A Pie Per Week: Brown Sugar Pie

Brown Sugar

Brian:  Before we get to today's pie, I just want to thank folks for all of their wonderful suggestions.  We have been given a really cool recipe for a "soda pie" and another reader has suggested we make a savory pie.  We plan on making both, and would love to hear more!

Brown Sugar

Angie:  We got off to a bit of a tough start because we had not purchased enough brown sugar.  Fortunately my good friend Christy's cabinet came to the rescue, and we were well on our way.

Mix eggs and brown sugar

Brian:  I was chief baker on this pie, but this is as straightforward a pie as you can get.  You mix together your brown sugar, flour, salt, eggs, vanilla, and whole milk.  

Add Milk

Brian:  Once you have mixed it all together, you just need to add to the pie shell.  We doubled the recipe, but it actually made enough for 3 pies.

Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell

Brian:  The pie has the shiniest texture I have yet to see on a pie.

A shiny, shiny pie

Brian:  Though I was the primary mixer of ingredients, where Angie really helps me out a ton, is to determine when a pie is ready to come out.  With a cake or brownie, you can always do the "toothpick test."  If you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean, you are good.  With a pie, you have to use what I call the "jiggle test." If the pie is jiggling when you move it, it still has time to bake.

Surface will rise when baking

Angie:  The recipe called for 30 minutes, and we ended up cooking these for over one hour.  Now, we were cooking three pies instead of one, and I've found that to make a difference.  All ovens cook differently, and some have dead spots, so just be sure to check your pies and make adjustments as needed.

We had enough for 3 pies

Brian:  I really enjoyed this pie.  It is very reminiscent of pecan pie, which I don't care for, but yet I liked this one.  The major difference, other than not having pecans, is that this pie was not buttery sweet.  I like sweet, and I like buttery, I just don't like that combination together.  It is the same reason I can't stand butter on my pancakes.  As a matter of fact, I would love to add pecans to this and try it, because I love pecans!

Brown sugar pie close-up

Angie:  I only wish I'd had some vanilla ice cream to top this pie off!!  We will definitely make this one at Thanksgiving with pecans.

Brian:  Stay tuned to next week's blog.  We will be celebrating our anniversary, so who will be filling in?

Recipients of the Week

Our pie recipients of the week are Tony and Wendy.  Wendy is Angie's cousin, and Angie works in Tony's dental practice.  They have a wonderful family, they are very generous, and just people who you enjoy being around.  Wendy has been a great encouragement, often telling Angie that she has the "family touch" when it comes to cooking.  They have three great boys, and Nolan below appears to be enjoying the pie for breakfast.

Recipe

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

3 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed

5 Tbs. flour

1/8 tsp. salt

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups whole milk

In a large mixing bowl combine ingredients in order given.  Pour into pie shell.  Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven 30 minutes.

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A Pie Per Week: Blackberry Pie

Blackberry Pie

Brian:  This week has been really fun. People from our Life Group helped deliver pies last week, and lots of the stories came trickling in.  One of the members of our group told me "I can understand why you do this each week!  It is so fun to see their reaction and surprise when you give them the pie!"  I'm glad they had fun, and I hope we can do some group pie giveaways in the future.  If we have inspired to give away a pie, we would love to hear and share your story.

Blackberry Pie Ingredients

Angie:  Brian was travelling on Sunday, so I performed this week's baking duties.  We have been tossing around the idea of making a blackberry pie for quite sometime.  We went to purchase fruit from Anderson Orchard, this time in the way of frozen fruit.  I tried to find some Marion Blackberries, in order to avoid the seeds, the order form Anderson's uses said they were Marion Berries, but the package didn't.  I will say that these blackberries did just fine though, 

You simply mix together your blackberries, sugar, and pie filling.  Since we have made so many fruit pies, I'm able to start creating recipes as I go now, which is how I like to cook.  :)   I really like to throw a little of this and that in and never seem to make things the same way twice.  It's one thing I've had to work on since we started the blog for sure!!

Blackberries and Sugar

Angie:  This is a pie that thickens as you cook it in the oven, so after combining ingredients, the next thing you do is add it to the pie shell.

Blackberries and Filling added to pie shell

Angie:  Where I really had some fun with this one is in the design of the pie crust.  With Brian gone, I opted to go with a store bought crust to save time.  However, I used my new fluted pastry cutter I found on a trip to Homegoods.   Love Love Love it!

Crust Preparation

Angie:  Overall, the pie turned out well, but I did have one of the pies fall, and I had to institute some repairs.

Crust Catastrophe!

Brian:  I got a chance to taste the pie when I came home, and it was delicious!

Fun crusts to make

Angie:  This pie had great flavor and thickened up really nicely.

Want a slice?

Pie Recipient of the Week

Our Pie Recipient of the week is Dr. Henderson!  She has been the Pediatrician for all three of our kids, and she has been an unbelievable blessing to us.  So many of our friends have children who go to her, and love her like we do.  Based on the picture she sent us... they are enjoying it.  :)

Recipe

4 cups of frozen blackberries (keep frozen so they will hold their shape)

1 21oz can of blackberry pie filling

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

3 T cornstarch

1/2 t almond extract

1 double pie crust

Mix together all ingredients in a bowl.  Pour in to pie crust and top with the other crust.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown.

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A Pie Per Week: Peach Pie

Peach Pie

Brian:  We had a very busy but awesome weekend!  And thanks to the help of our Life Group, we gave away about 3 months worth of pies in one day!  We will talk more about that later.

Avon High School Class of 1988- 25 Year Reunion

Angie:  Brian's twin brother, Brent was in town, and he is always lots of fun.  He was also willing to let us put him to work.  The peaches we had at Anderson's Orchard a couple of weeks ago were delicious, so we headed back to get some for our pie.

Peaches at Anderson Orchard

Brian:  I had lots to learn about preparing peaches, as this is something I've never done before.  Angie showed me that the first step is to score the peach on the bottom.

Scoring a Peach

Angie:  The next thing you do is to get your water boiling, and then you want to drop your peaches in for about 40 seconds.

Boiling Peaches to Prepare for Peeling

Brian:  After you remove the peaches from the boiling water, you want to have a bowl of ice water to cool them off.  We had quite the assembly line going for this and then we brought them over to be peeled.  

Cooling Peach Off in Water

Angie:  Brent and Brian set to peeling the peaches, which doubled our productivity.  As we were making 4 pies this week, it was nice to have his clone around to help.  While we were at it we peeled enough for another pie and froze them for later.

Brent and Brian, Peeling studs!

Brian:  We would then ship the peeled peaches over to Angie, where she would cut them into slices.

Fresh Sliced Peaches

Angie:  The biggest part of the preparation of this pie is getting the peaches ready.  Then all you need to do is combine all your ingredients except for the butter.

Combining the Ingredients

Brian:  After you mix your spices and sugars, you pour the mixture into the pie shell and dot with butter.

Adding the Filling and Dotting With Butter

Angie:  I then went to work on topping with the lattice strips.  Since we were making so many pies this week, and we had Brian's reunion, we opted to go with a store bought crust.  

Lattice Preparation

Brian:  I'm impressed with Angie's ability to do the lattice.  I currently have no desire to learn how to do that, but it does look nice.  :)

Peach Pie With Lattice Crust

Angie:  We've had trouble with fruit pies in the past not thickening up and we fixed that with this pie.  We added cornstarch and flour since the peaches were so juicy and it really worked!  I loved this pie, it had great sweetness, flavor and the texture was fantastic!!

Two of Our Four Pies

Brian:  I really enjoyed this pie!  The flavor was great and the consistency was really good.  I've been craving this for quite some time, so this really hit the spot!

Pie Recipients of the Week

Congratulations John, Kyle, Jeff, Lisa, Shawn, Beau, Jess, Jeff, Mark, Megan, Chris, Lisa, and Kevin!

We were meeting with our life group this week to begin our year with a new study, and although we normally have a meal with our meetings, this time we didn't because we were meeting in the middle of the afternoon. One of our fellow group leaders knew that we baked pies every Sunday and suggested we all bring a pie to share with each other.  From there it grew to all of us bringing two, one to eat and one to give.  Then after looking at the list we wanted to gift with a pie, they made 1 to share and 2 to give and we made a total of 4!  

When we have delivered pies to folks who serve at our church, we always feel bad that we leave somebody out, and I'm sure we have done that this time as well.  However, it feels good to offer a little something to let them know how much we appreciate them.  For those pastors who are out of town on mission trips, your families have assured us that the pie will not be wasted.  :)  Hooray for Kingsway!

Our life Group!  Thank you to the Lindsey, Watson, Schanz, East, Hawkins, and Mitchell families for your time, talents and delivery skills.   We love doing Life with you!

Our Life Group and Pie Baking Delivery Team!

Recipe

10 delicious, juicy peaches peeled and sliced
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 T cornstarch
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 t almond extract
2 Tablespoons butter
9 inch double pie crust

Peel and slice peaches, place in bowl.  Add all other ingredients except butter and stir together.  Pour into unbaked pie crust, dot with butter, place other crust on top.  Cover edges of pie crust with a pie guard or aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes or until crust is brown and filling is thick and bubbling.  Remove pie guard before cooking is complete to brown.

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A Pie Per Week: Nutter Butter Ice Cream Pie

Nutter Butter Ice Cream Pie

Angie:  Our family has had an amazing week of meeting celebrities!  It all started on Tuesday, when Buddy "The Cake Boss," showed up in downtown Indianapolis giving away cakes.  They gave away 20,000, and my son, his girlfriend, my youngest daughter, and one of her friends were able to get one.  They also got a chance to meet him, and he was very nice, and they had their photo taken as well.  I wish we could give away 20,000 pies!

(Left) Connor and Kennedy (Right) Emilee and Maddie with the Cake Boss

Brian:  And over the weekend, my company had their annual picnic at the Indianapolis Colts Pavilion.  there were former players who came to sign autographs.  Marlin Jackson, Gary Brackett, and Jeff Saturday all posed for pictures, and they are definitely Indianapolis favorites.

Connor and Brian with Gary Brackett (Left) and Jeff Saturday (Right)

Angie:  I was not feeling well at all this weekend, so this week's pie is all Brian.

One of Brian's favorite cookies!

Brian:  A former co-worker of mine had recommended a Nutter Butter Ice Cream Pie long ago.  However, it was kind of cool out at the time, and I wanted to wait until the hot summertime to enjoy it.  You start by blending 24 Nutter Butter cookies and some butter, and you press that in to form the crust.  Aren't you excited already?

Nutter Butter Crust

Brian:  You then set about preparing the filling.  It is an easy filling to make.  You thaw your cream cheese and Cool Whip, and then mix it together with the sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla.

Peanut Butter, Sugar, cream cheese, vanilla,
and Cool Whip

Brian:  Next, spoon out the mixture onto the Nutter Butter crust, spreading it out evenly.  Emilee decided to help me out with this portion.

Emilee pouring into crust

Brian:  You put it in the freezer for a minimum of four hours, and then you just top with the remaining Cool Whip and eat!

Filling spread out evenly

Angie:  I'm not a big peanut butter fan.  The pie was good and not too sweet, but I thought it needed chocolate ;)

Mmmmmmm

Brian:  I really liked this pie!  The last peanut butter pie we made had an Oreo crust, and it was very rich.  This pie was good, but not so sweet that you develop a stomach ache.  I agree with Angie that some form of chocolate as a garnish would be a good addition.  Also, I hope the next time the Cake Boss is in town, he gets a chance to meet the Pie Boss.  :)

Pie of the Week Recipient

Our Pie of the Week Recipient is Brian.  Brian and I worked together at a now defunct home builder, CP Morgan, and also work together currently at ExactTarget.  Both companies produced some invaluable relationships that could fill up our Pie of the Week recipients for the next 10 years!

I am a peanut butter enthusiast, and if you are one, you understand that there is no better dessert than one that contains this precious ingredient.  I wanted this week's recipient to have the same passion for peanut butter that I do, so Brian was a great choice.  And to show what a great guy I am, I gave it to him, even though he is a Cardinals fan.

Recipe

Prep time: 15 min

Total time: 4 hour 45 min

Makes: 12 servings

What You Need

24 NUTTER BUTTER Cookies, finely crushed (about 3 cups)
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup PLANTERS Creamy Peanut Butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

Make It

Mix cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate.
Beat next 4 ingredients in medium bowl with mixer until well blended. Stir in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP; spoon into crust.
Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Remove from freezer 30 min. before serving. Let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Top with remaining COOL WHIP.

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