours turns out..please!

Pecan Crunch Pie ( from America's Best Lost Recipes)

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs, approx. 11 whole crackers*

1 1/4 cups pecans, toasted and chopped

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9" pie plate.

1. Crush the graham crackers, as noted above, and set aside a minute.

2.With mixer in high speed, beat together the eggs, sugar, baking powder and vanilla til thick and tripled in volume, about 5 minutes.

3. Using a rubber spatula, fold the graham crackers and pecans into the egg mixture.

4. Spoon the filling into the prepared pie plate and bake til well browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few sticky crumbs attached, about 30 minutes.* (It's best to remove the pie from the oven while it's slightly underdone. The residual heat will allow the pie to continue to cook.)

5. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely, about 1 hour. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

* Note: Do not use prepackaged graham cracker crumbs*

Vidalia Onion Pie

This is one of the recipes I have been wanting to make from the cookbook I bought last year "America's Best Lost Recipes" by the editors of Cook's Country Magazine.

Now that Vidalia onions are in every market, I thought the time had finally come to make this pie. It's kind of like a quiche but it doesn't have any cheese in it and the sour cream replaces the milk.

Making it is like making any other pie or quiche. First you make the crust, refridgerate it for an hour, roll it out, place it into the pie plate, then refridgerate again. Then blind bake it and let it cool.

I like that the crust is blind baked. This seems to be a great way to avoid the soggy crust problem.

The filling was easy enough, too. Cook the bacon, then the onions, whisk with the other ingredients and pour into the baked pie shell.

So here's my big problem with the recipe...it wasn't nearly cooked through in the 25 to 30 minute time the recipe stated. I thought I had allowed enough time for it to bake before I had to leave the house so I took it out of the oven after 45 minutes and it was still too jiggly. (Perhaps because I didn't bake it on the lower position in the oven?) I knew it had to bake longer but I couldn't leave it in the oven...sooo. Out it came. It's actually back in the oven as I'm typing this so I have to stop and wait til it's completely cooled to find out how it tastes!
*Update: It's great! It is creamy and has wonderful flavor with the sweet onions and smokiness of the bacon. And I don't miss the cheese.

To get started, cook your bacon til crispy, then drain on paper towels.

Get 2 nice medium sized vidalia onions...


And slice them thinly and cook them in the bacon fat slowly, til browned.

Whisk your wet ingredients, then add the chives, bacon and cooled onions.

Prepare the crust and blind bake it and let it cool.

Then pour the filling into the baked crust and bake the pie...alot longer than the original recipe states! Not even sure how long to tell you since I started and stopped and started again! Just til the filling is puffed and the center barely jiggles.

It is a beautiful pie or quiche.

Vidalia Onion Pie ( from America's Best Lost Recipes by the editors of Cook's Country Magazine)

Serves 6 to 8.

1 single crust pie dough fully baked and cooled.( Recipe follows)

6 slices of bacon, chopped

2 medium Vidalia onions, sliced thin ( about 3 cups)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. fresh chives, chopped

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 350.

1. Cook bacon til crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

2. Cook sliced onions in bacon fat til browned, about 12 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, salt, pepper and 1 tsp. chives.

4. Add bacon and onions.

5. Pour into prepared pie shell and bake til filling is puffed and cracked around the edges and the center is barely jiggly when pie is shaken, 25 to 30 minutes ( or longer).

6. Let cool 10 minutes, then sprinkle with remaining tsp. of chopped chives.

*Pie can be refridgerated for up to 3 days.*

Single Crust Pie Dough, fully baked and cooled.

(Makes enough for one 9" pie)

1 1/4 cups AP flour
1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2" pcs. and chilled

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pcs. and chilled

4 - 6 tbsp. ice water

1. Process flour, sugar and salt in food processor til combined.

2. Scatter shortening over top and continue to process til mixture has texture of coarse sand.

3. Scatter butter over top and process til mixture has texture of coarse crumbs.

4. Transfer to a bowl.

5. Sprinkle 4 tbsp. of ice water over mixture and stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula, til the dough sticks together. If dough does not come together, stir in more ice water, one tbsp. at a time until it does.

6. Form dough into a 4" disc, wrap in plastic and refridgerate one hour.

7. Roll chilled dough into a 12" circle ( I roll between plastic wrap).

8. Place dough into pie plate and crimp edges, cutting away excess dough.

9. Place dough into frezzer for 30 minutes before filling or baking.

10.Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Preheat oven to 375.

11. Line chilled crust with heavy aluminium foil and fill with pie weights ( I use rice).

12. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, remove foil and weights and bake another 10 to 15 minutes.

13. Allow crust to cool before filling.

Wacky Cake

If you're in a hurry and don't want alot, or any, bowls to clean, this quick cake would be a pretty good choice. The name alone, Wacky Cake, piqued my interest and to be able to throw all the ingredients into the pan, stir and bake..well, you can't get much easier than that! Once again, I found the recipe in the cookbook, America's Best Lost Recipes.
There are no eggs in the cake but an unusual ingredient, white vinegar, works with the baking soda to give the cake it's rise.
I found a few things I would change regarding the procedure. It would be helpful to sift the cocoa powder, rather than just dumping it into the dry mixture. I found that the small clumps that are usually found in the cocoa didn't break up when stirred and I had to break them up with my fingers.
Also it was a little tricky stirring the whole mess in the pan, especially getting the dry mixed in along the sides. But it does come out okay.
The taste wasn't the most chocolatey I've ever had and might be improved with some kind of icing, rather than just the confectioners sugar sifted on top. Give it try and let me know what you think!

Begin by greasing your baking pan.

Then whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in the pan.

See, you can still see those tiny cocoa clumps! Maybe they'd just bake out okay, don't know.

Make one large hole and 2 small holes ( they call them craters) in the dry mix.

Add oil to the large and vinegar and vanilla to the 2 small holes , sorry, craters.

Add a cup of cold water and stir the whole mess with a spoon.

Mix until just a few streaks of flour remain.

Bake in a 350 oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

Cool in the pan. Dust with confectioners sugar.

Wacky Cake ( from America's Best Lost Recipes)

1 1/2 cups AP flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup natural cocoa powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

5 tbsp. veg. oil ( I used canola)

1 tbsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup water

Confectioners Sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350. Adjust oven rack to middle position.

1. Grease an 8" square baking pan.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in the pan.

3. Make one large and 2 small craters in the dry ingredients.

4. Add the oil to the large crater and vinegar and vanilla to the small craters.

5. Pour water into the pan and mix til just a few streaks of flour remain.

6. Place pan in the oven.

7. Bake til toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 20 to 30 minutes.

8. Cool the cake in the pan. Dust with confectioners sugar.

Cake can be stored at room temp. for up to 3 days.

Grandma Sylvia's Salt Butter Cookies

This cookie recipe is another I decided to try from the Cookbook of America's Best Lost Recipes from America's Test Kitchen. The cookbook states that these cookies are similar to a traditional French butter cookie or sable and they have just a drop of whiskey in the recipe, but I don't taste it! Although I've never tasted a French sable before, I will say they are light, delicate and have a sandy, crumbly texture.
The tiny bite sized cookies are made into a sandwich cookie with a chocolate filling which actually seemed a little heavy and overpowering for this light cookie. Don't get me wrong..we had no problem devouring these little "poppers" in no time! I just think next time I make them, I might try an orange flavored filling to lighten it up a bit.
I have to confess that I totally forgot that I used unsalted butter, which is all I ever have around to bake with, and because of this I should have added a pinch of salt. But, well, I forgot.

So to get started, whisk egg yolk, vanilla and whiskey in a measuring cup. I don't drink whiskey so I buy those tiny bottles, like you get on an airplane!
In your standing mixer, beat on medium speed, butter and sugar til fluffy, 2 minutes.

Add the yolk mixture and beat til combined.

Add the flour and beat til incorporated.

The dough comes together nicely.

Shape the dough into 3/4" balls and place on parchment lined sheet, spacing about 1" apart.

Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Allow the cookies to cool on wire rack.

Make the filling by melting the unsweetened chocolate with the water on very low heat, stirring constantly. Take it off the heat and whisk in confectioners sugar.

I found that if the mixture gets too cool, you need to place the pan over very low heat, or just the residual heat from your burner, to make it spreadable again.

Take one of the cookies and spread on the filling.

Place the other cookie on top. That's it..your cute tiny "popper" cookie!

Grandma Sylvia's Salt Butter Cookies ( from America's Best Lost Recipes)

Cookies:

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. whiskey

2 sticks salted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 cups AP flour

Filling:

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup water

2 cups confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Adjust rack to middle position. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Whisk yolks, vanilla and whiskey together in a measuring cup.

2. With mixer on medium high speed, beat butter and granulated sugar together til fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Reduce speed to medium and add the yolk mixture and beat til combined.

4. Add the flour and beat til incorporated.

5. Shape the dough into 3/4" balls. Space half the balls 1" apart on baking sheet.

6. Bake til lightly browned around edges, 10 to 12 minutes.

7. Cool cookies on sheet 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

8. Repeat with remaining dough balls.

Filling:

1. Combine chocolate and water in a small saucepan and stir over low heat til smooth, about 5 minutes.

2. Off the heat, whisk in confectioners sugar til smooth.

3. Spread filling onto one cookie and top with another to make sandwich.

4. Let filling set til hardened.

(The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.)

1.

Whoopie !!...pies, that is !!

Dashing through B J 's Wholesale one day this week to get some supplies, I happened to turn down the book aisle and, of course, couldn't resist checking out the cookbooks. I really didn't go there to buy myself a present,( heck, I just had a new roof put on my barn and I'm having some landscape work done around the house so isn't that present enough ?? ). But you know when that moment of weakness comes over you... impulse buying, I believe it's called...and in an instant you decide you have to have something? Yes, I found a cookbook " America's Best Lost Recipes " by the editors of Cook's Country Magazine. I love to watch America's Test Kitchen and lost recipes?? Intriguing, indeed !

So I brought home my cookbook present and one of the first recipes I tried were these Whoopie Pies. I especially liked that they use butter rather than shortening for their pies. The idea of consuming all that shortening in both the cake and the filling just doesn't seem very appetizing. These turned out very good. The cake part has a chocolatey taste and the filling is really yummy, sweet, of course, but so good ! Oh and an apology on the photo. They're very messy, what more can I say?! But so worth it !

Blondies, again...mine vs. theirs

Mine on the right. ATK on the left( see the white chocolate chip?) They do look almost exactly the same. (The color on both is a nice caramel color but, alas, it's a rainy no sunlight kind of day so the photo makes them look very pale.)

Well, here it is another bakeathon Friday, with 3 markets to bake for this weekend...(the weatherman better be right about it being a sunny one!!), and I decide, once again, to do a comparison of my blondie recipe vs. America's Test Kitchen blondie. I don't really know why I pick the busiest day to do this...or, for that matter, why I even do this at all!! I guess I think maybe there's a better recipe than the one I'm using out there and I need to know !! But anyway, here goes.


The 2 recipes are very similar. The ATK recipe. uses almost the same ingredients but different amounts than mine. Where I put in butterscotch chips, semi sweet chips,pecans and toasted coconut, they only put in semi sweet chocolate chips , pecans and white chocolate chips. They use 2 whole eggs and I use one whole egg and one egg yolk. I will say that I like the fact that theirs makes quite a lot more blondie than mine. I bake mine in a 8 x 8" pan and theirs is baked in a 9 x 13" pan so with a little more amounts, theirs makes more.


As you can see in the photos, they both look almost identical.And...drumroll please...the taste...even though mine was much sweeter, the addition of butterscotch chips gave it more flavor so I still like mine better. So I'm thinking... their recipe with more stuff in it!! Sounds good to me!





My blondie recipe:

1/2 cup butter ( melted and cooled)
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. soda
pinch salt


Add ins:
1/3 cup butterscotch chips
1/3 cup toasted pecans( roughly chopped)
1/3 cup toasted coconut
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Butter and line bottom with parchment paper a 8 "x 8" pan. Set aside.
In small bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk butter and sugar.
Add egg, yolk, vanilla and whisk til combined.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture with spatula and stir til just combined.
Add chips, pecans, coconut and butterscotch chips and just gently stir to combine.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth out with spatula or knife.
Bake at 350 for 23 - 25 minutes, or til toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely in pan ( at the least one hour) and turn out onto cutting board. Cut to desired sizes.