Toasted Pecan Pie from Hometown Cooking

Even though we just celebrated Thanksgiving, and I have plenty for which to be thankful, this will be a short post this week.

Why?

I’m getting ready for Christmas.

Again.

Every year it arrives so quickly, and every year I’m not ready in time, even after swearing that I will start earlier the next year. (And I imagine that I’m not alone.)

But it never happens…except for this year.

I want to spend time with my family in the days leading up to Christmas...baking cookies, making candy, eating pie (wait till you see what I have planned for this next Sunday!), sledding, drinking hot cocoa, (or dreaming of sledding while drinking hot cocoa, since we probably won’t have any snow by then), shoveling snow, building snow forts, (again, just dreaming), reading Christmas stories, watching Christmas movies, helping my kids make their Christmas presents…all the fun stuff that makes the season bright.

What I will not be doing this year is what I do every year...staying up until 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve wrapping presents because I waited until the last minute. (Literally. I’m still wrapping presents after Santa lays a finger aside his nose, gives a wink – or is it a nod? – and up the chimney he rises.)

 

I have a good start. I spent much of this weekend shopping and running errands, so I’m ahead of the game, and I want to keep it that way.

So, I’m sharing the recipe for the Toasted Pecan Pie that I made for Thanksgiving. (My mom also made a delicious traditional pumpkin pie. I’ll have to share the recipe with you sometime.)

For now, I’m off to do more shopping and prepping for Christmas. Only 29 days left!

Hoping you had a happy Thanksgiving!

Yours in pie,

Mindy

My 4-year-old daughter couldn't wait to eat this pie and started with the crust.

 

This is my favorite pecan pie. Well, just barely, after diving into the Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie I made last week to celebrate my son’s birthday. This pie is so yummy! I entered it in the Iowa State Fair in 2004 and took first place in the pecan pie class. Toasting the pecans brings out their flavor and gives them a nice crunch, and the added buttery, maple pecan topping really puts this pie over the top!

I found this recipe more than ten years ago, in the August 2001 issue of Hometown Cooking Magazine, and it’s been my favorite pecan pie ever since. Hometown Cooking is also my favorite cooking magazine. Or I should say, was. It’s no longer published. It ran from October 1999 until its last issue in August 2002. I know because I have every issue. (Yes, still. And they are not going anywhere.) Each issue featured the best hometown cooks from across the country and their favorite recipes, and highlighted the community cookbooks which featured those recipes. The magazine was such a great source of delicious tried-and-true dishes, which were also tested in the kitchens at Better Homes & Gardens. (Meredith Corporation published both magazines.)

 

 

 

So while you make and enjoy this tried-and-true Toasted Pecan Pie, I’ll be scanning recipes and catching up on old issues of Hometown Cooking – after I finish my Christmas shopping!

 

Toasted Pecan Pie

from Hometown Cooking Magazine, August 2001

Pastry for single-crust 9-inch pie

4 slightly beaten eggs

1 c. sugar

2/3 c. light corn syrup

1/3 c. pure maple syrup

¼ c. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. salt

¾ c. pecan halves, toasted and chopped

¾ c. pecan halves, toasted

3 T. sugar

3 T. pure maple syrup

1 T. butter

 

For filling:

Combine eggs, 1 c. sugar, corn syrup, 1/3 c. maple syrup, ¼ c. melted butter, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Stir in ¾ c. chopped pecans. Pour filling into prepared pastry shell. Cover edge of pie with foil to prevent overbrowning. Bake pie in 350° oven for 45-50 minutes, until knife inserted off-center comes out clean.

 

For topping:

Combine ¾ c. pecan halves, 3 T. sugar, 3 T. maple syrup, and 1 T. butter in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 100% power (high) for 1 ½ minutes; stir. Spoon the topping over the warm, baked pie. Cool completely on wire rack.

 

To toast pecans:

Spread pecan halves in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake in 350° oven for 5-10 minutes or until light golden brown, watching carefully and stirring once or twice to prevent burning.

 

Special note: The magazine gives nutrition information for each recipe. This recipe was divided into 12 servings, and I don’t think I’ve ever cut a pie into that many slices! Even so, I’m not going to freak you out with the fact that this pie has 453 calories per serving (that’s 1/12^th of the pie)…just enjoy it before you set your New Year’s resolutions.

 

Not Too Late for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie

Better late than never.

That’s what “they” always say, but I wonder if “they” considered that it might not always be true. Think about it…

What if an ambulance or the police showed up two hours after you made a 911 call, at least for a call other than one your two-year-old made while experimenting with the phone? (I may or may not have stared dumbfounded at an officer at my front door at 7 a.m. one Saturday morning.) Or, what if you made it to the airport three minutes after your plane left the runway? (Well, I guess you could get another flight.) Or, what if you’re an expectant mother who has gone into labor and is waiting on the anesthesiologist to give you an epidural? (Yesterday would have been too late in that case.)

Fortunately, it’s always better late than never for pie. (Unless you hired a caterer to serve pie instead of cake to 300 wedding guests and the caterer had your wedding as the following Saturday on his schedule. And, you found out at your reception.)

We did have our pie on Sunday this week. It’s what was in the pie that was better late than never…

It seems like I’m always a month behind when it comes to pumpkin season. In September, when everyone is bursting at the seams to crank up the apple peeler/corer/slicer and whip out 30 batches of applesauce in addition to caramel apples, apple cakes, apple crisps, apple pie bars, and of course, apple pie, I’m trying to catch up with the end of summer. (I mean, did you read about my dad’s tomatoes? It’s November, and I still have a few sitting on my counter!)

I don’t usually get to any significant apple recipes until after I make my first trip to the orchard. It was the first weekend in October when I made Caramel Apple-Pecan Pie. That’s when everyone else began whipping out their pumpkin recipes. Now, there is no way I could ever wait until November for pumpkin bars, and I baked a pan of my favorite recipe while it was still October. But there is something about pumpkin pie that says I have to wait until November. It’s meant for Thanksgiving.

So, in keeping with my odd schedule rule, I made pumpkin pie for Sunday, the first one in November. I’m glad I did because it really got me excited for Thanksgiving.

Break out the Pilgrim hats! Is it too soon for turkey?

It’s been several years since I made a pumpkin pie. I think the last time I did it was a not-so-classic version. While I really love traditional pumpkin pie, this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie from Midwest Living Magazine was a tasty, gentle variation.

Now...since you’ve all moved on from pumpkin season and are busy prepping for making Christmas candy, I’m going to enjoy my pre-Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

Yours in pie,

Mindy

 

 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie

from Midwest Living Magazine

Pastry for a single-crust 9-inch pie

1 15-oz. can pumpkin

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 5-oz. can (2/3-cup) evaporated milk

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ tsp. vanilla

Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry. Trim overhang to an even 1 inch all the way around. Tuck the crust under and flute the edges high. Do not prick pastry.

In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin, 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add 2 eggs; beat lightly with a fork just until combined. Gradually beat in evaporated milk.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add 1 egg and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Transfer cream cheese mixture to the pastry-lined pie plate. Place the pie plate on the oven rack. Carefully pour pumpkin mixture over cream cheese mixture. To prevent overbrowning, cover the edge of the pie with foil.

Bake in a 425°F oven for 15 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes more or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean, removing foil during the last 15 minutes of baking. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and store in the refrigerator within 2 hours.

 

A Thanksgiving Feast and Maple Custard Pie

I know it’s not yet Thanksgiving, but I couldn’t wait for popcorn and maple syrup.

What? Not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving?

It is for me. And for Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. Remember Snoopy popping a kitchen-full on their Thanksgiving special?

Each year as Thanksgiving draws closer, I recall the annual Kindergarten/First Grade Thanksgiving Feast from my elementary school days. As kindergarteners, we created our construction paper headbands, complete with construction paper feathers, and our paper bag dresses to look like the Native Americans (though I think we were Indians back then). We would make the long treacherous journey across the hallway to join the first graders, who were dressed in their own construction paper hats as Pilgrims, for a bountiful feast – of popcorn and maple syrup. (I’m sure there was more to our feast, I just can’t remember the rest of it because I loved the popcorn and maple syrup so much.) And the next year as first graders, we took our turn dressing as Pilgrims and welcomed the new kindergarteners, dressed as Native Americans themselves.

I don’t know if the Native Americans and the Pilgrims actually shared popcorn and maple syrup at the first Thanksgiving. If they didn’t, they should have. It could have been their early version of caramel corn. With a dash of salt, that’s just what it tastes like.
 

This is my new favorite popcorn, Farmers Best out of Rockwell City, Iowa. It air-pops light and fluffy.

Thinking about maple syrup, I was prompted to try something new this week. I typically stick to fruit or cream pies; making a pie each week, I have plenty of room to expand my repertoire. Sometime I plan to make a maple cream pie, but while browsing through Ken Haedrich’s Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie, I came across a recipe for Maple Custard Pie. Other than pumpkin, I don’t think I’ve ever made a custard pie, so this was a great time to start.

This pie was definitely the easiest one I’ve ever made. It’s not the most eye-appealing, but it has a nice maple flavor. It did not bake up as high as I would have expected, and at first glance I was disappointed. But after I took a bite, it was just the right amount of custard. Since Ken recommends using a light amber maple syrup, and dark amber was the only kind I could find around here at three stores, I decided to add another touch of maple by whipping some cream with a little maple syrup to sweeten.

Whether you make pie or popcorn (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t try both), add some pure maple syrup to sweeten your Fall days.

Yours in pie,

Mindy

 

Maple Custard Pie

Slightly adapted from Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie by Ken Haedrich.

Pastry for 9” single-crust pie

Filling:

1 ¼ c. heavy or whipping cream

½ c. pure maple syrup (light amber preferred)

1/3 c. sugar

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks

Partially prebake the crust: Line the pie plate with the pastry, then line with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes, then remove foil and pie weights and cool on a wire rack.

Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and whisk briefly until evenly mixed. Pour filling into cooled pie shell. Cover edges with foil. Place pie on center oven rack and bake until filling is nicely browned and set, 35 to 40 minutes total. About 25 minutes into baking, rotate pie 180 degrees. When done, the pie should be jiggly but not soupy in the middle. Cool pie thoroughly on a wire rack, then refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving. Serve with maple whipped cream, if desired.

For maple whipped cream, whip ¾ c. heavy cream with a wire whisk while slowly and gradually adding about 1 T. pure maple syrup, until just after soft peaks form. (I used ¾ c. cream because that’s what I had left after making the pie. You can use the amount you like and adjust the maple syrup as needed.)