29 April 2012

crack pie.


okay ladies and gents.  start your week of right and make a crack pie.  i kid you not, everyday you come home and have some of this scrumptious pie waiting for you, will be a good day.  i've made it a few times now and everyone who has nibbled on it has also turned around and made it (if that isn't a good recommendation i don't know what is).

a couple of quick notes:

1.   there is an overnight chill required to let the pie gooeyness set-up.  i didn't read the directions very well and didn't allot for that time.  in the end it was fine, i just chilled it as long as i could, but then again i did overcook it.

2.  it is stupid easy to overcook this beast.  and i did, every time i tried.  but i now know that you take it out of the oven when the center still looks uncooked.  it will be all wobbly and the sides will be barely set and you will think that you need a few more minutes.  but you don't.  those few more minutes will effectively cook the center and give you a delicious, though no longer gooey, pie.

3.  they say serve cold, we did not.  maybe had i not overcooked it to the point of turning it into something closely resembling toffee when chilled then it would have been fine.  but ours needed to be room temperature in order to enjoy.

4.  dry milk powder, it took me four groceries to find this stuff.  but you should know i was limited to what was within walking/biking/i need it fucking right now distance.  in the end i paid way too much at our thoroughly over priced organic market.  maybe whole foods sells it?  i dunno, but our harris teeter and safeway people looked at me like i had lost my mind when i asked them.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED!

Crust

  • 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
  • 5 1/2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt
Filling
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
  • 6 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Powdered sugar (for dusting)

WHAT YOU WILL DO!

Oat Cookie Crust
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper; coat with nonstick spray. Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan; press out evenly to edges of pan. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.
  • Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl; add 3 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together. Transfer cookie crust mixture to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Using fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Place pie dish with crust on rimmed baking sheet.
Filling
  • Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and whisk until blended. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour filling into crust. Bake pie 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble). Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Continue to bake pie until filling is brown in spots and set around edges but center still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, about 20 minutes longer. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.
  • Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve cold.



3 comments:

  1. This sounds great. Kind of sounds like buttermilk pie, which is delicious.

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. i'm pretty sure my ass grew 4 inches wider by just reading this.

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