Chocolate Silk Pie

This is a definite winner in my book and so easy too. This recipe is from my Kitchen Aid manual, so it has specific instructions for the mixer.

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 eggs
2/3 cut evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
whipped topping (optional, but we all love it!)

Place sugar and cocoa powder in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and wire whip to mixer. Turn to Stir Speed and mix to combine, about 15 seconds. Continuing on Stir Speed, gradually add eggs, evaporated milk, and vanilla, mixing until well blended, about 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to Speed 6 and whip until smooth and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Pour into prepared crust. Place pie plate on preheated baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until center puffs and pie has set. Cool completely on wire rack. Garnish with whipped topping. Yield: 8 servings.

Apple Slab Pie

From Cook's Country

I know this isn't Kathy's famous apple pie (which she should probably post this month), but it is still pretty darn good. Here goes.

Pie:
8 granny smith apples (about 3 1/2 lbs.) peeled, cored, and sliced thin
8 golden delicious apples (about 3 1/2 lbs.) peeled, cored, and sliced thin
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 c. animal crackers
2 (15 oz.) boxes pillsbury ready to roll pie crust
4 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
6 T. minute tapioca
2 t. ground cinnamon
3 T. lemon juice


Glaze:
3/4 c. reserved apple juice (from filling)
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar

1. For the pie: combine apples, 1 c. sugar and salt in colander set over large bowl. Let sit, tossing occassionally until apples release their juices, about 30 minutes. Press gently on apples to extract liquid and reserve 3/4 c. juice.

2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse crackers and remaining sugar in food processor until finely ground. Dust work surface with cracker mixture, brush half of one pie round with water, overlap with second pie round and dust top with cracker mixture. Roll out dough to 19 x 14 " and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Brush dough with butter and refrigerate; roll out top crust in the same way.

3. Toss drained apples with tapioca, cinnamon, and lemon juice and arrange evenly over bottom crust, pressing lightly to flatten. Brush edges of bottom crust with water, and arrange top crust on pie. Press crusts together and use a paring knife to trim any excess dough. Use fork to crimp and seal outside edge of pie and then pierce top of pie at 2" intervals. Bake until pie is golden brown and juices are bubbling, about 1 hour. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 1 hour.

4. For the glaze: While pie is cooling, simmer reserved apple juice in saucepan over medium heat until syrupy and reduced to 1/4 c. , about6 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and butter and let cool to room temperature. Whisk in powdered sugar and brush glaze evenly over warm pie. Let pie cool completely, at least 1 hour longer. Serve.

**This pie can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.

***You grind animal crackers and sugar to a powder in the food processor and use this mixture instead of flour to facilitate rolling out the dough. The animal cracker-sugar mixture lends a much needed flavor to the bland store-bough pie dough.

Sugarless Apple Pie

6-8 apples, peeled and sliced
1/8 t. salt, brings out the natural sweetness of the apples
1/2 to 1 c. raisins
Dash of cinnamon

Mix together. Bake in 2 crust pie shell at 450 for 20-30 minutes, or until crust is cooked.

Layered Key Lime Pie

This is a wonderful version of a lime pie for those of you who aren't a big fan of lemon/lime desserts. It is extremely simple and the final product looks wonderful!

1 9 in. graham cracker crumb crust

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup (about 3 medium limes) fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon grated lime peel (make sure to grate the lime peel BEFORE juicing them)

2 cups cool whip

Lime peel twists or lime slices (optional)

BEAT sweetened condensed milk and lime juice in small mixer bowl until combined; stir in lime peel. Pour into crust; spread with whipped topping. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. Garnish with lime peel twists.

Double Layer Pumpkin Pie

I have found that this recipe makes a lot of filling that doesn't fit into just one crust, so I either make my own or make sure I have at least two pie crusts.

1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

1 12 ox. cream cheese, softened

1 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 cup cold milk

1 pkg. (4-serving size) vanilla flavor instant pudding

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cups whipped topping

1.  Mix cream cheese, 1 tablespoon milk and sugar in large bowl with a wire whisk until smooth, gently stir in whipped topping.  Spread on bottom of the crust.

2.  Pour 1 cup milk into bowl.  Add pudding mixes.  Beat with wire whisk 1 minute.  (Mixture will be thick.)  Stir in pumpkin and spices with wire whisk until well mixed.   Spread over cream cheese layer.  

3.  Refrigerate until set.  Garnish with additional whipped topping if desired.  

Snicker's Pie

(Makes 2 pies)

(For one pie just half everything)
-2 baked pie shells
-6 snicker’s candy bars

Divide snickers, 3 per pie shell. Cut up bars in pieces and press down in a layer into the bottom of pie shell, gently.

Beat until smooth:
-2 bricks cream cheese (16 oz. total)
-2/3 cup sugar

Then add:
-2 eggs
-½ cup sour cream
-½ cup peanut butter

Pour filling equally into the 2 pie shells. Bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes. Meanwhile,

Melt over LOW heat 2-3 on Stove-(This is for one pie)
-1 cup milk chocolate chips
-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

When pie is nearly done, melt chips and cream and pour over baked pies, spreading evenly across the top. Cool, and then put pies in the freezer overnight. In the morning put pie in fridge to thaw, or on counter. To serve, cut using a hot knife (by running hot water over it for a bit.) to cut through pie and serve. Keep pie in freezer covered if you are saving it for a later time.

Chocolate Caramel Pie

This is the recipe I made for our December swap. I meant to take a picture, but it disappeared too fast. Warning: This is a rich dessert, even for a chocoholic like me. YUM!

1 prepared graham cracker crust
7 oz. caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup evaporated milk
3 TBSP. butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
20 large marshmallows
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (no substitutes---just trust me on this one)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 8 oz. container whipped topping, thawed

Melt caramels and evaporated milk over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Cool 10 minutes. Pour into crust; refrigerate. Melt butter to coat pan. Add milk and marshmallows. Stir until smooth. Add chips and stir until smooth. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Cool to room temperature (1-2 hours). Spoon into pie shell and refrigerate overnight. Garnish with shaved chocolate.