Chocolate Chess Pie

From: Southern Living Cookbook

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Brianna made this pie the other night and it was very easy. The taste was great. The middle is cooked but still a little gooey and soft, but the top part gets a little crisp to it. It's very sweet, so keep that in mind! Would definitely make again, especially if I need something last minute.

Lemon Meringue Pie

From: 100 Favorite Brand Name Recipes cookbook

Ingredients:

Crust (make your own or buy pre-made like I did!)

Filling:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups hot water
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Meringue:
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
4 egg whites
3/4 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

For filling, combine sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt in medium saucepan. Add hot water gradually, stirring constantly. Cook and stir on medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Reduce heat to low. Cook and stir constantly 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add about one third of hot mixture slowly to egg yolks. Mix well. Return mixture to saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low. Cook and stir 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in butter and lemon peel. Add lemon juice slowly. Mix well. Spoon into baked pie crust.

For meringue, combine 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, and 1/2 cup cold water in small saucepan. Stir until cornstarch dissolves. Cook and stir on medium heat until mixture is clear. Cool.

Combine egg whites and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at high speed of electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining 6 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time. Beat well after each addition. Combine meringue with cornstarch mixture and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Spread over filling, covering completely and sealing to edge of pie.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until meringue is golden. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Verdict:
This was a great recipe! I won't say it was easy. It was simple but very time consuming. I will say that I did not realize until I was just typing this up that I completely left out the lemon juice! Kind of the most important ingredient!! Funny, though, neither myself nor my parents noticed this!

Also, based on my personal experience (i.e. failure), do not whip your egg whites in a plastic bowl. I have done soft/firm peaks many times in my life and I kept failing at this yesterday. I couldn't figure out why until I read online that plastic bowls have too much oil residue on them and will keep eggs from beating properly. Learn from my mistake!

Boston Cream Pie

From: 100 Favorite Brand Name Recipes cookbook

Ingredients:
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups AP flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

Rich Filling:
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
Stir together sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan; gradually add milk and egg yolks, stirring until blended. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Cover; refrigerate several hours or until cold.

Dark Cocoa Glaze:
3 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Heat water and butter in small saucepan over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil; remove from heat. Immediately stir in cocoa. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating with whisk until smooth and of desired consistency; cool slightly.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9-inch round baking pan.

Beat shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; add alternately with milk to shortening mixture, beating well after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until done. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.

Prepare rich filling. With long knife, cut cake in half horizontally. Place one layer, cut side up, on serving plate; spread with prepared filling. Top with remaining layer, cut side down. Prepare dark cocoa glaze; spread over cake, allowing glaze to run down sides. Refrigerate several hours or until cold. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate leftover pie.

 
Verdict:
Thumbs up! Okay, there is no way around it. This is a messy, falling-apart kind of cake. But trust me - it tasted delicious! I don't think I'd ever had Boston Cream Pie before and this was awesome. I'll make this again in the future!

Cherry Cheesecake

From: An old index card

Ingredients:
2 packages (one 8 oz, one 3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 carton (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 shortbread or graham cracker crust
1 can cherry pie filling

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping; spoon into crust. Top with pie filling. Refrigerate until serving.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! I love cherry pies. This is so simple and you can throw it together at the last minute if you need it for a party or luncheon. I definitely recommend this one! 

Ugly Pie

This recipe is from the book "Ugly Pie" by Lisa Wheeler. We got this book from the library and the kids loved it... but they REALLY loved the idea that we could make our own real ugly pie!

Ingredients:

Ugly Crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup lard (or shortening)
1/2 tsp salt
6-8 Tbsp icy cold water

Ugly Filling:
6 cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp lemon juice
5 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup red raisins (or Craisins)
1/4 walnuts - chopped fine

For the crust...
First, mix together the flour and salt. Then, using a fork, cut little chunks of that ugly lard into your flour until you get what looks like itty-bitty pea-sized balls. Set aside half this mixture in another bowl for later. Next, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of icy cold water over those pea-sized balls. Gently toss it with a fork. Repeat until your flour mixture forms an ugly ball of dough.

Spread a little bit of flour out on a flat surface (like your kitchen counter). Pat that ball of ugly dough down like you mean business. Then roll it with a rolling pin until it becomes a flat, ugly crust. It doesn't matter if it looks nice and round and pretty. This is Ugly Pie! Place in 9" deep-dish pie plate.

In a large bowl, toss apple slices with lemon juice. Then mix in molasses until apples are completely coated with ugly brown good. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, white sugar and brown sugar). Add to the ugly apple mixture until everything is nice and moist.

Toss raisins and walnuts into apple mixture. Make sure all ingredients are well coated. Place into pie crust. Your pie should look fairly ugly by now.

Take the crumbly flour mixture you set aside earlier. Sprinkle over the top of the pie. Cover pie with an aluminum foil tent to prevent overbrowning. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes.

When your pie is done, you will have the most delicious, most beautiful ugly pie you ever saw.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! I loved the idea of making something with the kids that we had just read about. And it really is a delicious pie!

Chocolate Mousse Pie

From: An old index card

Ingredients:
7 ounces of milk chocolate candy bars with almonds
16 large marshmallows or 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup milk
2 cups whipping cream, whipped
1 pastry shell or graham cracker crust

Place the candy, marshmallows and milk in a heavy saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Cool. Fold in whipped cream; pour into crust. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

 

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Not too sweet and not too chocolately, which is what I was worried about. Very smooth tasting and the best thing of all - super easy to put together! You could whip one of these up in less than 20 minutes (not including refrigeration time). I highly recommend this and I know I'll be throwing one of these together again in the future!

Pepperoni Pizza Pie

From: Lynn's Kitchen Adventures

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked (9 in) pie shell
• 8 ounces of shredded cheese
• 2 ounces of sliced pepperoni
• 1 (12 ounce can) Carnation evaporated milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese and half of the pepperoni onto the bottom of the pie shell.  Whisk together the milk, eggs, flour, basil, and garlic powder.  Pour into pie shell. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top and carefully lay pepperoni on top of cheese.  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until done. 

 

Verdict:
Thumbs up! What a delicious dinner. This did not stick around long at our table. I made this several months ago and I cannot remember if we even had any left over after dinner or not. If you like a quiche-type recipe and are looking for a little variety from regular pizza, this is perfect for you. I will definitely be making this again in the future!

Key Lime Pie

From: An old index card

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice
2 Tbsp water
1-2 drops green food coloring (optional)
1 tsp grated lime peel
1 graham cracker pie crust

Whipped topping:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Key lime slices (optional)

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs and yolk with wire whisk until combined. Gradually add milk to yolks, beating until combined. Add lime juice, water, food coloring, and lime peel. Whisk until well mixed. Pour into crust. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees or until almost set in center. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Chill small mixing bowl and beaters of electric mixer. In chilled bowl beat cream, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Pipe or spoon whipped cream around edges of pie. Garnish with lime slices if desired.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! Not too tart (which is what I was afraid of) and the whipped topping just adds something special to it! A perfect little pie for dessert, whether with your own family or a group setting. Highly recommend this - I will be making it again!

Oreo Ice Cream Shop Pie

From: Southern Living

Ingredients:
1/2 cup hot fudge dessert topping, divided
1 Oreo Pie crust
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip, thawed, divided
1 1/4 cups cold milk
2 pkg (4-servings each) Jello Oreo flavor pudding and pie filling

Remove 2 Tbsp of the fudge topping, set aside. Spoon remaining fudge topping into crust; spread to evenly cover bottom of crust.

Top with half of whipped topping; freeze 10 minutes. Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended.

Gently stir in remaining whipped topping; spoon over whipped topping layer in crust. Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Remove pie from freezer 15 minutes before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Drizzle with remaining fudge topping. Store leftover pie in freezer.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I used a chocolate pie crust because the store was out of Oreo.

What I'll do differently next time:
I'm going to leave out the chocolate layer on the bottom the next time I make this.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! The chocolate layer was a little much for me, to be honest, but this was delicious! Such an easy pie to bring to a party or church lunch!

Printable version:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup hot fudge dessert topping, divided
1 Oreo Pie crust
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip, thawed, divided
1 1/4 cups cold milk
2 pkg (4-servings each) Jello Oreo flavor pudding and pie filling

Remove 2 Tbsp of the fudge topping, set aside. Spoon remaining fudge topping into crust; spread to evenly cover bottom of crust. Top with half of whipped topping; freeze 10 minutes. Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in remaining whipped topping; spoon over whipped topping layer in crust. Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Remove pie from freezer 15 minutes before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Drizzle with remaining fudge topping. Store leftover pie in freezer.

Ham and Cheese Pie

From: my mom (technically my sister emailed me the recipe, but it's mom's recipe)

Warning: This is one of those recipes that doesn't really have "technical" measurements. I made it just fine the first time I did it and I'm sure yours will be delicious too!

Ingredients:
pie crust
ham -- however much you think looks good
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 egg salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup onion

In a bowl, mix all ingredients. pour into pie crust. Bake at 350 until done.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up!!! This is one of my favorite recipes of mom's and I'm so glad I finally made it! I used the Betty Crocker pie crust mix in a box because I had it in my pantry. Jenn uses frozen pie crust and makes two at a time. I don't know what mom uses but you could also make your own pie crust. As for the ham, I probably used between 1 1/2 - 2 cups of diced ham. Mine baked around 40 minutes before it was done.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
pie crust
ham -- however much you think looks good
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 egg salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup onion

In a bowl, mix all ingredients. pour into pie crust. Bake at 350 until done.

Texas Peach Pie

From: This website

Ingredients:
Pie crust
1 cup or 2 sticks cold butter, cut into slices
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt (unless you used salted butter)
7-8 Tbsp ice cold water

In a food processor, pulse and cut butter into flour and salt until mixture makes small pea size crumbs. With the processor on, add ice cold water through the top until all the flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans the side of the bowl.

Gather pastry into a ball; shape into flattened round. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. When you’re ready to assemble the pie, then divide dough in half. Roll out each half onto a lightly floured surface to the size of your baking dish. Lay the pressed dough over the rolling pin to help pick up and move the dough to the buttered dish.

Texas peach filling:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6-8 cups fresh sliced peaches (about 7-10 peaches)
1 1/2 to 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp butter

Heat oven to 425. After slicing all those peaches, make sure there will be enough to fill the casserole dish before prepping the dish for baking. You may need extra peaches or you may have too many, it’s good to check before going further.

Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla. Stir in the measured peaches and lemon juice.

Prepare bottom layer of pastry and lay into bottom of the buttered 13-inch by 9-inch casserole dish. Don’t worry about it being pretty, no one will notice the bottom. Pour peach mixture into pastry-lined dish. Dot with 3 tablespoons of butter.

Cover with top crust that has slits cut in it; seal and decorate to your fancy.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Allow to cool so the peach filling has time to solidify, otherwise it will run out and fall apart as you try to move it to your plate.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Instead of making pie crust, I used some in a box that I needed to get out of the pantry. I did use two pie crusts, one for the bottom and one for the top. Don't worry, it was still delicious.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing, except perhaps use a different fruit if peaches aren't in season anymore.

Verdict:
Thumbs UP! I felt like this is the closest thing to Mrs. Smith I have ever been. Next time I will make the pie crust because I don't have any more in the pantry. This pie was absolutely delicious, although it is definitely sweet! I can only eat one small medium piece at a time. P.S. This is delicious for breakfast.

Ingredients:
Pie crust
1 cup or 2 sticks cold butter, cut into slices
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt (unless you used salted butter)
7-8 Tbsp ice cold water

In a food processor, pulse and cut butter into flour and salt until mixture makes small pea size crumbs. With the processor on, add ice cold water through the top until all the flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans the side of the bowl.

Gather pastry into a ball; shape into flattened round. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. When you’re ready to assemble the pie, then divide dough in half. Roll out each half onto a lightly floured surface to the size of your baking dish. Lay the pressed dough over the rolling pin to help pick up and move the dough to the buttered dish.

Texas peach filling:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6-8 cups fresh sliced peaches (about 7-10 peaches)
1 1/2 to 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp butter

Heat oven to 425. After slicing all those peaches, make sure there will be enough to fill the casserole dish before prepping the dish for baking. You may need extra peaches or you may have too many, it’s good to check before going further.

Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla. Stir in the measured peaches and lemon juice.

Prepare bottom layer of pastry and lay into bottom of the buttered 13-inch by 9-inch casserole dish. Don’t worry about it being pretty, no one will notice the bottom. Pour peach mixture into pastry-lined dish. Dot with 3 tablespoons of butter. Cover with top crust that has slits cut in it; seal and decorate to your fancy.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Allow to cool so the peach filling has time to solidify, otherwise it will run out and fall apart as you try to move it to your plate.