Simple Traditional Pumpkin Pie

Here's my secret to a GREAT PUMPKIN PIE year after year...

Follow the directions on the back of the Libby's Pure Pumpkin can.  Pick up the boxed Pillsbury's pie crust with the two rolls inside.  And DON'T FORGET to get the can of EVAPORATED MILK!  (I forget it every time.)

In the past, I have roasted fresh pumpkin, pureed it, THEN made it into a pie.  NOBODY EVER NOTICED THE DIFFERENCE. That was disappointing.  Later on, I watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen where they made pumpkin pies with fresh roasted pumpkin and canned pumpkin puree, then asked their test tasters if they could tell the difference.  NOT ONE TASTER NOTICED THE DIFFERENCE.

America's Test Kitchen concluded that it was not worth the time & trouble of carving, cleaning, scraping, disposing, roasting, running the oven longer, for a more labor intensive product that can easily be replaced with a ready made can of pure pumpkin puree.  I COMPLETELY AGREE and have since then been loyal to the Libby label.

As for my decorative pie crust skills, well, I'm still a Padawan or a Grasshopper, depending on which shows you like to watch.

Nowadays, I focus on the crust and try to make it pretty.  That's the fun part for me.  Sometimes, I try to get fancy.  Other times, I totally screw it up and call it "rustic."   In the end, not matter what it looks like, everyone in my family loves the way I make pumpkin pie.

So this year, take it easy on yourself.  Open up the can, buy the box and just have fun!

Happy Holidays!

Libby's Pumpkin Pie Recipe from the back of the can.

NOTES:

1 3/4 teaspoons pumpkin spice may be substituted for the cinnamon, ginger and cloves; however, the taste will be slightly different. Do not freeze, as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.

FOR 2 SHALLOW PIES: substitute two 9-inch (2-cup volume) pie shells. Bake in preheated 425° F. oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F.; bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until pies test done.

FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING (3,500 to 6,000 ft.): Deep-dish pie- extend second bake time to 55 to 60 minutes. Shallow pies- no change.

Simple Banana Coconut Bars

Moist and cake-like, Simple Banana Coconut Bars are perfect when you want banana bread with a little more.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, omit if using salted butter

Heat oven to 350ºF.  Grease 8x8x2-inch pan with cold butter.

Mix sugar, bananas, melted butter, and eggs in large bowl with spoon.  Stir in pecans and coconut.  Stir in the remaining dry ingredients all at once.

Spread batter in pan.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Carefully invert pan onto cake plate and allow it to cool upside down, until cake naturally falls out of pan onto plate.  If it doesn't fall out naturally, tap the bottom of the pan until it loosens.   Allow it to cool completely and quickly in the refrigerator before adding frosting.  Cooling in the refrigerator helps it to retain the cake's moisture.  It only takes 20 minutes or so.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon real Maple syrup
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

Mix cream cheese and Maple syrup in a medium bowl.  Gradually stir in powdered sugar with a fork until smooth and spreadable.

Keep leftover bars refrigerated, if they're frosted with cream cheese frosting.

Orange-Almond Biscotti

Biscotti is my favorite cookie to bake for friends, to give away as gifts, or just to eat alone.  I'm flexible.  This family favorite recipe comes straight from my secret cookie book.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted and chopped

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Beat sugar, butter, orange peal and eggs in large electric mixer bowl on medium speed.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in almonds.  Divide dough in half.  Shape each half into rectangle, 10x3 inches, on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake about 20 minute or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool on cookie sheet 15 minutes.  Cut crosswise into 1/2 - inch slices.  Turn slices cut sides down on cookie sheet.

Bake about 15 minutes or until crisp and light brown.  Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  After they've cooled, the biscotti have easily be stored in a resealable storage bag.  Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Now for those who like illustrations

Notes:

It's important to toast the almonds, so you can taste them in the biscotti. If you skip toasting, you may as well not add them at all.

Never use margarine in this recipe, ALWAYS BUTTER.  It makes a big difference in flavor.

You can use lemon zest in place of orange zest, and skip the almonds.

Snickerdoodles

Buttery cinnamony cookies- YUM! Do you call them Snickerdoodle Cookies or Snickerdoodles? They are my son's FAVORITE cookie of all time.  Of course, he's merely 9 years old, I'm sure there's time for other cookies in his life.  My favorite part is how they start off with this soft crunchy texture then they just dissolve on the tongue like cotton candy.

This recipe comes straight from my secret cookie book.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Mixed together in a small bowl and set aside. This is what you'll use to coat the dough balls.

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter or 2 sticks, softened

• 2 eggs

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt

Heat oven to 400ºF degrees.  Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, the shortening and butter in a large electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.  Add in the eggs.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Reduce electric mixer speed to Stir or Low; gradually add in dry ingredients a third at a time. As soon as all the flour is moistened, stop stirring.

Set up your assembly area. Dough bowl - cinnamon sugar bowl- ungreased cookie sheet.

Use a 1 inch scooper to measure out and drop dough balls into cinnamon coating.  Roll the dough ball around until well coated.  Shake off excess coating, then move to cookie sheet.  Place dough balls 2 inches apart.

Bake about 10 minutes or until centers are almost set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Cooking Note: The dough is sticky.  Using the scooper and wearing a pair of latex medical gloves, makes the task easier to handle and easier to clean up.  I wouldn't make these cookies without them.

Do not attempt to flatten the dough balls.  They will flatten beautifully on their own and make that wonderful cracked look.

And finally, just like the recipe reads, bake until almost set.  They're perfect when they still look a little wet in the center.  These cookies firm up as they cool down.  Over baking them, even just a couple of minutes, will make them crumble quicker later on.

Alright, that's it.  Totally fun to make alone, or with your kids. Their always a crowd pleaser anytime of the year.

Simple Pumpkin Yogurt, Breakfast or Dessert

Have you ever heard of pumpkin yogurt?  It's a first for me.  I'll tell ya, at first taste, my mind had to do quite a bit of undoing to all it associates with pumpkin and yogurt.  But the two are very good together, especially when they've had time to get it on after a long night in the frig.

Now, I didn't make this recipe up.  Kim invited me to a local cooking class put on by the Texas Ag Extension office.  This was one of the treats I tasted and thought, "Hmm, how could I make this better?"

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

• 2 cups nonfat French vanilla yogurt (I prefer Stonyfield Farm Organic, it's not overly sweet)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin from the can
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

• crumbled granola bar for topping

Homemade Whipped Topping

• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

First, get out a medium bowl, mesh strainer, and a cheesecloth or tea towel. Line the strainer with the cloth and set on top of the bowl.  Place the yogurt in the cloth, cover and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Place the thickened yogurt into a medium bowl and add the pumpkin, sugar and spice.  Stir well and allow the flavors to come together at least an hour or better, overnight.

Now, you can stop right here. Sprinkle the pumpkin yogurt with granola and have a lovely, healthy snack or holiday breakfast treat.

OR you can keep going and make a creamy dessert?

Using an electric mixer to whip up the heavy cream on a high speed until it starts to thicken, add in sugar and vanilla.  Continue to whip until soft peaks form.

For a light creamy touch, just add a dollop of whipped cream to the top of your yogurt.

For full on I don't care about the fat calories, line the bottom of your serving dish with whipped cream, layer on the pumpkin yogurt, top with a dollop of whip, then finish with sprinkling granola on top.

Apple Pear and Cranberry Crisp

This is a very good dessert to throw together, especially with apples and pears being on sale right now.
The recipe makes a big batch, but once you've shared it with your babysitter and your friends, it only lasts about 36 hours in the frig.  Sigh.  Oh the memories.

I pretty much followed Ina Garten's Pear, Apple and Cranberry Crisp recipe.  Naturally, I was missing an ingredient or two, so improvised.  Nobody noticed.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 5 Gala apples
• 4 Bosc pears
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons orange juice (I used what we drink)

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the crisp topping

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
Peel and core the apples and pears and cut them into large chunks.  Place the fruit in a large bowl.  Toss with the cranberries, zest, juices.

Mix the next four dry ingredients together first, then pour over the apples and pears, toss again until they're evenly coated.  Pour into a buttered 9 by 12 by 2 inch baking dish.

As for the topping

Use your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, pecans and cold butter. Mix until the mixture is in large crumbles.  Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering it completely.

If you like crunchy edges, get extra crumble into the sides and corners.
MMM, mmm!

BAKE FOR 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm or cold, both ways taste wonderful.  Always better the second day.

Sweet Moist Banana Bread

The best banana bread I've ever made EVER!

It's so moist & flavorful on the first day, it tastes like it was baked yesterday.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED...

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German Chocolate Pie Recipe

This post originally written November 2, 2007.

Growing up, my Memaw always made two pies for the holidays: Pecan Pie and some kind of chocolate pie with nuts and coconut blended together.  The chocolate pie was my favorite!  When she passed away in 1998, she took the recipe with her.  No one in our family had the recipe or knew what it was called.  In fact, for several holidays following her passing,  when I brought up the chocolate pie, not one close relative remembered the pie at all.  They only recalled her notorious pecan pie.  Well anyhoo!  I  haven't eaten Memaw's chocolate pie in 10 years and that's just not right.

When I think back real hard, it seems she had the pie baked before I could watch her make it.  Of course, I never had the sense to watch how she made everything.  I can only remember watching it cool on a rickety card table decorated with a festive tablecloth.  I remember the deep chocolate flavor, the chopped pecan and shredded coconut suspended in it's thick pudding texture.  I remember the flaky pie crust.  Yummmm...

I've come across this recipe that sounds like it could be it.  I'm going to bake it, taste it, photograph it and let you know if it's the one.

HERE'S WHAT I  NEED TO DO

• 4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 12-ounce can evaporated milk
• 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 2/3 cup flaked coconut
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees.
Combine chocolate, sugar, butter, and milk in a medium saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture just comes to a boil. Remove from heat.  Temper the egg yolks.  Then stirring constantly, pour egg yolks back into the pan.

Add coconut, walnuts, and vanilla; stir. Pour into pie crust.  Be sure to make a foil pie ring to protect the pie crust from burning. Bake 50 min.-1 hour. Make 2-days ahead of serving.

3 DAYS LATER...

Well, this recipe and my memory match up!  Memaw's pie was thick in texture; thick like a pudding.  The deep chocolate flavor, the ratio of pecans and coconut I got spot on!

This pie gets better with time.  It becomes thicker and deeper with flavor on the second and third day.  Which totally explains why I never saw my grandmother make this pie.  She always had it made it before I was out on school holiday and then she must have hid it from the rest of us until the big day.

So definitely
Make this pie TWO DAYS AHEAD of SERVING for MAXIMUM FLAVOR & a THICK TEXTURE.