Peanut Butter Pie

I'm really mad at myself. I have had this peanut butter pie recipe in my family collection for years and had never made it before! What is wrong with me?! It's seriously the best peanut butter pie in the world. It's fluffy, creamy, light, perfectly peanut butter-y and topped with chopped peanuts and drizzled chocolate. 

I made it for hubby's birthday and was one happy man. He ate it for lunch the next day and that was the end of it. (I may have eaten it for breakfast, but you won't tell, right?!) It's ridiculously easy to make for how extremely delicious it is. I am telling you, GO! MAKE! THIS! PIE! RIGHT! NOW! Trust me on this one!

Peanut Butter Pie
From My Gram and My Mom
Printable Version
Ingredients
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons milk
8 ounces cool whip
1 9 inch graham cracker pie crust
1/2 cup crushed peanuts (optional)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions
Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and peanut butter in a large bowl or electric stand mixer. 

Beat at medium speed until blended, about four minutes. 

Fold in cool whip. 

Spoon filling into crust.  

Sprinkle with crushed peanuts.

 Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or in a saucepan over medium heat. Drizzle onto pie using a fork. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve chilled.

Homemade Pie Crust

Here is pie crust recipe I made for my Blueberry Pie. It was pretty simple to do, especially because I followed the directions for making the dough with a food processor. The hardest part was moving the pastry from the floured counter to the pie plate. 
If I can make this, anyone can make this!


Pastry for Single-Crust Pie
From Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook
Printable Version

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
3 tablespoons cold water


Directions
Place a steel blade in food processor bowl. Add flour, shortening, and salt. 

Cover and process with on/off turns until most of the mixture resembles cornmeal but a few larger pieces remain. 

With the food processor running, quickly add 3 tablespoons water through the feed tube. Stop the processor as soon as all the water is added and scrape down sides. Process with 2 on/off turns (mixture may not all be moistened). Remove dough from the bowl and shape into a ball. 

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.

To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin. Unroll pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate without stretching it. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold under pastry. Crimp as desired. 

Do not prick pastry. Cover with foil and bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 5 to 6 more minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. 

30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30: Blueberry Pie

Today is my thirtieth birthday. Yikes, that's hard to say. Although it was hard to see my twenties come to an end, a friend at work gave me the best words of wisdom I've heard on turning thirty. She told me, "All the things you worked so hard for in your twenties will happen in your thirties." For my husband and I this is so true. Lots of exciting things are going to be happening in the near future and I am really looking forward to seeing all that is in store for the next chapter in our lives!

Now about that pie! It just so happens that my birthday is 3/14 which is also known to nerds and mathematicians as "Pi" Day (since Pi is 3.14). And coincidently, Blueberry Pie was the last item on my list of 30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30. (For those of you really keeping track of my list I haven't posted the yeast bread I made yet, but I have made it! It will be posted soon.) My Mom and Dad flew in this weekend to celebrate the big 3-0 and so I enlisted my Mom's help in making my very first pie crust from scratch and my Gram's delicious no bake blueberry pie.

I was adamant that the crust had to be homemade because I felt like I was sorta cheating in not baking the blueberry pie. Mom and I were nervous the whole time because neither one of us are bakers. My Grandma Hutch was an amazing baker and her pie crusts were to die for! So with a little inspiration from Grandma H and the use of her glass pie plate that I inherited, we went to work creating Better Homes and Garden's Single Pie Pastry. (Recipe to come next.) It wasn't the most beautiful, smooth pie crust in the world but it turned out perfectly golden brown and more importantly tasted flaky and was awesome with the blueberry filling. I achieved pie perfection at the ripe age of 29 years and 364 days!

No Bake Blueberry Pie

From Grandma W with a little modification by my Momma

Printable Version

Ingredients

1 baked pie shell

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup white granulated sugar

1 cup water

3 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons lemon juice

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

In a large pot heat 2 cups of berries with 1 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar over medium high heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

 In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar with the cornstarch and salt. Take two large spoonfuls of liquid from the mixed berries and add to the cornstarch mixture. 

Stir to make a paste, then add in slowly to the pot of cooked berries. Slowly stir to thicken and add in lemon juice. Take the pot off the heat and cool slightly. 

While berries are cooling whisk together softened cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of sugar. 

Spread with a spoon in the bottom of the pie crust. (This was my Mom's modification to add a little creaminess to the pie and ensure the crust doesn't become soggy.) 

Fold in the remaining two cups of berries into the pot. 

Pour into pie shell. 

Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow pie to set. Serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or by itself! 

Pecan Pie

After deliberating between Pumpkin and Pecan Pie, I opted to bake a Pecan Pie for our Thanksgiving Dessert. This recipe comes from my Mom's Betty Crocker Cookbook, which by the way is from the 1970s. It uses very few ingredients and is so easy. Once you buy the ingredients, you will have enough to make at least 3 pies. Love that! I was under the impression that pecan pie was very labor intensive but didn't know that all you do is mix everything together and the pecans just rise to the top naturally.

You will notice that one of the pictures shows the pie covered in tin foil. This is a tip my Mom told me about that ensures the edges of your crust do not burn. You keep the foil on for the first 20 minutes, then take it off and let the pie bake for 20 more minutes. As you can see, the end result was scrumptious perfection!! It's rich, crunchy, and melts in your mouth.

Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 9 inch pie crust (I have yet to make my own pie crust, so just used a store bought one!)
3 eggs
2/3 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup dark or light corn syrup
1 cup pecan halves or broken pieces

Directions:

Heat oven to 375. Place crust in pie pan. (A tip is to use a glass pie pan, it cooks more evenly!!) Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter, and syrup with electric beater. Stir in nuts. Pour into pie pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until filling is set.