Caramel Apple Pie

Note: Let me apologize for this picture, I was lucky to snack anything to get a picture before this was devoured by O and a few friends! I will try to get a better picture when I make this again in the coming weeks.

This is Owen’s favorite apple pie. I originally found it on Allrecipes as Grandma
Opies Apple pie. I have made some changes over the years to suit out tastes more, and now it is the most requested apple pie I make, the main change I made is the addition of cinnamon - it isn't a true apple pie around here unless there is cinnamon.


Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
8 apples - peeled, cored and sliced (I like to use a slightly tart, baking apple)
Pastry dough for a double crust 9 inch pie



Directions:
1. Roll out the bottom crust of the pie and place in the pie plate.
2. Pile the apple slices into the pie crust, you want them so they mound slightly in the middle.
3. In a pot on the stove, melt the butter. Mix in the flour so that it forms a paste.
4. To the butter ‘paste’ add the sugars and water. Mix well and bring to a simmer until it thickens.
5. Add the cinnamon to the butter sugar mixture and pour over the apples in the pie crust.
6. Roll out and add the top crust (we use a full top crust with slits cut in it, but a lattice top works nicely as well if you like less crust).
7. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 350F and continue to cook for about 35 minutes.

Note: This pie freezes well. Just wrap in tinfoil and place in the freezer after step 6. When baking it, don’t let it thaw, pop it right into the oven and add an extra 20 to 30 minutes to the cook time.

Reviews:
This pie always gets great reviews, and is always requested when I ask if I should make an apple pie.

Banana Caramel PIe

I was playing around on Pinterest (oh so addicting) and say the picture for this delicious pie. My cousin was visiting and when she saw the picture, she declared we had to try making it. It also suits her style of cooking as you can get most of the ingredients premade.

Ingredients:
Graham cracker pie crust (homemade or store bought)
3 bananas
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
whipping cream/ whipped cream/ coolwhip

Directions:
1. Remove the label from the can of sweetened condensed milk and place in a pot of water (the water should cover the can). Boil the can for 2.5 hours.
2. Peal and slice the bananas. Layer the banana slices in the pie shell.
3. Pour the caramel from step 1 over the bananas and smooth.
4. Top with the whipped cream (whip this if necessary) or cool whip.
5. Place in the fridge to chill and set for 1 hour.


Reviews:
We all loved this pie, so yummy! It is rather sweet however and can be a little messy despite being in the fridge. If I made this again, I would also not put the whipped cream on until I am ready to serve it, as it got a little melted coming in and out of the fridge.

Mini Apple Pies

I was making a lot of apple pies, and had all the little trimmings of pie crust. Seeing them all sitting there in a big pile made it impossible for me to through them out. I had to do something with them. I didn't want to do anymore pies, and I am not a fan of overworked dough, so I made mini pies!

Ingredients:
Pie crust
1 apple
dash of cinnamon
Sprinkle of brown sugar
dash of flour

Directions:
1. Cut the pie crust into little rounds - this will depend on the size of the mini-muffin tin you have, but a 3" circle worked well for me for the bottom and a 2.5" circle for the top.
2. Mix the apple chunks, cinnamon, flour and sugar together (I just give it a quick taste to see if I like the mix - i find this better than any measurements as all types of apples will need varying amounts of sugar).

3. Assemble pies in a mini-muffin tin, crimp the edges and bake for about 20 minutes at 350F.

Reviews:
Everyone loved these little bite sized pies. They were easy to transport to people, you didn't need to bring along any plates or forks, as they could just pick them up and pop them in your mouth. Some friends have named the "Two bite Apple Pies" as they reminded them of two bite brownies.

Simple Apple Pie - For the Freezer

In the fall when apples are cheap (directly from the orchards) I like to stock up and make apple pies for the winter. It is great for potlucks and chilly nights to come home and just pop a pie in the oven, without the work of slicing apples and making pie dough. This is just a simple pie that I like to have in the freezer for those days. (I am really sorry for the no picture, they are all lost in the freezer)

Ingredients:
Pie crust for a double crust pie (I use the recipe on the tenderflake container for freezer pies, I find it freezers really well)
4 to 5 cups of apples
2 tbsp flour
½ tbsp cinnamon
½ to 1 cup sugar (depending on your taste and the sweetness of apples)
1 tbsp butter

Directions:
1. Roll out the pie shell and line a tin pie plate. Roll the top crust to have ready.
2. Peel, core and slice the apples.
3. Toss the apples with the flour, cinnamon and sugar.
4. Place the apples in the pie shell, and place cubes of butter on top.
5. Top with the top crust, and seal the edges. Cut a vent in the top.
6. Cover the pie with tin(aluminum foil) and place in freezer.
To Bake:
1. Place directly from the freezer into an oven at 450F, and bake for 15 mintues.
2. Turn the oven down to 350F and bake for an additional 45-60 minutes. If the top crust becomes too brown cover with the aluminum foil to finish baking.
Reviews:
Owen loves the fact that he can have apple pie anytime he wants – all he has to do (or I have to do) is put it in the oven. Friends have received frozen pies and have Loved them. The only unfortunate part is that odd shape of a pie takes up freezer space. You can also do this as a filling (like I have done for peach and apricot) and put into a fresh pie shell to conserve freezer space.

I have made about 15 of these this year, and many went to friends. I have gotten rave reviews from everyone who has cooked theirs so far!

Pie Crust for the Freezer

This recipe makes enough crust for 3 double crust pies, and as I am generally making at least that many when I am doing freezer pies, this is what I use. I am pretty sure that this is the recipe that is printed on the boxes of tenderflake. This has never failed for me and always comes out of the freezer with great results.
Ingredients:
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
l lb Tenderflake lard
1 tbsp vinegar
1 egg, lightly beaten
Water

Directions:
Mix together flour and salt.

Cut in Tenderflake lard with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles course oatmeal.

In a one cup measure, combine vinegar and egg and add cold water to make one cup. Gradually stir liquid into flour/lard mixture. You may not have to use all the liquid, add a little at a time until the dough clings together. (If it is really dry out, you may have to add an extra tablespoon of water)

Gather into a ball. Divide into six portions and wrap before placing in the fridge. I like to leave them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using them, then let them warm for 20 to 30 minutes on the counter. These will keep in the fridge for about a week.

Roll out each portion on lightly floured surface.

Maple Apple Pie

I wanted something a little special for thanksgiving dinner apple pie, as we will be eating apple pies a lot this winter. One of my friends sent me a link to her Maple Apple Pie recipe and I knew this is what I had to make – my Mom is a huge fan of anything maple.

Ingredients:
1- 9 inch unbaked pie shell
2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, & thinly sliced
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP unsifted all-purpose flour (keep amounts separate)
1/2 cup REAL maple syrup
2 TBSP butter, melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup COLD butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
1. Place rack in lowest position in oven & preheat to 400.
2. In a large bowl, combine apple slices & 2 TBSP flour. Toss to coat.
3. Separately, combine syrup & melted butter together. Pour over apples, mix well, & place in pie shell.
4. In a medium bowl, combine remaining 1.2 cup flour, sugar, & cinnnamon. Cut in the cold butter until cumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apples.
5. Bake 10 minutes then reduce heat to 375. Bake for an additional 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Reviews:
This went over really well with everyone who was eating the apple pie. Mom loved it as it had maple, and Owen liked it stating that it didn’t taste strongly of maple (which he views as a bad thing).

Classic "Key" Lime Pie

Creamy “Key” Lime Pie

Alright, so I am not big on pies that have chunks in them, but I love creamy pies. And I love lime, I will eat almost anything lime flavored. So naturally I am in love with lime pies. I have previously tried a “cheater” key lime pie, and it was great (people at work still demand it whenever there is a potluck), but I wanted to try the real thing. I stumbled upon this recipe for “Classic Key Lime pie” and decided I HAD to try it. To my luck key limes and key lime juice are pretty hard to find here (go figure that a citrus fruit is hard to find in the frozen north – I exaggerate, we do get a month or two of nice weather a year). Sadly I had to use regular lime juice – it was still yummy.

“Key” Lime Pie
Crust
1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup melted margerine
¼ cup shredded coconut

Filling
3 large egg yolks
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces or 300ml can)
2/3 cup Lime juice (I used Realime)

Directions:
1. Mix the ingredients for the crust together and press into the bottom of 9 inch pie dish. Bake at 325F for 15min. Let sit as you mix the filling.
2. Put the egg yolks into a bowl and beat with a mixer on high speed for 4 minutes.
3. Stir in the condensed milk until smooth and then beat at high speed for 4 minutes. It should thicken and increase a little in volume.
4. Add the lime juice and stir until the mixture is just combined.
5. Pour the pie into the crust and bake at 325F for about 25 minutes. (The recipe said that the middle of the pie should be around 145F, but mine was higher than that and was still fine).
6. Remove the pie from the oven and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for several hours.
7. Enjoy


Reviews:
I LOVED this pie, I sat down and ate ¼ of the pie and still wanted more. It was so light, creamy and not too much sweetness allowing the lime to shine. O thought it was alright, but he isn’t a fan of anything to tart or sour, so limes are not a big favorite of his. We had friends over and before they knew it they were done their second slices of pie and having to stop themselves from going for another – apparently I am not the only one addicted to this pie.

The coconut in the crust is great as well – a nice little surprise that adds something to the pie, but doesn’t distract from the fantastic lime filling.

Mini Pie in a Jar!

Upon looking for things to do with my peaches, I came across and interesting idea on Eating Well Anywhere for Pie in a Jar and Crisp in a jar. While the crisp in a jar looked really easy, I know that the people in my house are bigger fans of pie, so I thought I would try those. I checked out the links and liked the instructions on Lloyd and Lauren.

I immediately went on the search for the right jar – we had some of the 4 oz jars kicking around, but those were not big enough the stomachs I feed, so it was off to the store. I managed to find some nice low, widemouth 8 oz jars that don’t narrow at the neck. Perfect!

I came back the house and proceeded to put O to work pealing and slicing peaches (I figure if he is going to enjoy all the pies, he could at least help a few of the 60lbs of peaches I ended up dealing with this year). As he was busy with the peaches I made pie crust. I happened to be at my parents house while trying to do this, and of course never thought to look and see if they had lard, or what they had for recipes. They had Crisco in the house and so I simply used the recipe off box. I don’t know that I will be using it again, as it wasn’t my favourite to work with – we will see how it turns out after baking.

Then I made the pie filling:

6 cups of sliced peaches
¼ cup brown sugar
2-3 tsp Cinnamon

Mix together, and place in Pie tin.

I put the bottom crust into the each of 6 jars, then filled the jars with pie filling.


Once the filling was in, I topped each pie with a circle of crust and crimped the edges. After putting the tops on the pies (and cutting a vent) I put the lids on the jars and into the freezer they went.

To bake:
Let me the pie thaw some before putting it in the oven – if the jars go from extreme cold to extreme heat, they could shatter. Remember to take the lid off before baking.

Bake the pie at 400F for 30 to 40 mintues (I am not sure how long with is going to be, as I haven’t baked one yet). The crust should be a lovely golden colour.


Reviews:
These were fun to make and turned out really cute. I am looking forward to seeing how well they bake. Due to the rearranging of the pantry and arrival of new freezers this week, it may be a while before I actually bake one.

Freezer Peach Pie Filling

Owen loves peach pie in all sorts of variety, he especially loves to have pies in the middle of winter. I know that you could just go out and buy a can of peaches or pie filling – but what fun is that when I have more than enough peaches at home right now? I love the ease of just taking something out of the freezer as well, so I often make a few pie fillings with the fruit I get in the summer and pop them in the freezer.

Ingredients/materials:
4 to 5 cups peeled, pitted and sliced peaches (This was the amount of fruit that looked good to me in the pie plate, you might want more or less, use how much you like)
½ cup sugar (if you have really sweet fruit you may want to decrease this)
¼ cup flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1.Place the peach slices in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Gently mix until everything is well mixed.
2.Place a Ziploc freezer back inside a pie plate and spoon the mixture into the bag, filling the plate.
3.Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Put the pie plate with the bag of fruit in the freezer. The pie plate can be removed after the filling has frozen.

When you want to bake the pie:
1.Remove the pie from the freezer, and place in an unbaked crust. Cover with the top crust and seal the edges. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
2.Bake at 375F about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours – the crust should be brown, and the filling bubbling in the center.

Note: A lot of recipes say to wrap the pie filling in tin/aluminum foil, I tried that last year, and while it kept the fillings fresh, it was a pain to peal off before baking. More than once, I had to sit with a fork and pick out pieces that had ripped off. So this year I am trying the bag route, I figure they work really well for all my freezer meals so hopefully they will keep my pie fillings tasty.

Freezer Apricot Pie Filling

After Owen and Iza eating apricots for 2 days, as well as making apricot jam, there was still an abundance of apricots to be used, so I decided to try freezer pie fillings (I might try to use them to make a cobbler as well, we will see how things go). I have never made these before, so hopefully it works out alright.

Ingredients/materials:
4 to 5 cups halved, pitted apricots (This was the amount of fruit that looked good to me in the pie plate, you might want more or less, use how much you like)
½ cup sugar (if you have really sweet fruit you may want to decrease this)
1 to 2 tbsp flour ( if your apricots don’t have a lot of juice use the 1 tbsp of flour)
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1.Place the apricots in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Gently mix until everything is well mixed.
2.Place a Ziploc freezer back inside a pie plate and spoon the mixture into the bag, filling the plate.
3.Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Put the pie plate with the bag of fruit in the freezer. The pie plate can be removed after the filling has frozen.

When you want to bake the pie:
1.Remove the pie from the freezer, and place in an unbaked crust. Cover with the top crust and seal the edges. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
2.Bake at 375F about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours – the crust should be brown, and the filling bubbling in the center.

Note: A lot of recipes say to wrap the pie filling in tin/aluminum foil, I tried that last year, and while it kept the fillings fresh, it was a pain to peal off before baking. More than once, I had to sit with a fork and pick out pieces that had ripped off. So this year I am trying the bag route, I figure they work really well for all my freezer meals so hopefully they will keep my pie fillings tasty.

Pie Donuts (Sorry for taking so long with this one)

Alright, so I am really late on putting this up, but by the amount of interest my simple mention of these delightful treat created, I thought I would still do the post.

I stumbled across these on CakeSpy one day, and decided I had to try making them. I don’t eat cooked fruit, but they looked like fun. Now they had made a banana filled Pie Donut and while that was great, I know my H has a soft spot for peaches, and seeing as how I still had some packets of frozen peaches from the large peach deliver summer 08, I decided to try peach donuts!

I used the same recipe for the pie dough as Cakespy, and it worked well (I did have to add a little more liquid to get a rollable consistency).

Filling:
1 can of peach slices drained (I used a packet of frozen peaches I had prepared myself, but it is the same)
Cinnamon to taste (I used about 1 tsp)

Cut the peaches into small cubes, this can be done with a fork and doing a rough mash of the slices. You still want some small chunks, not a puree.

Mix in the cinnamon, and leave sit while you roll out the dough.

Donuts:
The recipe can be found here.

I rolled out the dough, and then cut it into strips about 7cm wide for you Canadians (My ruler was in cm, but I think that is about 1.5 inches), and experimented with different lengths. I found the shorter ones worked best, as longer ones made donuts that were big in size, but floppy as they were a little skinny.

Next fill with you filling:

Don’t add too much or you won’t be able to close the dough around it.

Close the dough around the filling wetting the edges of the dough so it sticks together and pull around into a circle.



Next Deep fry the donut until brown and crispy. Drain on a paper towel.



I topped mine with a simple vanilla icing.



Mine don’t look as pretty as Cakespy’s, but everyone really like them and I am getting asked all the time when I am going to make more now, by people who have had them and people wanting to try them. They were less work than I thought going in and fun to do, but not something I am willing to do on a regular basis.

Peaches and Cream Pie

Well the actual recipe I found was "Award WinningPeaches and Cream Pie" by Debbi Borsick, but seeing as how I changed the recipe a little, and I have won no prizes, I didn't think it fair to keep the Award Winning.

Anyways, I had a ton of peaches to deal with (and still have a few more), so what is the first thing you think of when your peaches are getting ripe on you - Peach Pie! I wanted to do something fun with this one, I knew I would get sick of them soon, and who doesn't like peaches and cream. The recipe had some great review and looked easy enough, so I hauled my Hubs to the grocery store and then got cooking.

Now, this is not a traditional pie crust, but I have to say that it is pretty tasty. It isn't what you think of though when you think of traditional peach pie.

Peaches and Cream "Pie"

"Crust"
1 box (non instant) vanilla pudding mix
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Filling:
~26 ounces of fresh peaches, pealed and sliced

Topping:
8 ounce block of cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
Any juice left from the peaches

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease the sides of a 10inch deep pie plate.
2. Mix together the pudding mix, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in the egg, milk and butter. Beat at medium to high for 2 minutes before pouring into the pie plate.
3. Arrange the peaches over the batter.
4. Cream the cream cheese until fluffly, then add in the sugar and up to 3Tbsp of the peach juice. Spoon this mixture over the peaches.
5. Sprinkle the top with sugar and cinnamon ( I don't know the proportions I used or how much, as I have a premixed shaker in my cupboard I use to top stuff).
6. Bake in the oven for 30-35 mintues until the top is golden.
7. Allow to cool and chill in the fridge slightly before serving.

Review:
Hubs loves this, it is one of the few food that has been called "great" in a while (high praise from the man with no discriminating taste - he will eat pretty much anything). He has not gotten sick of it yet, even though last night he said "I never want to see another peach". When asked if that included this pie - he quickly said that the pie could stay!

Super Quick and Easy Key Lime Pie

I have been told that I am odd due to a strong aversion to cooked fruit resulting in me not eating pie. However, I do love cream pies and pies that do not include chunks of cooked fruit and at the top of my list is Key Lime. However, I really just do not have the patience for juicing limes in order to actually make to pie. I was excited upon opening an issue of Real Simple to find a quick (and cheater) recipe for making key lime pie. I couldn’t wait to try it, and due to the sweltering heat that has been moving in over the past few days, it would be the perfect dessert.

Ingredients:
1 frozen limade concentrate
1 cup heavy/ whipping cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 prepared graham cracker crust.

How to:
1.Mix together the frozen limade concentrate, cream and condensed milk in a bowl and cream with an electric mixer (with a whisk attachment) until it is light an d fluffy, forming soft peaks.
2. Pour the filling into the crust and smooth the top.
3. Refrigerate until chilled and loosely set (4hour to overnight)

For garnish, sprinkle to top with lime zest before surving.

Reviews:
This was a great light and refreshing desert. It has gotten rave reviews from all my coworkers (who managed to polish off 30 tarts in a lunch) and friends who told me they were keeping the leftovers after a BBQ.