pie

Pecan Pie

On my fourth day of Homemade Christmas I have a pie for you, a pecan pie!

Pecan Pie | Country Girl Gourmet

How this recipe got on my list is a kind of interesting story. I have been married to my husband over 16 years. At this point in our lives we know pretty much all of our likes and dislikes or so I thought. Growing up I was never a big fan of pecan pie but now that i’m all grown up I am discovering that some things I disliked as a kid I now like. So for the last couple years i’ve been thinking about making a pecan pie because what type of southern woman would I be having never made a pecan pie. Well, I told my husband and he was over the moon because surprise, he loves pecan pie! 16+ years and I never knew! He was all about that pie and told me I needed to go to the store now to get the ingredients. So I made him his pie and he loved it. My boys loved it too.

For myself pecans play a part in my childhood. Every time we would go visit my great grandparents us kids were sent outside to pick up pecans from the beautiful and gigantic pecan trees that were in my great grandparents yard. We would pick up buckets of pecans. I was educated on the proper way to say pecan, it is puh-cahn if you are curious. A pee-can was a can you keep next to your bed to pee in. We would be sent home with pecans. Then we learned to crack them to eat them raw, my mom would add them to cookies and I came remember a pecan pie or two growing up. The one thing about pecans from my childhood is I did not like them. I hated them in cookies and would always pick them out. I developed a strong aversion to them.

I don’t know what has happened but now they are one of my favorite nuts. I love them any which way which led me to the idea of pecan pie. I had decided on my recipe a couple years before telling my husband about my idea to make one. It had been sitting in my Allrecipes recipe box just collecting virtual dust. The recipe is not your typical corn syrup laden pecan pie and I loved that idea! Don’t get me wrong the recipe is made with “healthy” amounts of brown and white sugar so it is plenty sweet, the corn syrup will not be missed.

My husband decided it was the best darn pecan pie he had ever had. My boys loved it too. The girl was not a fan, I think I gave her my childhood aversion to pecans but hey 4 out 5 likes is pretty good odds! The boys have been begging me to make it again for Christmas!

Pecan Pie | Country Girl Gourmet

Try it yourself and let me know what you think!

Check out my 12 Days of Homemade Christmas for other great ideas!

Pecan Pie
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (or rice flour if making gluten free)
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 9inch pie crust
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (205 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
  3. Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, then reduce temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until done.

 Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

Key Lime Pie

Happy pi day! If you haven’t heard this years pi day is perfect! For all of you non math experts out there, Pi is 3.14159265359 and tomorrow is 3/14/15. It’s a perfect pi day! To celebrate pi day what better thing can you do but enjoy pie, right! It is perfectly fitting and a great way to celebrate the day. Cooking and baking has strong roots in math. For instance, you need basic math when increasing or reducing a recipe. Then when serving things like pie they are perfect for a lesson in fractions. This year for pi day my family will be enjoying my favorite pie, Key Lime Pie.
Key Lime Pie |Country Girl Gourmet

I will be the first to admit I have a small obsession with Key Lime Pie. It is my absolute favorite. Yes, there are all types of pie out there that I also love, they all have their place but Key Lime Pie will lose to them every time. I think this comes from growing up in Florida where I was first introduced to it. My mom never made Key Lime Pie so when I had it while out somewhere it was always a special treat. I also learned I was very picky about my key lime pie. Those pies made lime jello just didn’t cut it, I wanted the real thing if I was going to indulge in my favorite treat.

Moving to New Jersey in 2006 my favorite pie was hard to find. I had to take matters into my own hands and make my own Key Lime Pie. That is when I learned how truly simple this pie is and kicked myself for not making it sooner. Key Lime Pie has 5 ingredients, Sweetened Condensed Milk, Sour Cream, Key Lime Juice, Lime Zest and your favorite pie crust (graham cracker is traditional but shortbread works well also). Simple ingredients for an out of this world pie. The most time consuming part of making the pie is juicing all the tiny key limes. Then it bakes for 15 minutes. The hardest part comes next waiting for it to cool. Once it is cooled and you go to serve it your family/guests, they will ooh and ah and marvel at it’s limey delicious-ness thinking you have slaved for hours creating it. There is no reason to tell them you haven’t. Enjoy your key lime pie glory and a piece of Key Lime Pie for yourself too!

 

Key Lime Pie
 
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Recipe type: pie
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Ingredients
  • 1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust
  • 3 cups sweetened condensed milk
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ¾ cup fresh key lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon grated lime zest
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

From Allrecipes.com

Gluten Free Pie Crust

The other day I said I was figuring out how to make our Thanksgiving dinner this year gluten free and that I needed to figure out how to make a good gluten free pie crust. Pie is awesome and I can be a pie snob. For me pie has to have a really good crust. It has to be just right. I will tell you right now I am not a huge fan of pre made pie crust. Yes, I have used them and tried them out but I don’t like them. I have always made my own pie crust and this year I wasn’t going to stop. I took to Pinterest and started researching. I think I found about a dozen different gluten free pie crust recipes all claiming to be the best. I then took those and compared them to my tried and true (gluten) pie crust and started experimenting. Experimenting went well and I created a great gluten free pie crust that I am happy to share with you along with one of my favorite holiday pies.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

Pie crust is pretty basic to make. It has simple ingredients that turn into something wonderful. We start our crust with gluten free all purpose flour blend. I use store-bought but you can use your own. The brand I use is a mix of white rice and whole-grain (brown) rice flours, tapioca starch, and potato starch. To the flour I add a bit of sugar, salt and xanthan gum.Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

To the flour mixture I add a half cup of softened but cold butter. I press until it looks like coarse meals being careful to not over mix.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

To this I then add a half cup of shortening. Yes, this is a lot of fat. You could use all butter or all shortening. I have heard lard makes wonderful pie crusts too. I have found using a combo of butter and shortening gives my pie crust the best results.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl GourmetWhen making pies I prefer to make my crust by hand with a pastry blender. I think it helps things from getting overworked which can easily happen in a food processor. You want your dough to look like “coarse meal” It will just be coming together.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl GourmetThis next step is where I really stray from my regular pie crust recipe. I added a beaten egg. The egg in addition to the xanthan gum act to help the structure of the pie crust. In some pie crust recipes they call for vinegar or lemon juice but in a gluten free crust it is not needed. It is added because acid interferes with the elasticity of the gluten to help make the crust more tender. We don’t have gluten so I skipped it.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

Once you have mixed your egg in depending on the consistency of your dough you may need to add some cold water.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

 

You want your dough to just come together. To much much moisture in pie crust is not a good thing. When making this crust I did not need extra water but when I lived in the reset at high altitude I always needed extra water. Have it just in case you need it.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

When your dough looks crumbly but when pressed holds together it is perfect. Take your dough and split into 2 flattened balls and either wrap in plastic wrap or place in Ziploc bags and refrigerate 20 or so minutes. This helps your dough develop and gives you a  nice cold dough to work with. You want a cold dough because your warm hands will melt the fats that help produce a flaky crust.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

 

 

When  the dough is ready it is time to roll out. I prefer to use either wax or parchment paper that has been sprinkled with rice flour.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl GourmetDon’t rush, just take your time. Gluten free pie crust is more delicate than regular pie crust. Add rice flour as needed while rolling out.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl GourmetYou  will roll out until it spread out and large enough to cover your pie dish. I use simple glass pyrex pie plates.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

Once you have your crust rolled out you will then carefully place in your pie plate and carefully peel off any parchment or wax paper. Take your time but if pieces around the edge break off it is easily repairable. Just press them back using cold water if needed. Form your edge in your favorite way. I did a simple pinch edge.

 Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

Finally before filling or blind baking refrigerate your crust. Chilling will help your crust keep it’s shape and minimize shrinking. After it is chilled it is ready for blind baking or filling.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

I went with a test run of our families favorite Pumpkin Pie, Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

An important step when baking your pie is to cover the edges of the crust. You can use strips of foil or use pie crust protectors like these ones from Pampered Chef. Just take off the covers or strips when there is about 15 minutes of baking time left to allow the edges to brown up some.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet
Then there you have it a beautiful gluten free pie crust!
Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet
My children devoured their slices of pie and had no idea that it was gluten free.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

I can’t wait to make this for my family on Thanksgiving and see what they think. I wonder if they are going to be able to tell the difference.

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Gluten Free Pie Crust | Country Girl Gourmet

Gluten Free Pie Crust
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
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Just because you are gluten free doesn't mean you can't have pie.
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter, softened but cold
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 2 cups gluten free all purpose flour blend
  • 1t xanthan gum
  • 1t salt
  • 2T sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • ice cold water as needed
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl mix gluten free flour blend, xanthan gum,salt and sugar.
  2. Cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender until it looks like coarse meal/crumbly.
  3. Add in beaten egg and water ass needed until dough starts to come together and can easily form a ball.
  4. Divide dough and wrap dough "balls" in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
  5. Roll out and fit into pie plate.
  6. Chill before blind baking or filling.

Double Layer Cherry Crisp

I have a love for the simplicity and wholesomeness of a crisp, apple, cherry, peach… I love them all. What is better than a classic crisp is a double layer crisp. A layer of oatmeal goodness, a layer of fruit and then a another layer of oatmeal goodness. Simple and classic. You can eat it by itself or top it with some vanilla ice cream.
This double layer cherry crisp is also the perfect dessert for you to bring to a potluck specially when you find out at the last minute. It is as awesome as a pie but much easier to make since you don’t have to worry about the pie crust.

Double Layer Cherry Crisp |Country Girl Gourmet

Seriously, does this look delicious or what?

Double Layer Cherry Crisp |Country Girl Gourmet

So what are you waiting for? Hurry, go make yourself some!

Double Layer Cherry Crisp
 
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What is better than a cherry crisp? A cherry crisp with two layers.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
  • **note other fruits such as apple and peach turn out well**
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.)
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, vanilla (or almond) extract and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  3. Sprinkle one half of crumb mixture in the bottom of a 9 inch square baking dish. Cover with cherry pie filling. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over pie filling.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm.