Sugar Cookie Pie Crust

A friend of mine told me she had this amazing apple pie with a sugar cookie pie crust.  Well, that was years ago and I sort of forgot about it until recently.

As it turns out, sugar cookie pie crust is a really good idea.

One thing I noticed is that this pie crust comes out of the pan easily if it's room temperature or warm but once you refrigerate it, it's difficult at best.  The taste is sweet and yummy.  You might want to use this one with a not so sweet pie filling or else you'll have a super sweet pie.

I'm really glad I tried this.  It's original intent is for a tart, which I might try next.

Sugar Cookie Pie Crust
Recipe from Baking Bites

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400º
2. In a large bowl, or your stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Mix until light and fluffy.
3. Add the flour and salt and mix, then add the milk and vanilla extract. Mix until it is moist and crumbly.
4. The mixture should crumble but still be moist enough to hold together when you make it into a ball. 
5. Press the dough into the pie or tart plate (9 or 10 inch).  Make sure the bottom is even. 
6. For a no-bake filling: Bake for 25-30 minutes, until light golden brown. Let cool.
7. For a filling that needs to be baked: Bake for 15-20 minutes before filling.  Let cool and then fill and bake as the recipe instructs. 

Chicken and Dumplings

This recipe reminds me of one my gramma used to make.  We always had Sunday dinner at my gramma's house and this was one of my favorite dishes. This is not her actual recipe, but it was still close enough to make me homesick.

Perfect for a cold winters day, this dish firmly falls in the "comfort food" category.  Chicken soup topped with big fluffy dumplings that have steamed to perfection.  You just can't ask for more than that in my opinion.

I live in the South now, and they make their dumplings completely different here.  Totally delicious but totally different. The dumplings here are basically flat, wide pieces of pasta that are cooked inside of the soup so they sort of float around in there.  I also have a recipe for that sort of chicken and dumplings posted on this site but this recipe is the one that brings back memories for me.

Chicken and Dumplings

Recipe from jocooks.com

Ingredients

Dumplings:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 whole egg, beaten
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp chives, chopped
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Chicken Soup:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1/2 tsp dry thyme
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups roasted chicken, shredded. (Any part of the chicken will work, an assortment of both dark and light meat will add nice flavor)

Cooking Directions

1. In a large dutch oven or stock pot add the oil and then add the carrots, celery and onion. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the onion becomes translucent.
2. Add the thyme and chicken broth. 
3. In a small dish, whisk together a label full of broth and the flour.  Pour the mixture back into the pot and whisk to make sure there are no lumps. 
4. Add the frozen peas and the shredded chicken. 
5. Season with salt and pepper. Let simmer to thicken, while you make the dumplings. 
6. Place all the dumpling ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.  Do not over mix or the dumplings will be too dense. 
7. Dollop the dough onto the soup, keep in mind that the dumplings will double in size. I used a large tablespoon, perhaps 1/4 cup. 
8. Cover the pot and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Do not remove the top to check on them or it'll flatten your dumplings. Test them for doneness by using a toothpick inserted in the middle of the dumpling to come out clean. 

3-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies

I love recipes with only a few ingredients.  Less of a chance I'll mess it up.

These cookies took a little finessing in order to come together and become the right consistency. I can tell you that once you remove the dough from the mixing bowl, before you refrigerate it for an hour, it needs to be a smooth dough that holds together.  I needed to add a little water to make it work.  However once I got it together the rest was simple. This is a little hard to do when you're trying not to overwork the dough, but it's possible. You don't want to work the dough too much because it'll become tough.

It seems a bit odd to cut them and leave them together in one big piece before baking but that's what you're supposed to do. Once they come out of the oven you can re cut them, let them cool and then separate them.

They are delicious cookies.  Very tender, buttery and crumbly.  I loved the taste and next time I plan to dip one end in chocolate like the original post did. I added these cookies to the English Tea Party I threw for the neighborhood kids that always play together. These cookies were the perfect addition. I will make them again.

3-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies

Recipe from EugenieKitchen

Ingredients

• 1 cup salted butter at room temperature (if using unsalted add 1 tsp salt)
• 1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• melted chocolate (optional)

Cooking Directions

1. Sift the flour into a medium bowl, set aside.
2. Sift the confectioners' sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer (or a mixing bowl if doing it by hand)
3. Add the softened butter to the sugar and whisk until light and fluffy.
4. Add the flour to the butter mixture and fold in.
5. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead once with your hands.
6. Form into a ball and flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
7. Preheat the oven to 300º.
8. Place the chilled down onto a cookie sheet and roll out to 1/2 inch thick.
9. Cut into whatever shape you choose and pierce the middle with a fork so no air bubbles form.
10. Bake for 45 minutes until light golden brown.
11. Immediately cut the cookie again when they come out of the oven and let cool completely on the pan.

Apple Cake

In my house, we always have apples.  Oddly enough they are usually not baking apples.  My daughter loves to snack on apples and she'll eat at least 2 a day.  So when I buy apples I buy 2 bags at a time. Well, sometimes they start to look less than desirable toward the end.

That's when I start looking for recipes.

I found this one on the Internet and happened to have all the ingredients I needed, so I made it.

This cake is really good.  It's moist and has a good apple flavor. I poured a little confectioners' sugar glaze on top but it really doesn't need it.  It's pretty sweet on it's own but it sure looks pretty with the glaze.

This was a great use of apples.  Glad I found this recipe.


Apple Cake
Recipe from Gina's Favorites

Ingredients

• 2 whole eggs
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup oil
• 6 medium Gala, Fuji or Honey Crisp Apples - peeled, cored and sliced
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda

Cooking Directions

1. In a large bowl, or stand mixer bowl combine the eggs and sugar. Whisk until combined.
2. Add the ground cinnamon and oil and combine.
3. Add the sliced apples, combine into the mixture so they don't turn brown.
4. Add the flour and baking soda and mix to combine.
5. Spray a 9x13 inch dish or two 9 inch round cake pans with non stick spray and then put the mixture into them.
6. Bake at 375º for about 55 minutes Start checking for doneness at about 50 minutes.

Confectioners' Sugar Glaze

About 1 cup confectioners' sugar.  Add about 1/2 tsp vanilla.  Whisk in a little milk or water until the desired consistency is reached.  I used about 3 Tbsp or so. 

Chocolate Cream Pie

So there I was, trying to think of the next thing to put on this blog when it occurred to me that I hardly ever ask my daughter what SHE wants me to make.

So, of course it was chocolate.

And of course I was happy to oblige, even if it isn't even a week after Halloween and we have ton's of candy in the house.

I mean, who am I to say no.  Right?

Right.

Pinterest really comes in handy at times like these.  The original recipe uses a regular flour pie crust but I thought I'd like it more on a chocolate sandwich cookie pie crust.  So that's what I did.  When you make your own stuff from scratch you can do whatever you want. :)

The filling is super easy to make, just make sure to get it nice and cold before cutting so it doesn't slide all over the place.  The crust is super easy to make, and the whipped cream topping is super easy to make.  The longest part of making this pie is the time needed to refrigerate. Heck, you could even buy the pre-made Oreo pie crust and the pre-made whipped cream if you're really trying to save some effort but honestly, you'd be skimping on the flavor.  Homemade is best.

My whole family loved this pie, oh and we all loved it even more the second day.  Do yourself a favor and make it ahead of time so it can refrigerate for about a day.  It's amazing!!  The filling is super creamy and smooth, the whipped cream is light.  Add some mini chocolate chips to the top and you get that little texture every so often.  Just yum!

All you chocolate lovers will appreciate this recipe. Enjoy!

Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie

Pie Crust Recipe from What's Cooking America

Pie Filling Recipe from Cookie Madness

Ingredients

Chocolate Cookie Pie Crust

• 24 chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreo's)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Pie Filling

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp chocolate extract (optional)
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 to 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 to 4 Tbsp confectioners' sugar

Cooking Directions

1. You can also use a regular pie crust that has been pre-baked.
2. To make the chocolate sandwich cookie pie crust, place the cookies in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are finely ground. Drizzle in the melted butter and pulse a couple more times until it all comes together. Press the mixture into a deep dish pie plate and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan that is on a COLD stove add the sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Whisk together. 
4. Add the milk and egg yolks and whisk together.  Turn the heat on medium. Whisk continually until the mixture has begun to thicken. 
5. Add the butter one piece at a time and whisk until melted before adding the other. 
6. Add the vanilla extract, whisk.
7. Add the chocolate pieces a little at a time, whisking until incorporated before adding more. 
8. Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared pie shell, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours until cold. 
9. In the bowl of your stand mixer or use a hand held beater with the whisk attachment.  Add the cream and whisk until stiff peaks begin to form. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and whisk until incorporated. 
10. Spread the whipped cream onto the chocolate cream pie and top with shaved chocolate or mini chocolate chips if desired. 
11. Serve cold and refrigerate leftovers.