Brown Sugar Pecan Pie + an Update

I know it has been several months since I have shared anything so here is a quick update on what has been going on in the Southern Pink Lemonade household…

Back in February Russell and I found out that we were not only adding to our family, but we were having twins! :) We never in a million years thought we would be having twins, so we were quite surprised by the news. Once we found out that we were having twins we started making arrangements to move back to Alabama before the babies were born. We moved to Alabama in May and had just a couple of short months before the girls were born in July. 

Natalie and Ella were born a few weeks early so they had to spend a little less than two weeks in the NICU (mostly just to gain weight and learn how to eat). They came home in early August and we have been adjusting to life with 2 newborns/infants pretty well if I do say so myself :) . Jake is such a loving big brother and really enjoys having two babies in the house. The girls are not quite 4 months old and I have been slowly trying to get back into the kitchen. 

I came across a recipe for brown sugar pie in Cook’s Country: From Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens cookbook. With a relatively quick baking time and short ingredient list I decided to give it a try. While it was quite tasty, I felt like it was missing something. The pie itself reminded me of the filling in pecan pies so I decided to make a second attempt while adding pecans. I knew after the first bite that I had a winner!

This pie is basically a pecan pie without using corn syrup, which is found in most pecan pies. I decided to mix the pecans in with the filling instead of placing them on the bottom and then pouring the filling over it like most pecan pie recipes recommend. I really enjoyed the pecan pieces being incorporated throughout the entire pie. I used a pre-made pie crust to save on time but feel free to use your favorite pie crust recipe.

Brown Sugar Pecan Pie
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Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 4 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pecan pieces
• 1- 9-inch pie crust, chilled and unbaked

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat until butter is slightly browned and has a nutty aroma to it, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl add brown sugar making sure to break up any clumps. Add cooled butter and combine until butter is evenly distributed. Mix in flour and salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Add the egg mixture to the sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Stir in pecans.

Pour mixture into pie crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few wet crumbs.

Remove pie from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool for 2 hours before serving.

Adapted from: Cook’s Country: From Our Grandmothers' Kitchens, page 164-165 Recipe submitted to Cook’s Country by: Audrey Hunter of Tennessee

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Sweet Potato Pie

Every year that I’ve been blogging I have wanted to share some of our favorite holiday dishes.  However, it seems that I never have time to make them in time and I feel silly posting them after the fact.  This year I am trying to make a conscious effort to prepare several of our favorite dishes ahead of time in order to share with you. I actually made this sweet potato pie back in September, and while it was a little strange eating sweet potato pie that early, I loved it all the same.  This is the perfect sweet potato pie, easy to make, full of flavor, and so silky & smooth.

I mixed the ingredients in my food processor, but a regular mixer works just as well. I also used a pre-made pie crust because I am still searching for a great pie crust recipe--I would love some recommendations! I topped it with some whipped cream (heavy whipping cream beat with a touch of powdered sugar until soft peaks form).  My sweet potatoes were a little on the smaller side so I needed three to get 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato Pie

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes, 2-3 potatoes, depending on the size of your potatoes
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup half-and-half (I used heavy cream because that is what I had on hand)
• 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (depending on taste, I use 1 teaspoon)
• 1- 9 inch deep-dish pie shell

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, beat mashed sweet potatoes and cream cheese on medium speed, until smooth.

Beat in sugar and half-and-half for approximately 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Add butter, eggs, vanilla extract and cinnamon and beat until well blended. Pour mixture into pie shell.

Bake for about 1 hour or until the pie filling is puffed and set around the middle. The center of the pie should still jiggle slightly. Once the pie is done, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Source: Good Housekeeping

Fudge Pie

March is my favorite month. My birthday is in March and the weather always seems to turn so nice once March arrives. This week the temperature has been in the low 80s and it has been wonderful. Flowers are in full bloom and I am finding any excuse possible to be outside.

Other than my birthday and the nice weather there are also a few fun “holidays” in March: Pi Day (on 3/14) and St.Patrick’s Day. Although Pi day might not seem to be that big of a deal, any excuse to make a pie is fine with me. I actually made two pies in honor of Pi Day, a chocolate meringue pie and this fudge pie. I have been wanting to share this fudge pie for awhile and thought Pi day would be the perfect opportunity.

This fudge pie is one of my favorite desserts. It is so simple to make and takes little effort. I first learned of this pie from Russell’s family. When we first began dating all I heard about was this wonderful fudge pie but it took several years for me to actually have the opportunity to try it for myself. At the first bite I was sold. Chocolately, fudgey---perfect! Everywhere we have moved I have had to adjust the baking time since ovens can vary. I prefer mine to have more of a fudgey texture so I bake my pie for about 20 minutes. If you prefer more of a brownie texture bake it a little longer. This is seriously a no-fuss pie. I keep frozen pie shells in the freezer specifically for this recipe. Quick, simple, and taste great--you really can’t go wrong with that combination!

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Ingredients:

• 1 frozen unbaked regular sized pie shell or your favorite pie crust
• 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove frozen pie shell from the freezer.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat.

Once butter has melted, stir in sugar, flour, and cocoa powder. Once ingredients have been combined, remove from heat.

Whisk in eggs until fully incorporated. Pour pie filling in the pie shell.

Bake for 19-20 minutes (longer if you would prefer more of a brownie texture than a fudge texture). Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or chilled.

Source: Russell’s Mom

“Key” Lime Pie

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Recently I have been focusing on making things that I have, up until recently, never really liked. This “Key” Lime Pie is one of those projects. I have discovered that I now enjoy a lot of things I didn’t like before. I have two different key lime pie recipes in my queue to try. The first is very simple, requires few ingredients, and includes a whipped cream topping. The second is more involved and features a meringue topping. Short on time, I decided to save the second recipe for another day and try the simpler one. It was a success! I wouldn’t say that it was my favorite dessert, but Russell loved it! If you are unable to find Key limes (like myself) you can use regular limes (hence the title) and the pie still turns out great.

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Ingredients:

“Key” Lime Pie:

• Graham Cracker Crust for a 9 inch pie pan
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lime zest
• 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Directions:

Make and pre-bake graham cracker crust at 350 degrees F for 7 minutes. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat eggs, lime juice, lime zest, and condensed milk until smooth. Pour into prepared graham cracker crust.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until pie is set. Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Place in refrigerator and let chill for at least 2 hours. Top with whipped cream (directions below).

To make whipped cream: In a chilled bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks are about to form. Add sugar and if using, vanilla, and beat until peaks form. Be sure not to over-beat, or the cream will separate and become lumpy.

Source: Bake at 350: Not-so-Key Lime Pie

No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie and an Update

Hello again! I am sorry there has been a lack of posts recently-- Russell and I were very busy this past year! In April we moved from Virginia to Texas, and in October we moved from Texas to Georgia. Following the holidays we had a sweet baby boy in early January! To say the least I have been a little short on time. Towards the end of my pregnancy I wanted to cook and bake, especially for the holidays, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it. Now that we have Jake, I am getting back into some kind of a routine (as much of a routine as a new mommy can have!). I am looking forward to getting back into the kitchen and cooking/baking some new dishes! Now onto the delicious no-bake peanut butter pie I made for Christmas dinner…

I love peanut butter desserts, as does my brother-in-law. Since our family came to my house for Christmas I thought it would be a great time to make a wonderful peanut butter pie for my brother-in-law to enjoy. I wanted to make something that was simple and could be made ahead of time, leaving me more time to focus on the other dishes I would be making for our Christmas meal. The pie turned out wonderful and everyone loved it so much that it was completely gone by the next day!

Before this pie I had always bought pre-made graham cracker pie crust, but let me assure you, making your own graham cracker crust is the way to go! It is very simple to make and tastes much better than the pre-made graham cracker crust you can buy at the store. You can even buy already crushed graham cracker crumbs, so you can skip that step if you wish.

Peanut Butter Pie:

Ingredients:

• Graham Cracker crust, recipe below
• 5 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• heaping 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 8 ounce container of frozen whipped cream, thawed
• Reeses’ cups chopped for topping, optional
• Additional whipped cream for topping, optional

Directions:

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.

Spoon mixture into graham cracker crust. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. Top with chopped Reeses’ cups and serve with a dollop of whip cream.

Adapted from: All Recipes: Peanut Butter Pie

Graham Cracker Crust:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix in melted butter. Press mixture into 9-inch pie plate. Chill for about 1 hour.

Source: All Recipes: Graham Cracker Crust