Key Lime Pie

Easiest pie to make! It's mine and my husbands favorite pie.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 prepared Graham Cracker Crust
• 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 c. sour cream (light)
• 3/4 c. key lime juice (found in the liquor isle)
  
• 1 T. grated lime zest

CRUST: 1 1/2 sleeves of Graham crackers, 2 cups crushed. 1/4 c. sugar. 1 stick butter, melted. Combine and press into a pie pan. Bake @ 350* for 10 minutes.

DIRECTIONS: Mix ingredients until smooth. Pour into a prepared pie crust. Bake @ 350* for 8 minutes. *You don't want to brown the pie. Just bake long enough to see tiny pinhole bubbles come to the surface. CHILL the pie. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

The slice in this pic isn't chilled. Couldn't wait. :) Still so good!

This pic is 3 day old pie. Chilled in the fridge. As you can see it sets up very nicely and tastes even better after a few days!

You can add a drop or two of green food coloring for a yummy green treat for St. Patrick's Day!


Enjoy!

Lemon Meringue Pie

My parents have 1 lemon tree and every year it produces a ton of lemons. They taste fantastic and we looove lemons. SO I swipe a couple....... dozen. :) This last Christmas I made my first Lemon Meringue Pie for my parents Christmas dinner. I would've made 2 if I had known it was gonna turn out so good! I doubted that I could make one, but it's easy peasy lemon sqeezy. You can do it! :)

Funny story... I stayed up til 2 in the morning helping Santa on Christmas Eve. Then I made this pie and crust. I wanted it to be cooled before I topped it with the meringue, after the Christmas hub bub. I didn't get to bed til like 2:30. I was so surprised the pie turned out! This is my 2 AM pie.....

(Recipe from 2004 Logandale Stake cookbook, page 237)


I used the Basic Flaky Pie Crust recipe and you can find the recipe HERE.

INGREDIENTS & DIRECTIONS:

• 1 c. Sugar
• 6 T. cornstarch
• 1/8 t. Salt
• 2 c. water
• 3 egg yolks (save whites for meringue top)
  

*Heat in double boiler, if you have one. Cook & stir ingredients (EXCLUDING egg yolks) until thick and boils (not over boiler). Put over water and cook covered for 10 minutes. Stir egg yolks with fork and temper. Then add to the cornstarch mix and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

• 3 T. Butter
• 1/3 c. Lemon juice
• 1 T. grated lemon zest

* Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon. Cool a few minutes before pouring into cool baked 9" pie shell. Cool completely before topping. *Do not cover pie with foil. You don't want it to be wet on top when adding the meringue.*

"NEVER FAIL MERINGUE":

• 1 T. cornstarch
• 2 T. Cold water
• 1/2 c. Boiling water
• 3 egg whites
• 6 T. Sugar
• Salt (dash)
• 1 t. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

1. Blend cornstarch & cold water in sauce pan. Add boiling water and cook, stirring until thick & clear. Let stand until completely cold.
   
2. Beat egg whites til foamy. Then gradually add sugar and beat until stiff but not dry.
3. Turn speed to low and stir in vanilla and salt.
4. Gradually add in cold cornstarch mix. Turn speed to high and beat well!
5. Spread onto lemon pie and spread making the meringue touch the crust.
   
6. Bake @ 350* for 10-12 minutes til golden brown.
   

Basic Flaky Pie Crust

I found this recipe on Allrecipes website. I never knew that making a pie crust was SO easy. I will never buy a pie crust again! Make sure you read my tips at the bottom to help you with your pie making. You will be able to prepare the crust in 5-10 minutes. Seriously, it's easy. Give it a try!

PS- I found that the shortening was easier to work with and it tasted great!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ¼ c. Flour
• ¼ t. Salt
• ½ c. Shortening, chilled (or 1 cube Butter)
• 3 T. Ice Water
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine flour and salt. Blend in shortening with a pastry cutter or mixer just until the dough forms small balls.
2. Stir in the ICE water until the dough clumps together.
3. Roll out dough and form edge.
4. Place the crust in a lightly greased 9 inch pie dish. Pierce with fork and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

TIPS:

-Reserve ¼ cup of the dough for the edge of crust. Keep it in the fridge while you roll out the pie crust. Roll it out with your hands into “snakes” for the edge.

-Roll out the pie dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Be gentle with the dough because if you over work it- it wont be as flaky. If the dough is kinda mushy then put it in the fridge to cool.

-Grease the pie dish VERY lightly. If you put to much oil then the sides of the crusts will slide down when you bake it. Be sure to pierce it good with the fork to keep it from bubbling up.

Happy Pie Making! yum.

Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pie crust (9 inch)
• 1 (15 oz.) can Pumpkin or 2 cups fresh Pumpkin Puree
• 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. Cinnamon
  
• ½ t. Nutmeg
• ½ t. Ginger
  
• ½ t. Salt
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients and pour into pie crust.
2. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.
   
3. REDUCE heat to 350 and bake an additional 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean one inch from crust.

To make your own pumpkin puree, which I highly recommend! Check out my Pumpkin Puree 101 post HERE and see how I do it!

Banana Cream Pie

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Wafer Crumb crust
  
• ¾ c. Sugar
  
• 3 T. Cornstarch (or 1/3 c. Flour)
  
• ¼ t. Salt
  
• 2 c. Milk
• 3 Egg Yolks
• 2 T. Butter
• 1 ¼ t. Vanilla
• 3 bananas (sliced)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine over med-high heat sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add gradually milk stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and add egg yolks. Boil for 2 more minutes.
   
3. Turn off heat and add butter and vanilla.
   
4. Put sliced bananas into crust. Pour pudding mixture on top and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
   

WAFER CRUST:
-Melt 6 T. Butter and combine with 1 ½ c. of Vanilla Wafer Crumbs. Press into a pie pan and bake at 350 for 5 minutes.

Strawberry Pie

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pie crust (baked)
  
• 2 containers Fresh Strawberries
• ½ c. Sugar
• 3 T. Cornstarch
• ½ c. Water
• ½ c. Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt chocolate chips in microwave; stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Spread chocolate over crust and put in fridge to cool.
2. Dice strawberries. Mash 3 cups of the strawberries and reserve. Pat diced strawberries dry and pour into the chocolate pie crust.
3. On med-high heat bring to boil mashed strawberries & sugar. Add cornstarch water mixture. Stir for 2 minutes at boil. Pour over diced strawberries and refrigerate.
   

Double Layer Pumpkin Pie

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/double-layer-pumpkin-pie-54636.aspx

I made this recipe last year for Thanksgiving. I am not a big pumpkin pie fan and when I tried this pie it was so super good!!! I am making it again this year. It is very easy to make and it is a NO BAKE pie!! So awesome...