Pecan Pie

Today I'm sharing the recipe for another one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods - pecan pie!  Pecan pie is my favorite - I look forward to it every year.  We use the same pie crust recipe as I posted for pumpkin pie, but I'm going to repeat it here.  

Ingredients:

• Pie Crust
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 3 tbsp. water
• Pie Filling
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup dark Karo syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted
• 3 cups pecans

Makes 1 10-inch pie.

To make the pie crust, sift together the flour and salt.  Take out 1/4 cup of the flour-salt mixture and mix with the water to make a paste. Add the Crisco to the remaining flour-salt mixture. Cut the Crisco in until the pieces are the size of small peas.

Add the flour paste to the Crisco-flour mixture.

Mix thoroughly until the dough comes together and can be shaped into a ball.

Roll the dough out about 1/8 inch thick.

Place the crust into the pie pan, pressing it to the sides and bottom.

You can shape the edges to make these look pretty - we chose to pinch together the edges to form points.

Mix the eggs, Karo syrup, sugar, flour, vanilla, and butter together.

Add 3 cups pecans and gently stir them in.

Pour into the pie crust.  Bake at 350ºF for 55-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the halfway between the edge and the center comes out clean.

We like to serve ours with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (Blue Bell's Homemade Vanilla is the preferred one here).

What's your favorite Thanksgiving dessert?

Pumpkin Pie

For Thanksgiving, we make two desserts - pumpkin pie and pecan pie.  They are both so tasty - my favorite is pecan, but I love the pumpkin too.

Ingredients:

• Pie Crust
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 3 tbsp. water
• Pie Filling
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 1/2 15 oz. cans pumpkin
• 1 1/8 cups sugar
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. ginger
• 3/8 tsp. cloves
• 2 1/2 cups evaporated milk
• Whipped Cream
• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Makes 1 10-inch pie.

To make the pie crust, sift together the flour and salt.  Take out 1/4 cup of the flour-salt mixture and mix with the water to make a paste. Add the Crisco to the remaining flour-salt mixture. Cut the Crisco in until the pieces are the size of small peas.

Add the flour paste to the Crisco-flour mixture.

Mix thoroughly until the dough comes together and can be shaped into a ball.

Roll the dough out about 1/8 inch thick.

Place the crust into the pie pan, pressing it to the sides and bottom.

You can shape the edges to make these look pretty - we chose to pinch together the edges to form points.

Mix the pie filling ingredients together.

Pour into the pastry shell.  Bake at 425ºF for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350ºF and continue baking for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

When you're ready to serve the pie, make the whipped cream by beating the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form (about 1 minute).

Top the pie with whipped cream and serve!

What desserts do you make for Thanksgiving?

Key Lime Pie

A week ago, it was my mom's birthday.  Along with crab cakes eggs benedict and crawfish étouffée, I made her Key Lime Pie.  It was so tasty!  I got the recipe for the graham cracker crust from Betty Crocker's Cookbook and I followed the instructions on the back of the Nellie and Joe's lime juice bottle to make the filling.

Ingredients

• Graham Cracker Crust
• 12 full graham cracker sheets, crumbled
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• Pie Filling
• 2 14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 cup Nellie and Joe's Key West Lime juice
• Whipped Cream
• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Makes 1 10-inch pie.

To make the graham cracker crust, mix the crumbs, sugar, and butter.

Press the mixture firmly and evenly against the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes.

To make the pie filling, combine the milk, egg yolks, and lime juice.

Blend until smooth.

Pour the filling into the pie shell.

Bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes.  Allow the pie to stand for 10 minutes before refrigerating.  Chill the pie until cold.

When you're ready to serve the pie, make the whipped cream by beating the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form (about 1 minute).

Top the pie with whipped cream and serve!

Dark Chocolate Heath Bar Pie

I made this dark chocolate Heath Bar pie for my mom for Mother's Day - it was so good.  It's very easy to make and tastes delicious! I got the recipe for the graham cracker crust from Betty Crocker's Cookbook and I followed the instructions on the pudding package to make the pie.

Ingredients

• Graham Cracker Crust
• 12 full chocolate graham cracker sheets, crumbled
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• Pie Filling
• 2 packages Hershey's Special Dark chocolate pudding
• 3 cups cold milk
• 1 package of miniature Heath bars
• Whipped Cream
• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Makes 1 10-inch pie.

To make the graham cracker crust, mix the crumbs, sugar, and butter.

Press the mixture firmly and evenly against the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes.

To make the pie filling, add 2 packages of the pudding mix to 3 cups cold milk. Beat with an electric mixer at low speed for 1 minute. Pour immediately into the baked crumb crust.

Chop miniature Heath bars into small pieces (I think I used about 25 of the candies).

Top the pie with the chopped candies and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

When you're ready to serve the pie, make the whipped cream by beating the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form (about 1 minute).

Top the pie with whipped cream and serve!