Pecan Pie Bars

Got this from one of our Better Homes and Garden cookbooks. I doubled, but next time I think I'll quadruple! :)

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.

For crust, in a medium bowl combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the 1/2 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pat crumb mixture into an ungreased 11x7x1 1/2-inch baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium bowl stir together eggs, pecans, 1/2 cup brown sugar, the corn syrup, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and vanilla. Pour over the baked crust, spreading evenly.

Bake for 20 minutes more or until the filling is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

LINK.

Pumpkin Cheese Pie...requested by Mrs. Bradshaw

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
  
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (we make a graham cracker crust...just graham cracker crumbs, butter, and a tiny bit of sugar.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix cream cheese and condensed milk together until smooth. Stir in the pureed pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and eggs. Mix until well combined. Pour batter into the pie shell.
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Serve warm. (I personally really like it cold, though.)

Enjoy!

Chocolate-Coffee Ice Cream Pie

This is so easy, and it's so good! For added garnish, I whipped up some heavy cream and topped the pie before I sprinkled on the pecans and cookie crumbs and drizzled on the syrup.


1 chocolate pie crust
1/2 cup nuts chopped
cooking spray
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pint coffee ice cream
1 pint chocolate ice cream
1 package chocolate sandwich cookies
1/4 cup butter
chocolate syrup

Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with sugar.

Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cool.

Stir together ice cream, 3/4 cup cookie chunks, and 1/3 cup pecans; spoon into pie crust. Freeze 10 minutes. Press remaining cookie chunks and pecans evenly on top. Cover with plastic wrap, and freeze 8 hours. Drizzle individual slices evenly with chocolate syrup.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

This has got to be an all-time favorite! I have also made it in a 9in. x 13in. pan instead of the two pie crusts, making my own crust with graham crackers; it works just as well.


16 ounces cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups chunky peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 pint whipped topping
1/2 cup peanuts chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
2 graham cracker pie crust
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chopped Lindt or Ghirardelli

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and milk in a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until blended. Fold in whipped topping, peanuts and chocolate chips. Spoon mixture into the two pie crusts and freeze for approximately 2 hours. Remove from freezer and top with ganache. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Use a hot knife to cut, and clean knife between slices. You can sprinkle a few of the chopped peanuts on top of the ganache for garnish.

To make ganache, boil the heavy cream, milk and sugar. Place chopped chocolate in double boiler. Add hot cream mixture to melted chocolate and stir until smooth. (Ganache can be prepared ahead of time and reheated in a double boiler.) Cool about 5-10 min. before topping pie.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

We usually do strawberries or peaches with this pie recipe, but I think I've had it with blueberries too. It would probably work with most fruits. Grammy usually makes it, and she complains every time about how long it takes. She does admit that it's easy though. In the end, though, it's worth all the time it takes! This pie is delicious!

• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons of strawberry jello

Bring water, sugar, and cornstarch to a boil. Add the jello and set to egg white consistency. Put fresh strawberries in cooked pie shell, and pour the set mixture over the berries. Top with whipped cream.

Basic Pie Crust

Makes enough for one 8-, 9-, or 10-inch double-crust or lattice top pie, or two 8-, 9-, or 10-inch single-crust pies.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit

Ingredients:

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 t. salt
• 2 T. sugar (for sweet pies)
• 2/3 c. shortening
• glass of ice water

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with a fork until the pieces are about the size of small peas. Add a bit of ice water to the mixture and stir gently.

Tips:

This is a 'dry' dough, so it should only take a few tablespoons of water to make it wet enough. I've found that when you're first adding the water, everything still looks quite dry. Check to see if it's wet enough by gently pushing all of the mixture together in a ball with your hands. If, when you do this it crumbles, it's still too dry. If it all sticks to your hands, it's too wet. You might add a little more flour if it's too wet.

Hints:

This dough should not be worked with much at all. The more you work and handle it, the tougher it gets.

To Bake:

Fit rolled out pie crust dough in the pie plate. Trim excess dough from around the edges leaving about a 1/2 inch to fold under or to create a fluted edge. If you are pre-baking the pie crust you will need to prick the crust with a fork before placing it in the oven. If you are making a double-crust or lattice-top pie, you won't need to prick it, though the top crust will need to be pricked or cut in a few places. For pre-baked crust, bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes or until slightly browned.

If the edge of the crust is browning too quickly, place a strip of foil around it, covering it.