Banana Pudding Pie

So I didn't really do 'Pie of the Month' this year, but I did end up making this pie in March.  It is rich and creamy, and tastes just like banana pudding in pie form.  What more could you ask for?!

INGREDIENTS:

•                1 Nilla wafer prepared pie crust

•                1- 5.1oz box instant vanilla pudding mix

•                1 1/2 cups cold milk

•                1- 8 oz tub Cool Whip, thawed to room temp, divided

•                2 medium/large bananas, sliced

•                1-2 Tbsp lemon juice

•                2 ½-3 cups coarsely chopped Nilla Wafers, divided

•                caramel or salted caramel sauce for drizzling,

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. In a large bowl, whisk pudding mix and milk.
3. Fold in half the whipped topping.
4. In a separate bowl, slice the bananas, drizzle with lemon juice; toss to coat (to prevent the bananas from turning brown).
5. Fold bananas and about 1 1/2 heaping cups Nilla wafers into pudding mixture.
6. Turn mixture out into pie crust.
7. Gently spread remaining whipped topping onto top of pie
8. Sprinkle remaining Nilla wafers, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until set.
9. Prior to serving, drizzle with caramel sauce to taste.

Enjoy!

Last Pie of the Month Post for 2014 ~ Butterscotch Pecan Pie

This wasn't really what I was expecting, but it was really good!  Being a Classic Pecan Pie kind of girl, I was expecting something I guess closer to that, but this was a lighter, creamier version of a pecan pie with meringue!  Yum.  Definitely a "make again"!


Butterscotch Pecan Pie

Ingredients
makes 1 9-inch pie

Filling:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3 egg yolks, beaten
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked

Topping:
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
3/8 cup white sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1.     In the top of a double boiler, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, and 1/4 teaspoon. salt. Stir in milk and corn syrup. Cook over boiling water, stirring constantly, 20 minutes or until thickened.

2.     In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Gradually stir 1/2 cup of hot mixture into yolks. Pour back into remaining milk mixture, stirring constantly. Cook 5 minutes over boiling water, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in butter, vanilla and 3/4 cup pecans. Pour into pastry shell. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.)

3.     Beat egg whites cream of tartar, and pinch of salt until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over filling, sealing to edge of pastry. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup pecans.

4.     Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool to room temperature. Chill thoroughly.

I'm actually kind of sad to see the year end...I love pie!  Don't rule out a 2nd year of pie, feel free to send me suggested flavors even!

xoxo

Apple Cranberry Walnut Pie ~ November

This is a great fall harvest type pie.  It was full of flavor and fruity, nutty goodness.

Of course I didn't exactly measure all my fruits according to the original recipe, just dumped them in there, so I've adapted it for you here according to how I made it.  

It makes a really deep, thick slice of pie so cut skinny....or not!

Apple Cranberry Walnut Pie 

Apple Cranberry Walnut Pie

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 1 – deep 10 inch pie

1 cup fresh cranberries

2/3 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground allspice (I didn’t have allspice so I used ¼ tsp each of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon)

2 1/4 lbs apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I used 3 each of granny smith and gala apples)

1 1/2 tablespoons brandy (I didn’t have brandy and substituted wine I had in the fridge)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 sleeves prepared refrigerator pie crust

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Position oven rack in the bottom third of the oven.

In a medium bowl, toss together the cranberries, walnuts, sugar, flour and allspice. Mix in the apples, brandy and vanilla. Place bottom crust into pie pan so that it hangs over the edges. Pour filling into the crust and cover with top crust. Seal and flute the edges. Cut slits in the top using a small knife.

Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, or until apples are tender and crust is golden.

Coconut Cream Pie - October

I think Coconut Cream Pie from scratch is still my all time favorite pie!  I always thought it was so difficult, but this one was actually pretty easy to make, although a bit time consuming.  It was so smooth and rich, my mouth is watering all over again just typing about it!

This was October's dessert Pie of the Month, and it did not disappoint!  No leftovers...

Coconut Cream Pie    

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 1 9-inch pie

1 (9 inch) baked pie crust

1 1/2 cups half-and-half

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup flaked coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

6 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 cup flaked coconut

Directions

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

2.     Stir half-and-half, coconut milk, eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a saucepan; stirring constantly, slowly bring to a boil over low heat and cook until thick, about 30 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; fold 3/4 cup coconut into the mixture with the vanilla extract. Pour the coconut mixture into the baked pie crust.

3.     Beat egg whites in a glass or metal bowl until foamy. Gradually add cream of tartar and 6 tablespoons white sugar, continuing to beat until soft peaks form. Lift your beater or whisk straight up: the egg whites will form soft mounds rather than a sharp peak. Spread egg white mixture over the pie. Sprinkle 1/2 cup coconut over the pie.

4.     Bake in preheated oven until the top is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Move to a wire rack to cool until completely cooled to the touch, about 1 hour. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

Dang...now I wanna go make another one for tonight! 

Butterfinger Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I was having a craving for cookies the other night.  I had gotten an email for some Chai Latte Snickerdoodles that Sally posted.  Jerry isn't a fan of snickerdoodles, so I totally searched her site for something he would like.

If you haven't already checked out Sally's Baking Addiction, you MUST!

These cookies were AMAZING!  They are pretty easy, and SUPER soft and chewy!

The kids all tried them, but I'm not sure they had very many.  More for us!  (which I'm not entirely sure is a good thing...)

Click here for her recipe, the only thing I did different, was add extra Butter Finger!

Butterfinger Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Sugar Cream Pie ~ September Pie of the Month

This pie was kind of like a custard type consistency and had a light sweetness to it.  It was especially good with the flaky crust.

Sugar Cream Pie

Sugar Cream Pie

Ingredients

¾ cups Granulated Sugar

¼ cups Cornstarch

5 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Divided

1 cup Heavy Cream

1 cup Half-and-half

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1 whole Pie Crust

½ teaspoons Cinnamon For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

1.    Prepare pie crust and bake as directed.  (I used a refrigerated roll out one).

2.    In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch; set aside.

3.     On low to medium heat in a medium-sized sauce pan, add 4 tablespoons of butter, the heavy cream and half-and-half. After the butter has melted, with a wire whisk, slowly add the cornstarch/sugar mixture. Cook, stirring constantly with a wire wisk just until the mixture is thick and creamy. This will take approximately 10-15 minutes.

4.     Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

5.     Immediately pour the mixture into the pie crust and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, melted. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

6.     Place the pie under the broiler until the butter bubbles. Watch your pie carefully; this will not take long: I set my timer at 2 minutes and that seemed to be just enough. 

7.     Refrigerate and enjoy chilled.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

My family has actually been waiting for this one!  It was suppose to be our sweet option for July, but I substituted the Peach/Blueberry because I had those fresh fruits on hand at that time.  They've been asking for this one every week since!

Jen declared this one her new favorite!  I warn you it's very rich, you may want to have a glass of milk on hand.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

  

Ingredients

1 cup  Creamy Peanut Butter

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided

1 prepared chocolate pie crust

1 (11.75 ounce) jar Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping, divided

2 tablespoons Creamy Peanut Butter

Directions

1.     Beat together 1 cup peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium, until well combined. Gently mix in 3 cups whipped topping until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture into pie shell. Using a spatula, smooth mixture to edges of pie.

2.     Reserve 2 tablespoons of hot fudge topping into the corner of a resealable plastic bag. Microwave remaining topping, on HIGH (100% topping), for 1 minute. Stir. Spread topping over pie, covering entire peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until set. Spread remaining whipped topping (1 1/2 cups), over hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers.

3.     Cut a small corner from bag containing topping. Squeeze bag to drizzle topping over pie. Place remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter in a resealable food storage bag; cut bag corner and squeeze to drizzle in opposite direction from topping. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Rich yummy-ness

Peach Blueberry Pie

So I squeezed in the July dessert pie just in the nick of time.  We had this for dinner on Thursday night (July 31).  It was delicious....especially with a scoop of Homemade Vanilla Bluebell Ice Cream!

Peach / Blueberry Pie

Ingredients

1 pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie

3 cups sliced peaches

1 cup blueberries

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons margarine, cut into pieces

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place one pie crust into a pie plate.

2.     Toss peaches and blueberries in a bowl with lemon juice. Mix sugar, tapioca, and salt in a small bowl and add to peach mixture; stir to combine. Allow fruit to rest for 15 minutes, then transfer to prepared pie plate. Scatter margarine pieces over fruit and brush the edge of the pie with water. Cover pie with remaining crust; press and seal the top and bottom crusts.

3.     Bake in preheated oven until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbly 45 to 50 minutes.

**I used fresh peaches, but frozen blueberries, because it was what I had on hand.  

Super easy, super good!  I admit, I didn't really "measure" anything except the sugar, I really just kind of eyeballed it.

June: Key Lime Pie

This month's pie was Key Lime.  I love Key Lime pie, and have never made it before.  I did cook it a little longer than I was suppose to, which I think made it a little more dense and held together, but did not ruin it all.  It turned out really good.

This recipe originally instructed to make homemade crust, I just bought one on the baking aisle.  It also said it would make 2 pies, but they would have been really skinny!  I only made one with this recipe.

Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

1 Graham Cracker Crust

Filling:

2 (14 ounce) cans EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk

2/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons grated lime peel

Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.     Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake crust 10 minutes or until begins to brown. Cool 15 minutes on wire rack.

2.     Whisk sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and sour cream in large bowl until blended. Stir in lime peel. Pour filling into crust. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until tiny bubbles begin to form on surface of pie. Cool completely on wire rack. (**This is where I baked it like 20-25)

3.     Beat cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in large mixing bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until stiff. Top pie with whipped cream. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

May in Review

So wow did last month FLY by or what?!?  I can't believe it's already June!  So there was lots going on last month, not all that much related to "The List" but still busy non the less.

We had birthdays and graduation activities going on for the last few weeks, I barely had time to finish the blog challenge I started, much less post extra stuff....but I've been saving up.

8.  Be intentional ~ still doing good at this one.  I actually have a little routine down now and look forward to this time each morning. =)

12. Pie of the Month ~ Ok so this one wasn't really my official pie for May or even June, it was just an extra recipe I found and wanted to try.

Root Beer Float Pie

Root Beer Float Pie

Ingredients

1 carton (8 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed, divided

1 cup cold diet root beer

1/4 cup fat-free milk

1 package (1 ounce) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix

1 graham cracker crust (9 inches)

Maraschino cherries, optional

Directions

1.    In a large bowl, whisk the root beer, milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Spread into graham cracker crust.

2.    Spread remaining whipped topping over pie. Freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight.  Move to refrigerator 1-2 hours before serving.

3.    Dollop extra whipped topping over each serving; top with a maraschino cherry if desired.

Yield: 8 servings.

13.  Read 10 Books (8/10) ~ So I've slowed way down on this....I'm still in the middle of 2 different books but haven't finished either one yet.  I'm close on the one, but just barely inching through the other one.  I'll get there....I already have a big list of ones I want to read as soon as I'm finished with these...

19.  Dance in the Rain ~ I sure wish I'd taken a picture of this.  But I got to dance with my boo in a shower on the back porch while we grilled some burgers, and it was fabulous.  I'm ready to do it again. *swoon*

21.  Add charms to my bracelet ~ So technically I didn't add any to my own personal bracelet, but I did buy 2 last month to add to Lauren & Jen's bracelets.  Just wanted to share. =)

23.  Complete a Challenge ~ So you all got to see that I did a 10 Day Blog Challenge.  I didn't necessarily complete it in 10 days, but I don't know if that was technically a rule.  I did complete it by blogging 10 times, and all within the same month so there!  I have also started another challenge...the 30 Day Ab &Squat Challenge....I may or may not already be a day behind :-/

25.  Follow a Budge ~ So I was doing so good....but lately I've totally fallen off the wagon. :-/

But I'm committing to picking myself back up and jumping back on.  

28.  Listen to my Entire iTunes Library (2756/5907) ~ Apparently I added another song, but I also got through I, J and K!  I'm already half way through L...next up "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel. :-)

36.  Blog Regularly ~ So yes life gets in the way sometimes and I might be slow to update, but I did complete that challenge and try to at least update a few times a month.  I'd say I'm 'meeting expectations' ;-)

I thought of another thing to add to my list, because obviously the other 30 things that I haven't yet finished now that I'm already half way through the year aren't enough...

43.  Try a new restaurant (4/12) ~ I'd really like to do this at least once a month.  I do already have a start on it, and once a month isn't too crazy for my budget I don't think.  So far I can think of 4 that I've been to for the first time since the first of the year.  I'm kind of thinking that there may be another one, but I guess if I can't think of it maybe it wasn't good enough to remember and doesn't count.

New places we've tried in 2014 include:

• Lone Star Attitude ~ I think I already told you about this one.  It's a fun little burger joint on the Denton Square that's full of Texas culture. A+
• Old West Cafe ~ Nan took me here for breakfast and I've gone back a few times since.  Awesome place that's only open for breakfast and lunch, and always has a line at least 30 minutes deep (unless you get there at 6AM).  You HAVE to try the 'Big Hoss', UH-MAZ-ING!!
• 7 Mile Cafe ~ Another breakfast and lunch place that Nan took me to.  They have a really good vegan cinnamon roll that I wasn't really sure I'd like....I was wrong.
• Cartwright Ranch House ~ this is a little diner on the square that serves home cooking.  I wasn't knocked off my feet, but it was ok and we had a really good waitress.

Extras ~

There is always so much going on at the end of the school year, I think the choir squeezed like 3 concerts into the last 2 weeks, and my oldest daughter graduated this weekend.  I'm glad schools' finally out because I feel like I can get a breather and relax.  But I kind of feel like the girls will be driving nuts and I'll probably be ready for them to go back by next week!  LOL

Class of 2014

I don't know if you can see the caps flying?

My favorite girls

I made this cake for Jen's birthday and it went over so well that it was requested for the Memorial Day cookout we went to.

Red, White and Blue cake

Ashley came to town for work and I dragged her out for dinner and then to a ballgame, I think I made a new Rangers fan! ;-)

Hopefully I can check some more things off the list this summer!  Have a fun one!