Peach Cobbler

We had an overabundance of peaches at the end of the summer, so what better way to use them than to make a cobbler. I went looking for a new and interesting recipe and this is what I found. It was the best cobbler recipe we've ever made. --Mark

Ingredients

5 peaches , peeled, cored and sliced (about 4 cups) 

3/4 cup granulated sugar 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

For the batter: 

6 Tablespoons butter 

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1 cup granulated sugar 

2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

3/4 cup milk ground cinnamon 

Directions 

1. Add the sliced peaches, sugar and salt to a saucepan and stir to combine. If using canned peaches, skip steps 1 & 2 and follow the directions starting at step 3.

2. Cook on medium heat for just a few minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and helps to bring out juices from the peaches. Remove from heat and set aside. 

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice butter into pieces and add to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place the pan in the oven while it preheats, to allow the butter to melt. Once melted, remove the pan from the oven. 

4. In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk, just until combined. Pour the mixture into the pan, over the melted butter and smooth it into an even layer. 

5. Spoon the peaches and juice (or canned peaches, if using) over the batter. Sprinkle cinnamon generously over the top. 

6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 38-40 minutes. Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream, if desired. 

Notes 

To substitute canned peaches, use 1 quart jar, undrained.

Crack Pie

I don't know why it's called Crack Pie. Is it addictive? I suppose. Does it crack when you cook it?Somewhat. Did I have to crack the cookie crust? Yes. Super sweet. Super good. Super yum. --Mark

Ingredients:

Oat Cookie Crust

Nonstick spray
9 T butter
5 1/2 T packed brown sugar
2 T sugar
1 large egg
3/4 C plus 2 T old-fashioned oats
1/2 C flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Filling
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 T nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C butter, melted, cooled slightly
6 1/2 T heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions:

Oat Cookie Crust

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with parchment paper, and coat with nonstick spray.

Combine 6 T butter, 4 T brown sugar, and 2 T sugar in a medium bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and beat until will blended. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan. Press evenly to edges of the pan. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to a rack and cool completely.

Using your hands, crumble the oat cookie into a large bowl. Add 3 T butter and 1 1/2 T brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together. Press into a 9-inch pie dish, covering the bottom and extending up the sides of the dish. Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet.

Filling
Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350˚F. Whisk 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 for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 325˚F. Continue to bake until filling is brown in spots and set around the edges, but the center still moves slightly, about 20 minutes. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight.

Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut into wedges and serve cold.

Apple Brown Betty

Someone brought this to one of our book club meetings and we all loved it. What a wonderful treat for a crisp fall day, especially when you don't have time to make pie! --Mark

Ingredients:

3 apples, peeled and sliced
7 slices bread, cubed
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 T water

Instructions:

Coat a pie plate with butter. Put 1/3 of the brown sugar, apples, and bread in the plate. Repeat the layers twice more, ending with bread. Add sliced butter to the top

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove the foil for the last few minutes of baking.

Peach Berry Cobbler

This is another one of our "Oh crap, we picked so much fruit this summer" recipes. This is a fantastic way to use a lot of fresh fruit, besides eating it fresh of course, but this is less good for you and so delicious. --Mark

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 T cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
3 cups fresh peaches - peeled, pitted
and sliced
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 T butter
1 T lemon juice
2 T coarse granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup white sugar, and baking powder. Mix in milk and 1/4 cup butter until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the brown sugar, cornstarch, and water. Mix in the peaches and blueberries. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Mix in 1 tablespoon butter and lemon juice. Continue cooking until the butter melts. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart ungreased baking dish. Evenly spoon batter in mounds over the hot fruit. In a small bowl, mix the coarse sugar and nutmeg, and sprinkle over the batter.

Place the baking dish on a shallow baking pan in the preheated oven. Bake cobbler for about 35 minutes, or until bubbly and a toothpick inserted into the crust comes out clean.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peach-Berry-Cobbler/Detail.aspx

Chocolate and Vanilla Swirled Cheesepie

I cut this out from a package of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips. I have yet to make it, but I'd like to. It looks good. -- Stacy

Ingredients:

2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 extra serving-size packaged crumb crust (9 oz.)
1 cup Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup milk
Red raspberry jam (optional)

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350° F. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in mixer bowl until well blended. Add eggs; mix thoroughly. Spread 2 cups batter in crumb crust. Place chocolate chips in bowl and microwave for 1 minute; stir (keep doing this by 15 seconds until melted and stirred). Cool slightly. Add chocolate and milk to remaining batter; blend thoroughly. Drop chocolate batter by tablespoonfuls onto vanilla batter. Gently swirl with knife for marbled effect. Bake 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool; refrigerate several hours or overnight. Drizzle with warmed red raspberry jam, if desired. Cover; refrigerate leftovers. Makes 8 servings.

Notes:

This looks good. Why haven't we made this yet?

Oreo Pie Crust

I made this one up years ago. I'm so proud. -- Stacy

Ingredients:

Oreos
Butter

Instructions:

Crush Oreos. Add drops of butter until mixture is "moldable." Press firmly into 9-inch pie plate. Bake/Freeze as filling requires.

Notes:

Great for a frozen cookies-n-cream ice cream pie!

Lickety-Split Banana Split Pie

This is a classic recipe-my-mom-found-in-a-magazine recipe. I even have this recipe cut out straight from a magazine and taped onto an index card. Very my mom. -- Stacy

Ingredients:

1 (6 oz.) graham cracker pie crust
2 small bananas
1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
Hot fudge sauce, unheated
Pineapple preserves
Chopped nuts
Whipped topping
Maraschino cherries

Instructions:

Slice bananas into bottom of crust. Spoon softened ice cream on top. Freeze 2 hours. Top with unheated hot fudge, pineapple preserves, a dollop of whipped cream, chopped nuts, and a cherry.

Notes:

I don't think we've ever made this one, but I have to admit, it looks simple and good.

Banana Cream Pie

Another classic recipe from Mom. Classic, in that she found it in a magazine and shared it with me with lots of "Mmmmm"s and "Ohhhh"s. --Stacy

Ingredients:

1 package banana instant pudding
Graham cracker pie crust
Banana
Cool Whip

Instructions:

Make pudding according to directions. Spread in graham cracker pie crust tin. Dice a whole banana on top. Chill. Put Cool Whip on top just before serving.

Notes:

Simple enough. I don't think I've ever made this (I like bananas, but I'm not a big fan of banana-flavored anything else), but it looks simple enough. You could garnish the whipped cream with bananas or a little, shaved chocolate and that would look nice.

Coconut Pie

I got this one from my Mom. She gets excited when she finds new recipes in magazines and she likes to share them with me. I'm pretty sure that's how she got this one. -- Stacy


Ingredients:

4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
3/4 stick butter, melted
3/4 cups flour
1 T vanilla
2 cups coconut

Instructions:

Combine all. Grease 2 pie plates. Bake at 350°.

Notes:

Yeah, I'm not sure how long to bake it, nor am I sure if that's 3/4 stick of butter or if it should be 3/4 cups of butter. Welcome to my life. :)

Cream Puffs

Kate found this recipe in a children's cookbook and she, Maxim, and I made them together. They turned out really well. Start with the puff pastry recipe and then add whipped cream and chocolate glaze. --Mark

Ingredients:

4 oz. semisweet chocolate
3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
2 T butter
3 T water

1 cup cream

Instructions:

Whip cream and fill pastries.

Cut butter and chocolate. Stir both over low heat until melted. Stir in water. Remove from heat and sift in sugar. Stir. Spread icing over pastries.

Notes:

We just used whipped cream from a can and it worked really well.

Puff Pastry

This puff pastry is the recipe I used to make homemade cream puffs with the kids. The recipe came from a children's cookbook from the library. The cream puff recipe is really easy and really good. --Mark

Ingredients:

7 T butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup water
1 cup white flour
4 eggs

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet.

Sift flour into a mixing bowl. Put water, salt, and butter into a saucepan and melt. Heat until bubbly. Remove saucepan and add flour. Beat batter and let cool for 1 to 2 minutes.

Beat 4 eggs in a small bowl. Add to the batter a little at a time. Spoon batter into pastry bag. Form into small pastries. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove and prick each end with a toothpick.

Frozen Lemonade Pie

We make this every summer and love to serve this when we have guests. It has a fantastically fresh and cool taste. This is a great dessert for a barbecue. I'm pretty sure that Shanni Bayless gave us this recipe, but we've been making it so long, I can hardly remember. --Stacy

Ingredients:

1 can (6 oz.) frozen pink lemonade concentrate
½ gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
8 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 graham cracker crust
Frozen berries (optional)

Instructions:

Blend concentrate, ice cream, and whipped topping until smooth. Stir in frozen berries if desired. Spoon mixture over prepared graham cracker crust. Freeze until firm, 4 hours or overnight. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes before serving. This will make one 9x13 pie or 3-4 8-inch round pies.

Notes:

We usually “wing it” on the crust since that’s our weak point. Crush some graham crackers, add melted butter, see if it covers the bottom of the pan, repeat. We have also bought 3 prepared round crusts at the store and filled those. It worked fine. Frozen raspberries are the best, but we’ve also used berry blends, blueberries, and strawberries. If you use strawberries you will need to slice them, otherwise they are too huge to handle when frozen.

Toll House Pie

The handwritten index card that I have with this recipe on it was given me by my best friend growing up. I don't remember Cathy ever making this, but I always think of her when we make it since she's the one who gave me the recipe. This pie is unbelievably delicious. It's like eating a huge warm cookie in a pie. Mmmmm! --Stacy

Ingredients:

2 eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 6-oz package (about 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 ˚F. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Beat in flour, sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Blend in melted butter. Stir in morsels and walnuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake for 1 hour. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Notes:

Go for a jog before eating this to justify the fat you’ll consume. Also, it’s called Toll House, but we usually use Hershey’s Special Dark baking chips, although the Ghirardelli brand baking chips are the best.

Apple Pie (Grandma Foley Style)

This recipe takes me back to my childhood Thanksgiving dinners, and most years it ends up on our Thanksgiving table as well. --Mark

Ingredients:

6-8 tart apples, peeled and sliced
¾ cup sugar
2 T flour
½ tsp. cinnamon
Dash nutmeg
2 T butter
2 soft pie crusts, favorite recipe

Instructions:

Toss apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Fill pie crust. Dot with butter. Cover with second pie crust. Cut slits for steam to escape. Crimp crusts together. Optional: Brush with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 400 ˚F for 50 minutes.

Notes:

We use this pie crust recipe for our crusts, alWe usually place the pie pan on top of a cookie sheet since we always over pack the crust with apple filling and it oozes everywhere. If you invite me over to eat this pie, you’ll need to make 2.

Chocolate Crunch Pie

This is an easy and delicious frozen dessert that Mark and I used to make a lot as newlyweds. --Stacy

Ingredients:

1 package (4 serving size) instant chocolate pudding
1 cup cold milk
3 ½ cups (8 oz) whipped topping (ex. Cool Whip)
20 chocolate sandwich cookies, ground
1 ½ “rocks” (use any combination of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, peanuts, etc.)
1 (6 oz) chocolate crumb crust

Instructions:

Prepare pudding mix with 1 cup milk as directed on the package. Fold in whipped topping. Stir 1 cup cookies and the “rocks” into the pudding mixture. Spoon into pie crust. Sprinkle with remaining cookies. Freeze until firm, 4 hours or overnight. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:

We use Oreos for the crust and the rocks. Other great “rocks” are chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Mounds bars, or any other chocolate bar you like. We’ve also used M&Ms and Reese’s Pieces.

Pie Crust

This is our crust of choice when making Grandma Foley's Apple Pie. It's quite simple, but makes a delicious, basic crust. Stacy got it from her college roommate, Katie Dahl. --Mark

Ingredients:

Single Pie Crust
1 ¼ cups flour
¼ tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening
3-4 T cold water

Double Pie Crust
2 cups flour
½ tsp. salt
2/3 cups shortening
6-7 T cold water

Instructions:

Stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening. Sprinkle 1 T water into the mixture. Toss. Push to the side of the bowl and repeat until all of the water has been added. Form into a ball.

For unbaked filling: pierce the crust with a fork and bake at 450 ˚F for 10-12 min.

For baked filling: do not pierce or prebake crust.

Notes:

This is probably pastry blasphemy, but we substitute butter for the shortening and still have good results.