Take a Megabite

Old-Fashioned Peach Pie

My mom knows about pie.

She knows that it’s ok to use 8 cups of peaches instead of 5, and she didn’t judge me for not having a pastry blender. She also said that it’s ok if a pie is juicy and doesn’t slice as pretty as you’d hope. “Just serve it in a bowl,” she says. So there you go.

We went to Eastern Market Saturday morning to get all those Michigan peaches up there. We squeezed a lot of peaches to ensure that they were pie-ready.

My mom has skills. Either that, or the peaches she sliced were much softer than mine. I spent half the time bullying peaches instead of slicing them.

And today is my mom’s birthday! So, happy birthday mom! Thanks for helping me work through my fear of the double crust pie.

Old Fashioned Peach Pie (makes one 9 inch pie)
Adapted from Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3-4 T flour*
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 5-8 cups sliced peaches*
• 1 t lemon juice
• 1/8 t almond extract
• 2 T butter
• 1 recipe for a 9-inch double crust (recipe below)

* Just use 3 tablespoons of flour for a pie using only 5 cups peaches. Up it to 4 tablespoons of flour if you use 8 cups of peaches.

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Pour the peaches over the dry ingredients and toss to mix. Add the lemon juice and almond extract. Stir once more and set aside.
2. Roll out a little more than half of the crust into a 10-11 inch circle. Fold rolled dough in half and gently ease it into the pie pan with fold in center. Unfold and fit into pan, using care not to stretch the dough. Gently press out air pockets with fingertips. Make certain there are no openings for the juice to escape.
3. Pour peach filling into the pastry-lined 9″ pie pan. Dot with the two tablespoons of butter.
4. Roll the second ball of dough like the first one. Fold the pastry circle half; lift it to the top of the pie with the fold in the center. Gently unfold over the top of the pie. Fold to p edge under bottom crust and press gently with fingers to seal and to make an upright edge. Crimp edge as desire. (Cut vents in top crust or prick with a fork to allow steam to escape. Either that or cut vents before placing pastry on top of pie.)
5. Place pie on a baking sheet (to catch the peach juice that could escape) and into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes, tenting with foil half-way through bake time. Remove from the oven and promptly “ooooh” and “ahh” over how pretty it will be.
6. Top with vanilla ice cream while the pie is still warm, so it melts just enough.

Double Crust for one 9 inch pie
Adapted from Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 t salt
• 12 T (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cut into pieces
• 4-6 T ice water

Directions:

1. Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or 2 forks until mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal or tiny peas. Sprinkle cold water over dry mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing mixture lightly and stirring with a fork. Add water each time to the driest part of mixture. Continue stirring with a fork. The dough should be just moist enough to hold together when pressed gently with a fork. It should not be sticky.
2. Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

It was warm when we sliced it, so the peaches had a mind of their own.

P.S. To be honest, after a day in the fridge the peaches still have a mind of their own, but they are just so darn delicious that I don’t mind a bit.

Banana Dream Pie

So I guess I’m the type of girl who will get up at 7 am solely to make whipped cream to top a pie to eat for breakfast. That’s just what needs to happens when a pie is assembled 10:30 pm, but it has to chill in the fridge for a couple hours before slices can be pretty.

I guess I’m the type of girl who gets bullied by pie crust sometimes and learns the hard way that a frozen crust doesn’t always mean that it won’t puff up when blind baking.

So now you guys know that pie weights are important when it comes to baking followed by filling. I use dry beans for pie weights. I keep them in a jar under my kitchen sink. Right by my champagne glasses and potatoes.

Jake wasn’t sure about me adding chocolate to this recipe, but I was sure I wanted to! Nutella definitely took this pie from creamy to dreamy.

Banana Dream Pie
Pudding recipe from oldschool Betty Crocker and my mom

vanilla pudding -

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 t salt
• 3 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 T + 1 t vanilla
• 2 T butter
• 1/4 cup nutella
• 2 bananas sliced

whipped cream -

• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla

Directions:

1. Stir together the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium sauce pan. In another bowl whisk together the milk and the egg yolks. Slowly add the milk mixture to the saucepan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring the whole time, until thick. It will begin to casually boil. Continue to stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into a heatproof bowl and cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic is pressed agains the surface of the pudding. Set aside to cool until room temperature.
2. Assemble pie! Spread nutella evenly over the crust and top with sliced bananas. Pour vanilla pudding over the bananas and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap again, directly on the surface and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
3. Make whipped cream by beating 3/4 cup of heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla on high for about 1-2 minutes, or until stiff peaks form when the beaters are lifted from the cream. Smooth over pie and slice!

My mom told me the recipe for the vanilla pudding part over the phone.
Hence the messy 3×5 card.

One 9″ Pie Crust
Recipe from Martha Stewart

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t sugar
• 1 stick frozen unsalted butter, grated
• 2-3 T ice water

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, salt and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat in the grated butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; beat until dough comes together. If dough is still crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time until it forms a nice dough when pressed together. Flatten dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out until it’s about 14″ and place into a 9″ pie pan fitting to the inside of the pan, being careful not to stretch. Cut off excess dough crimp the top. Line with foil and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375° F. Bake the crust lined with foil and topped with pie weights (I use dried beans) for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights and continue baking for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cooked throughout. Set aside to cool.

I grew up with dessert being an option for breakfast always; it’s never too early for pie.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling

Did you know that maple syrup and cream cheese frosting are officially dating? There are actually rumors about an engagement ring being purchased by a tall dark and handsome bottle of Michigan maple syrup.

When I tasted the filling for these guys I wondered why I’ve never used maple syrup in cream cheese frosting before. Considering they go together in a magically delicious way that can only be described as true love.

This is my third pumpkin delight of the week, but it’s the only one that turned out delightful. I told you about the mooshy squishy sad pumpkin blondies. On top of those, I also made bland pumpkin biscotti that were less delish after coffee dunking, somehow. But the goodness of these whoopie pies makes me not even care about all that pumpkin effort earlier in the week.

The pumpkin cookie parts are the perfect amount of spice and pumpkin. They are light and cakey in a way that can only be achieved when making whoopie. So arm yourself with a cookie scoop and go at it. OR go right ahead and make them using a muffin scoop/ice cream scoop and have yourself a delicious dessert sandwich.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling
Recipe from Annies Eats

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies -

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 2 T cinnamon
• 1 t ginger
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 cups chilled pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t vanilla

Maple Cream Cheese Filling* -

• 3-5 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 T maple syrup
• 1 t vanilla extract
  * I had a lot of extra frosting, so if you cut this in half or by a quarter it’s all good!

Directions:

1. Make whoopie pies. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, mix together both sugars and canola oil together. Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until no streaks remain. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and stir using a wooden spoon until mixed thoroughly.
2. Using a cookie scoop for smaller whoopie pies or an ice cream scoop  with a release mechanism for bigger whoopie pies, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets (about 1-2 inches apart). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies look firmer and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
3. Make maple cream cheese filling. In a large bowl using a hand mixer on low, beat butter until smooth with no visible lumps. Add cream cheese and beat until combined. Add 3 cups powdered sugar, maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth. Being careful not to over mix. If the frosting doesn’t seem thick enough to spread on the cookies, add up to 2 more cups of powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until frosting has firmed up. (I found that it was still a tad bit runny seeming, but it stayed well on the cookies.) Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so that the frosting can firm up enough for a nice, non-messy bite to be taken out of the whoopie pie.

<3
P.S. See that cake stand in the first picture? Just some Donut Hole mini muffins for your brunching pleasure. If you haven’t make them, you probably should right after making these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies!

French Silk Pie

When I had a small birthday party as a kid, I opted for mini French Silk Pies instead of cake for my friends. It’s that good.

This is the kind of pie that makes you say: “Cake shmake. Give me another piece of that chocolate pie.”

This is one of our THREE desserts this Thanksgiving. Everyone finished every crumb.

French Silk Pie
Recipe from my lovely mother yet again

Ingredients:

• 1 (9 inch) baked pie shell or 1 graham cracker crust (make it or buy it)

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• 3 eggs
• 1 T vanilla
• whipped cream

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer (or a stand mixer, if you’re lucky and have one) cream the butter. Slowly add sugar and whip until smooth.
2. Blend in chocolate until mixed evenly.
3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating 5 minutes after each; this is a must! (Skimping on the time will have runny results. It may induce tears.)
4. Add vanilla and mix until combined, scraping the sides.
5. Pour into pie crust, and chill for several hours or over night.
6. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings and please crowds!

Crumb Apple Pie

Mix up and refrigerate the pie crust. Run to the store and get more butter. Maybe get some heavy whip for vanilla whipped cream. Maybe the sales associates will assume you’re a very unhealthy person. Maybe they think you’re weird for getting giant bacon dog treats along with the fatty goodness. For sure you get home and finish the making home made pie and the joke’s on them. Don’t forget to “cheers!” your first bite. And with a clink of forks, it’s the first apple pie of the season.

I’m still surprised that childhood recipes are actually possible on any given day. Potato rolls with dinner? No problem. Crumb Apple pie because Jake and I are feeling especially seasonal? Let’s make it. I still save some things just for the holidays, just so they remain something for special occasions.

Crumb Apple Pie
Recipe from Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook + my childhood

Ingredients:

• Unbaked 9″ pie shell (recipe below)

Apple Filling-

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 T flour
• 1/2 – 1t cinnamon
• 1/8 t nutmeg
• 1/4 t salt
• 6-7 cups sliced 1/4 inch thick,  peeled apples

Crumb Topping-

• 1/2 cup coldish butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 1 cup flour

Directions:

1. Make pastry for 1-crust pie and line 9″ pie pan. (recipe below)
2. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix lightly through apples. Heap in pastry-lined 9″ pie pan.
3. Make crumb topping by rubbing butter into flour and brown sugar, until it resembles coarse crumbs and sprinkle evenly over the apples.
4. Bake in a hot 400 F for 45-55 minutes. (After about 30 minutes some crumbs were getting a bit too tan (burnt!) but the pie wasn’t done. If this happens to you, simply tent foil over the pie and bake for the remaining amount of time.)
5. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes and slice and eat.
6. Serve with vanilla ice cream or simple Vanilla Whipped Cream.

One 9″ Pie Crust
Recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t sugar
• 1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2-3 T ice water

Directions:

1. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, salt and sugar). Cut 1 stick of butter into pieces.  Using your hands (or pastry blender), rub butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; work with hands until dough comes together. If dough is still crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time until it forms a nice dough when pressed together.
3. Flatten dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
4. Roll out and line a 9″ pie pan.

This is the pie recipe is from my childhood, and my mom just mailed me the cookbook. See the star by the variation for the crumb apple pie? Delish, and memorable.

Pocket Apple Pies

I’m sick of sandwiches. I had them for lunch and dinner pretty much all week. I’m never sick of apple pie.

I am pretty happy that tonight Jacob made a huge dinner instead of my lazy sandwiches.
I decided to make these pocket pies for dessert.

They turned out delicious and perfect one person portions. I baked two out of the eight pies this recipe made and froze the rest so that at any time of day I can simply have a freshly baked pocket pie in my life and my belly.

I use the same apple pie filling used in my Mini Dutch Apple Galettes.
This pie crust recipe has just a little bit more sugar (2 T instead of 2 t) than my Perfect Pie Crust recipe. I thought I’d try it out and it turned out delicious. So it’s up to you on the sugar content of your crust.

(I figured I’d retype the info so that you guys can have this recipe all in one place!)

Pocket Apple Pies
Apple Pocket Pie Mold from Williams-Sonoma. I really recommend it! They have a pumpkin one too! They are pretty fun, don’t you think?

Pocket Pie Crust
Recipe from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t salt
• 2 T sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 16 T cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 6-8 T ice water
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon water

Apple Pie Filling (makes a heaping cup and a half)
Recipe adapted from Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook

• 2 or 3 baking apples, cored, peeled, and sliced. (I used one macintosh and one granny smith)
• 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 T flour
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Make pie crust. Whisk together flour, salt and sugar. Cut butter into the flour mixture until it looks like crumbs and there are no butter pieces bigger than a pea. Add 6 tablespoons of  ice water all at once and mix just until the dough starts to come together. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly at all add a little bit more water 1 teaspoon at a time. Gather the dough in your hands, divide in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to an hour before rolling out.
2. Meanwhile make your apple pie filling. Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl. Mix lightly through apples. Set aside.
3. On a floured surface roll out 1 dough disk into a round 1/16 – 1/8 inch thick. Brush off excess flour.
4. Using apple pie mold, cut out 8 of each shape (4 with the decorative cutout and 4 without). Roll out the other disk of dough and do the same. (If you don’t have this snazzy pie mold just use a large cookie cutter and prick with a fork before baking.) Make egg wash by whisking together one egg and one teaspoon of water in a small bowl.
5. Use the pie mold. Place a solid dough shape in the bottom half of the cutter and gently press dough into the mold. Fill the center with 1-2 tablespoons pie filling and brush edges of the dough with egg wash. Top with matching shape that has the decorative cutout. Press top half of the cutter down to seal and crimp the edges of the pie. Remove pie from mold and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and freeze the pies for 20 to 30 minutes before baking.
6. Brush the pies with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is gently bubbling. 15-20 minutes. I baked them for 15 minutes and then tented them with tin foil for the remaining 5 minutes to prevent the crust from getting too dark. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. (Recipe makes about 8 pocket pies)

These would be really good with carmel sauce drizzled on top and perhaps with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream! These are the perfect size! I’m also thinking I want to make some savory pies with this mold. Yum!

Perfect Pie Crust + Pie Crust Cookies

I remember this time when I was a kid and it rained on the day we were supposed to go to a water park. Major disappointment. I remember this other time that they didn’t have French Silk pie at Baker’s Square. Another disappointment. I made a strawberry pie last night that was also a bit disappointing. It wasn’t sweet enough and to be honest, I don’t feel like the pie recipe is worth posting…but that crust….man. That crust is good!

Oh! And the pie crust cookies!
Amazing.

Perfect Pie Crust (makes one double crust)
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t salt
• 2 t sugar
• 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4 T ice water

Directions

1. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, salt and sugar). Cut 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter into pieces. With a pastry blender, cut in butter, working until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Add 4 tablespoons ice water; work with hands until dough comes together. If dough is still crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time until forms a nice dough.
3. Divide dough in half, and flatten halves into disks. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. To form the pie shell, roll the dough on a floured surface into a 14-inch round, or until about an eighth of an inch thick. Press into pie pan crimping at edges.
5. Fill pie shell with favorite bake-able pie ingredients. Roll out second dough round and cover pie in any of a few ways! Lattice top, solid top with a few knife slits, or my personal favorite: cutting shapes with a cookie cutter and overlapping the top covering it. (OR simply freeze the second half for another pie on another day.)
6. Bake according to pie recipe you’re making.

And of course if you have any dough to spare you have to make pie crust cookies!

Pie Crust Cookies
Recipe from my Mom

Ingredients:

• spare pie crust dough
• cinnamon + sugar

Directions:

1. Roll out the excess dough, sprinkle excessively with cinnamon and sugar.
2. Roll up and slice and place in a cake pan.
3. Bake for a fraction of the time the pie’s in the oven. Five to ten minutes depending on the temperature of your oven.