Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving place-cards that I made for our guests!
Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! There are so many things to be thankful for this time of year! One thing that I was particularly thankful for this Thanksgiving was the bountiful spread of delicious food and pies! Since no Thanksgiving day blog post is complete without a recipe (or two!), I thought I'd share two delicious new-to-me recipes from my Thanksgiving. I came across these recipes and immediately knew that I had to make them. I hope you enjoy these sweet treats!

I'll start by sharing the history of this delectable Apple-Sour Cream Crumb Pie that I made for my family. According to the Martha Stewart Living Magazine, this is the original Bookbinder's 1865 pie recipe. It's slightly more time-consuming than your average pie, but it is well worth-it! It is dense and a simple sliver is more than enough to satisfy a pie craving. We hosted more than twenty people for Thanksgiving this year, and our guests were literally raving about this pie! This is by no means a reflection of my baking skills; this is purely a reflection of this delicious pie! You must try this recipe for an upcoming holiday party. I promise that you won't be disappointed!

Apple-Sour Cream Crumb Pie 
Martha Stewart Living, November 2012

For the pie dough:
1cup + 2/3cup all-purpose flour 
2/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 stick + 3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup ice water

For the crumb topping:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

For the filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
Pinch of kosher salt
16 ounces sour cream (I used light sour cream and it was still rich and delicious!)
2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 Gold Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch wedges

Directions: 
1. Make the pie dough: Combine flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse to blend. Add butter, pulsing until pea-size clumps form. With food processor running add ice water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until mixture just comes together. Shape dough into disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes. 

2. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface into a 15 inch round (1/4 inch thick). Fit dough into a 10-inch pie plate and cut excess dough to fit the plate. Crimp dough edges, or use your fingers to create a scalloped edge. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. 

3. Make the crumb topping: Whisk sugars, flour, cinnamon and salt together in a medium-size bowl. Add butter and combine with a pastry cutter. Stir in walnuts and form topping into large clumps with your hands. Refrigerate topping until ready to use. 

4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees with 2 racks in the lower third portion of the oven.

5. Make the filling: Whisk sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in sour cream, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Add apples, tossing to coat. Pour apple mixture into refrigerated pie crust. 

6. Place an empty rimmed baking sheet (be sure to line it with aluminum foil for easy clean-up!) on the lowest rack in the oven to catch any drips and then bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes, until apples are golden brown, juices are bubbling, and the crust is golden brown. 

7. Remove topping from the refrigerator and crumble over hot filling. I took the pie out of the oven for a minute or two for this step. Bake until topping is browned and set, apples are tender, and the bottom crust is thoroughly baked, about 50 minutes. 

8. Remove pie from oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack, 3 to 4 hours.

9. Slice and serve. Enjoy! 
This pie was dense, delicious, and delectable! 

The second pie that I made for this wonderful Thanksgiving holiday was a maple bourbon pecan pie. I usually just use the recipe on the back of the Karo Corn Syrup container, which is delicious and sugary and chock full of fat and sugar, but this year, I decided that I wanted to lighten things up a bit and I began searching for a healthier pecan pie alternative. In the past, I have found some cooking light recipes to be hit-or-miss...mostly hits, but occasional misses, so I really wasn't sure how this pie would turn out. But, I was reassured by the overwhelmingly positive reviews of the recipe and I decided to give this a try. I knew that with the additions of maple syrup and bourbon, the pie would have lots of flavor. And I knew that the flavors could all work well together. I just wasn't sure if it would live up to the pecan pie recipe on the back of the corn syrup container! Alas, I decided that I was up for the challenge! It turned out to be delicious and I definitely want to make this pie again! I used a store-bought pie dough and this pie literally took me less than ten minutes of hands-on time to make. It was a welcome reprieve from the labor intensive apple-sour cream crumb pie! Without further ado...here's the lightened up pecan pie recipe! Enjoy! :-)

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie 
Cooking Light, November 2011

1/2 package (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (I used Pillsbury)
Cooking spray
3/4 cup pecan halves (I used a few more than this)
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup maple syrup (use good quality, high-grade maple syrup)
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Flute the edges of the dough and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

3. Combine chopped pecans and remaining ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well to combine. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Layer 3/4 cups + of pecan halves on top of the pie and arrange in a pretty pattern. Bake at 350 degrees for 38 minutes, until center of pie is almost set. Cool on wire rack for one hour. 

4. Slice, serve, and enjoy! 
This was so tasty and so easy to make!

I hope you enjoy making these delicious pies! Happy Holidays! 
xoxo

No comments:

Post a Comment