Snickers Pie

I first made this 8 years ago.  I don't make it very often, which I suppose is why I haven't posted the recipe. It is really delicious.  A bit time consuming, but worth it.  This is my contribution to Pi day 3-14 !!!  I changed a few things from the original recipe just to make it a little easier.

Snickers Pie

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 (1 ounce) square unsweetened
• chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter, diced
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 (2.16 ounce) Snickers bars, chopped
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.  To Make Crust: In a medium mixing bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Mix all together and press mixture firmly into a 9 inch pie pan. 
3. To Make Fudge Layer: In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In a double boiler melt semisweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate together with 1/2 cup butter or margarine, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly.
4. Meanwhile beat sugar, whole egg, and egg white in a medium bowl until slightly thickened. To this mixture add vanilla and cooled chocolate. Mix until well blended. Stir in dry ingredient mixture and mix until just combined. Pour mixture into crust and bake in preheated oven for about 17 minutes, or until just set. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Place candy bar slices on this layer.
5. To Make Cream Cheese Layer: In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until blended. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Spread mixture over candy bars and bake for 15 minutes, or until set. Cool on rack.
6. To Make Garnish: In a small saucepan stir milk chocolate and whipping cream over low heat until smooth. Drizzle over pie. Refrigerate and serve chilled. 

Double Decker Pumpkin Caramel Pie

I made this pie for a ward activity.  If you don't like pumpkin pie you just might like this one.  I mean it has an Oreo crust and caramel whipped cream - wow!!!!  It was rich and delicious.  The Recipe Girl has some great tips on her post.

Ingredients:

25 Oreos (creme included), crushed into crumbs (about 2 cups)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
2 3/4 cups heavy cream, divided
One 15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
28 caramels, unwrapped
1 ounce semisweet chocolate, for grating

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir the Oreo crumbs and butter until combined. Press the mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan; freeze until set (15 minutes). Bake for 10 minutes; let cool.
2. Meanwhile in a large bowl, whisk together the 3 eggs, 1 cup cream, pumpkin, brown sugar, spice and salt until just combined. Pour into the cooled pie shell and bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. When you shake the pan, the filling should no longer be jiggly. Let the pie cool at room temperature slightly, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
3. In a bowl, microwave the caramels with 1/2 cup cream until melted, 2 to 3 minutes- adding 1 minute increments, if needed, if they are still not completely melted. Stir until smooth, then let cool to room temperature - very important!!!
4. Using an electric mixer, whip the remaining 1 1/4 cups cream until soft peaks form. Drizzle in the cooled caramel and beat until well blended. Spoon the caramel whipped cream on top of the pumpkin filling and refrigerate until completely chilled. Before serving, coarsely grate the chocolate on top of the pie.

*I melted about 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips and put it in a shallow tupperware and cooled it in the fridge.  Then I popped it out and used a vegetable peeler to get the chocolate curls. I didn't need all the chocolate for the curls, but it made it wide (or deep) enough to make good curls and still have something to hold onto.  If you have a block of chocolate that would work well.

Butter Than Pumpkin Pie

We have a lot of butternut squash. Aaron found this recipe.  It was simple and delicious!  Just like pumpkin pie.

Better Than Pumpkin Pie

• 1 1/2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
• 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground allspice
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 9 inch unbaked pie shell

Directions

1. Place squash in a sauce pan with enough water to cover.  Bring to a boil, an simmer over medium heat until tender, about 15 minutes.  Drain and cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. In a blender or food processor (I use my trusty immersion blender).  Combine butternut squash, brown sugar, cornstarch, egg, milk, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.  Process until smooth.  Pour into unbake pie shell.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a table knife comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Apple Pie Bars

I made these today for our chili cook-off activity at church. They requested that apple or pumpkin desserts be brought. This turned out very well. I didn't used quite as many apples - about 4 1/2 granny smith apples - enough to make one layer of apples And I didn't slice them really thin - about 16 slices per apple. I also used brown sugar instead of white sugar for the filling. With a stormy day like today I needed more than 2 1/2 cups of flour to get the crust to the right consistency.

Apple Pie Bars

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, chilled
• 1 egg yolk
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup crushed cornflakes cereal
• 8 cups thinly sliced apples
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Cut in the 1 cup butter until mixture is mealy. With a fork, stir in the 2/3 cup milk and egg yolk. Divide dough into 2 equal parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 piece of dough into a large rectangle. Place on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan.
3. Sprinkle cereal over the crust, then layer the apples over the cereal. Stir together the 1 cup of white sugar, and the 1and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and nutmeg; sprinkle over the apple layer. Roll out the other half of the dough and cover everything in the pan. Brush top crust with the reserved egg white and sprinkle with a mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
4. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour in the preheated oven. Top crust should be lightly browned. Mix together the 1 cup of confectioners' sugar, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of milk, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla until smooth; drizzle over bars while they are still warm.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I got this recipe from my SIL Amy. I used the crust here, but I think I prefer this crust. I didn't have enough rhubarb, but it turned out fine with only 2 1/2 cups of rhubarb. I totally forgot about the glaze! And I only refrigerated the crust for about 20 minutes. Very yummy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

For crust
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Make crust: Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. [Alternately, you can use a pastry cutter to make your dough, as I did.] Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Make filling: Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Assemble Pie: Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 25 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. (We ate it soon after taking it out of the oven. Warm with vanilla ice cream - yum! But it wasn't set until after it cooled)

Apple pie

I made this last night per David's request. We have an abundance of Granny Smith apples right now. It's the first time I've made apple pie. It is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I sliced the apples way too thin, so they turned to mush, but it still tasted good. I did not use the lemon juice, the raisins or nuts.

1 recipe pastry for double-crust pie
6 cups thinly sliced apples
1 Tbsp lemon juice (optional)
3/4 c. white sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. raisins or chopped nuts (optional)

On a lightly floured surface roll out half of the pastry dough into circle 12 inches in diameter. Place in 9-inch pie plate (you can wrap it around the rolling pin and unravel it into the pie pan). Roll out the remaining dough to a circle about 12 inches wide.
In a large bowl mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add sliced apples and lemon juice if apples are not tart. Granny Smiths are tart enough so I didn't add the lemon juice. Add raisins or nuts if desired. Gently toss till coated.
Transfer apple mixture to the pastry lined pie plate. Trim pastry to edge of pie plate. Cut slits in remaining pastry; place on filling and seal. Crimp edges as desired.
To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of pie with tin foil. Bake in 375 F oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 25-30 minutes more. or until top is golden. Cool on wire rack.

Pumpkin pie

I had to alter a few recipes to get this one since I didn't have any evaporated milk. It still turned out pretty good.

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can (15 oz.) can pumpkin
• cup milk
• 1 unbaked single pie crust

MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

I also put foil around the crust edge for the first 25 minutes to prevent burning.

Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie

Leslie's Award Winning Pie. I used it for our "baked goods" contest at our ward Pioneer Day Activity yesterday and it won "Best Overall"!!!

 Ingredients

• 1 (9-inch) pastry crust 
• 3 T. cornstarch, divided
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 T. unsweetened cocoa
• Dash of salt
• 1 1/3 c. milk, divided
• 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
• ½ c. sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 T. butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¼ c. (2 ounces) block style cream cheese, softened
• 2 c. sliced perfectly ripe bananas (about 2 large)
• 1 ½ c. whipped topping.
• Chocolate curls (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare and bake pastry crust.
2. Combine 1 T. cornstarch, 2 t. sugar, cocoa, and dash of salt in a small heavy sauce pan; gradually add 1/3 c. milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 2 minutes over med-low heat. Stir in chocolate; bring to a boil over medium neat. Reduce heat to low; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Spread chocolate mixture into bottom of prepared crust.
3. Combine 2 T. cornstarch, 1 c. milk, ½ c. sugar, ¼ tsp. salt, eggs, and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook 30 seconds or until thick. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Beat cream cheese; beat until light (about 30 second). Add ¼ c. hot custard to cream cheese; beat until just blended. Stir in remaining custard.
4. Arrange banana slices over chocolate layer; spoon custard over bananas. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard; chill 2-4 hours. Remove plastic wrap. Spread whipped topping evenly over custard. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired. (I had some mini Hershey bars that I chopped up and sprinkled over top) Chill until ready to serve.

Pastry for single-crust pie

Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

This is the crust I used for my award winning pie.

1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. salt

1/3 c. shortening

4-5 T. cold water

1. Stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender (I used a fork), cut in shortening till pieces are pea-size.
2. Sprinkle 1T. of the water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat moistening dough, using 1 T. of water at a time, till all the dough is moistened. Form dough into a ball.
3. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten dough. Roll dough from center to edges into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.
4. To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin. Unroll into pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry.
5. Trim pastry to ½ inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold under extra pastry. Crimp edges as desired.

If you are baking it first prick the bottom and sides. Prick all around where sides and bottom meet. Line pastry with a double thickness of foil (or one layer of heavy duty) aluminum foil. Bake in a 450° F oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 5-6 minutes more or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Creamy OREO® Pie

This was so easy and really yummy. I made it for the farewell BBQ that Ali and Tara put together for all of us who are leaving. I followed the directions exactly, but the picture they have doesn't look like mine, especially since I used the Spring Oreos that had yellow filling.

Oreo Pie
39 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, divided

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping


CRUSH 26 of the cookies; mix with butter until well blended. Press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

CHOP 9 of the remaining cookies; set aside. Beat cream cheese and sugar in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add chopped cookies and whipped topping; stir gently until well blended. Spoon into prepared crust.

REFRIGERATE at least 2 hours or until firm. Halve remaining 4 cookies; stand on cut edges around center of pie. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.