Pie Crust Saver Hack

I saw this hack for covering up the edges of your pie crust, and I had to try it out. It worked great and was so much easier than trying to tear off little strips of foil to wrap around the edge of your pie. Here are the steps:

1. Get a piece of tin foil large enough to cover the top of your pie.
2. Place the foil crimped down over an empty pie plate of the same size (or do this before you fill your pie plate). If you are worried your foil might stick to your pie, lightly spray the side of the foil that will be touching the crust with non-stick spray.
3. With a sharp knife, cut your foil just like you would cut and divide up a pie.
4. Remove the foil from the empty pie plate and then place over your actual pie. Fold back the vents to expose the pie's center/filling.

Here is my foil, non-stick pray and empty pie plate.

Foil crimped down over an empty pie plate. (I tried to do this over the frozen pie instead, and the foil would just rip as the knife was drug across... you really need the pie plate to be empty so you can poke the knife down into the empty space for cutting... at least I did!)

Cut and ready to go!

Placed over my frozen apple pie (it has crumb topping that goes on later) with the vents folded/tucked back to keep them from sticking into the filling.

This worked great! My crust was protected for as long as I wanted during the cooking process to keep it from burning and it was so easy to make and remove.

Vodka Pie Crust

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Vodka Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbl. Sugar
• 12 Tbl. cold unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) cut into small chunks
• 1/2 cup cold shortening
• 1/4 cup cold vodka

Directions:

1. In mixer/food processor, pulse 1 ½ cups flour, salt and sugar.  
2. Add butter and shortening, pulse approx. 15 seconds to for clumps.  
3. Scrape bowl, add remaining 1 cup flour, mix 4-6 seconds.
4. Empty into large bowl, sprinkle with vodka and water over top.  
5. Fold and press until mixed and tacky. 
6. Divide in half.  
7. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 45 minutes or up to 2 weeks until ready to use.

Marsha's Notes:

This makes a very sticky dough.  When rolling out, do not hesitate to use plenty of flour to keep it easy to work with.  One recipe generally makes enough for one double pie and one single crust pie.

Grandma Pack's Favorite Pie Crust

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

My Favorite Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup plus 2 Tbl. shortening                                  
• 2 ¼ cups flour                                                          
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup ice cold water

Directions:

1. Cut shortening into flour with pastry cutter or fork [large tine] until consistency of peas. 
2. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time until you can pat the dough into a ball. Work quickly & handle dough as little as possible to keep it flakey. 
3. Roll out onto floured board or pastry cloth. Roll with quick light strokes & as few as possible to desired thickness, 1/8 in. [evenly]. 
4. Fold over & place carefully into pie pan.

Grandpa Pack's Oatmeal Pie

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar 
• 4 eggs 
• ½ cup butter
• 1 ½ cups Karo syrup
• 1 ½ cups oatmeal (leftover hot cereal)
• 1 1/2 cups coconut
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp salt 

Directions:

1. Mix all together and pour into two pie shells.  
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Marsha's Notes:

The story goes that my Grandpa Pack was a truck driver and he had this one restaurant that he liked to stop at that served oatmeal pie. Every time Grandpa would go in, he would ask if he could have the recipe. They always told him no. Then finally, after probably years of doing this, a lady at the restaurant said, "I don't suppose you are going anywhere or are going to open up your own restaurant, so you can have it." And thus, we have this recipe to share with you today.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:

• ½ cup chocolate syrup 
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips 
• 2 cups crisp rice cereal
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 quart chocolate chip ice cream, softened 

Directions:

1. Coat bottom and sides of an 8 in. pie plate lightly with butter.  
2. Combine chocolate syrup and chocolate chips in small bowl.  Microwave on high until hot, about 45 seconds.  Stir until smooth.  Reserve ¼ cup of the chocolate mixture.  
3. Combine remaining chocolate mixture and cereal in medium bowl and mix to coat cereal.  
4. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of prepared pie plate.  
5. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.  
6. Combine reserved chocolate mixture and the sour cream in a small bowl and mix well.  
7. Spread half the ice cream in the prepared pie plate.  
8. Drizzle with half the sour cream mixture.  
9. Top with remaining ice cream and drizzle with remaining sour cream mixture.  
10. Freeze pie, covered, until firm, about 1 hour.

Marsha's Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

The original idea for this recipe came from Six Sister's Stuff, but in true Marsha fashion, I changed things up a bit. Scott just laughs when I tell him how I made something. I never do what the recipe says. Ha, ha! Enjoy!

Marsha's Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbl butter
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2-3 carrots, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 small red or yellow potatoes, diced
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
3. Add celery, carrots, onion and potatoes. Saute for 8-10 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften or they won't fully cook during the bake.
4. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper.
5. Mix in flour, chicken broth and cream cheese. Let cook for 5 more minutes, stirring constantly. If there is not enough sauce for the amount of veggies you cooked, add some cream of chicken soup at this stage.
6. Fold in chicken and peas.
7. Pour mixture into a 12-inch oven safe skillet or appropriate sized baking dish.
8. Roll out a sheet of puff pastry and place on top of skillet. Use a sharp knife to cut off any excess dough hanging over the sides.
9. Whisk egg in a small bowl and LIGHTLY brush over the top of the pot pie.
10. Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Marsha's Notes:

Sizes of veggies vary, so adjust the sauce amount to accommodate the veggies by adding milk, water, or more broth to sauce, or leaving out or adding more cream of chicken soup. Veggies should be cut to bite sized pieces, small, to cook completely. 

Bake or Break's Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Pie

I am fairly sure I stumbled upon this recipe through Pinterest and the name alone was enough to get my attention. Throw in the delicious picture and a quick glance at all the ingredients to make sure nothing un-tasty was hidden inside, I knew I had to try this! And, it was great. Be warned, it is super rich and you only need a small slice, but it's fantastic.

Here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.bakeorbreak.com/2012/07/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-pie/

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Pie

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

• 1 & 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine all the crust ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring until moistened. Press the mixture evenly on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan.
3. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment to whip cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Pour the filling into the baked crust. Refrigerate for about 4 hours, or until set, before serving. Keep pie refrigerated.

Marsha's Notes:

While I liked the cinnamon in the crust in general, I wasn't sure it was a great fit for this particular pie. I plan on leaving it out next time, but maybe putting it back in for some of my cheesecake recipes.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

For Christmas this year, I wanted to try something new. My sister had posted on Facebook a recipe that looked similar to this one which I thought looked like a great new idea to try. So, after looking at several different layered pumpkin pies, I settled on Just a Pinch's Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie. While the picture they use (the one I included on this post) is a bit misleading... the layers of the pie don't come out with such high contrast because you mix one cup of the cream cheese filling with the pumpkin layer, so it is a bit more pale than what this picture would lead you to believe... but it is still DELICIOUS!

Just a Pinch's Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 c white sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9 inch) prepared pie crust (or graham cracker crust, whichever you prefer)
• 1/2 c pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/2 c frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

Jif's Double Peanut Butter Fudge Pie

Scott and I tried this new recipe, and we LOVE it!  If you are looking for something that is good, look no further.  If you are looking for something that is "good for you" then you might not even want to read the ingredient list, because I am sure it will just make you gain 5 pounds!  The picture and the recipe came from the Jif website.

Double Peanut Butter Fudge Pie

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Crust:

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 cups crisp rice cereal
• 1/2 cup chocolate fudge topping

Peanut Butter Filling:

• 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 Tbl. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 3 Tbl. chocolate fudge topping

Directions:

1. Coat 9-inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray.  Stir together 1/2 cup peanut butter and corn syrup.  Add cereal.  Mix until evenly coated.  Press onto bottom and sides of prepared pie plate.  Spread 1/2 cup fudge topping on bottom of crust.  Chill 30 minutes.
2. Beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy.  Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk and 3/4 cup peanut butter until smooth.  Stir in lemon juice and vanilla.  Fold in whipped topping.  Pour into prepared crust, spreading evenly.  Drizzle top with 3 Tbl. chocolate fudge topping.  Freeze 4 hours or until firm.  Thaw slightly to serve. 

Marsha's Notes:

This is VERY rich. I usually cut my pies into 8 equal pieces, but this pie is so rich that we decided to cut it into 16 pieces instead (so half the size of a normal piece of pie) just to keep us from going into sugar shock.  That is fine... it makes it last longer!

Marsha's Raspberry Pie

While Scott's favorite pie is peach, my favorite pie is raspberry!! I just love a warm piece of raspberry pie with vanilla ice cream. SO GOOD! But, I have had a hard time finding a recipe that didn't come out runny. As with my peach pie recipe that doesn't run, I finally found a great raspberry pie recipe that doesn't run either and I wanted to share. (Okay, so really it was a couple recipes that I combined to make the perfect recipe...) I even made it this time with frozen berries from last Fall instead of fresh, and it was still not runny!

Marsha's Raspberry Pie

Ingredients: (Makes TWO pies)

• 8 cups (8 six ounce containers) of fresh raspberries
• 4 cups sugar (adjust for tartness of berries)
• 1 cup flour
• 2 Tbl. lemon juice
• 4 Tbl. corn starch
• butter to dot top
• decorative sugar crystals (optional)
• 4 store bought pie crust dough circles

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray two glass pie dishes with non-stick spray. Line both pie plates with one pie crust dough circle. Dock with a fork to prevent bubbles in the crust during baking.
2. Wash berries and remove any leaves or debris. In a large bowl, combine berries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and corn starch. Pour mixture evenly into both pie plates. Dot with butter.
3. Cover each pie with remaining pie crust dough circles. Crimp edges and cut vents in the center. Sprinkle with decorative sugar crystals. Bake until crust is golden brown and berry juices are bubbly. You may need to cover the edge of the pie crust with tin foil to keep it from browning too quickly.

Farm Journal's Brown Sugar Peach Pie

Scott LOVES peaches, and so I made him a peach pie and it turned out GREAT! I thought I would share the recipe with you.  The beautiful picture came from the Taste of Home website, but the recipe came out of my Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook.

Brown Sugar Peach Pie

Ingredients:

• Pastry for 2-crust pie
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3 Tbl. flour
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 5 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches
• 1 Tbl. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 2 Tbl. butter or margarine

Directions:

1. Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and salt. 
2. Sprinkle peaches with lemon juice and almond extract. Add sugar-flour mixture to peaches and mix gently. 
3. Turn into pastry-lined 9" pie pan. Dot with butter. 
4. Adjust top crust and crimp edges; cut vents. 
5. Bake in hot oven (425 degrees) about 35-45 minutes, or until juices start to bubble in vents and crust is golden.

Marsha's Notes:

I used a package of ready-made pie crust dough. I also have some spray butter, and I lightly sprayed my crust top, and then sprinkled with a little bit of course sugar to make it pretty. Instead of just using a knife to cut the vents in the top crust, I have some teeny-tiny autumn cookie cutters, and I cut leaf patters out of the crust and placed the cut out pieces back on top over lapping the holes they came from. Very festive! I also cover my crust edge with either some foil, or, now I have a silicone pie crust ring to keep the crimped edges from burning before the pie is done.