Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Crack Pie

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Yes, this is called Crack Pie. You may be wondering why it’s called Crack Pie, but you won’t once you try it - it’s bad for you and you won’t want to stop once you start. It’s got a sweet, but slightly salty oatmeal cookie crust, and a rich, thick, sugary filling. Until today, pecan pie was my favorite kind of pie, but that honor now belongs to Crack Pie. That’s how much this thing rocked my world.
Oh, and as an added bonus, it’s not especially difficult to prepare.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
Difficulty: Medium
Active Prep Time: About 45 minutes
Total Prep Time: About 5 - 10 hours (For cooling, then chilling)
Special Equipment: Electric Hand Mixer
Serves: 10 – 12
Oat Cookie Crust Ingredients:
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
  • 5½ tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
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Filling Ingredients:
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder (I didn’t actually have any dry milk powder, so I instead used 1 tablespoon of regular non-fat milk)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
  • 6½ tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Powdered sugar (for dusting)
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Instructions:
(Begin with the crust)
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper and coat with nonstick spray.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar and beat using an electric mixer. Beat mixture for about 2 minutes until it’s light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl.
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3. Add the egg; beat until pale and fluffy.
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4. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
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5. Turn oat the mixture onto the prepared baking pan and spread out evenly to the edges of the pan.
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6. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to a rack and cool cookie completely.
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7. Crumble the oat cookie into a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of butter and 1½ tablespoons of brown sugar. Mix it in by hand until the mixture is moist enough to stick together.
8. Transfer cookie crust mixture to a 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie dish. Place pie dish with crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for another 10 minutes, then allow to cool.
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(Move onto the filling)
9. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.
10. Whisk both sugars, and salt, in a medium bowl to blend.
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11. Pour melted butter and non-fat milk into the sugar mixture and whisk until blended.
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12. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour filling into crust.
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13. Bake pie for 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble). Reduce oven temperature to 325°F and continue baking for about 20 minutes, or until filling is brown in spots and set around edges. Center should still move slightly when the pie dish is gently shaken.
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14. Allow the pie to cool for at least 1 hour in the pie dish on a rack. Chill uncovered for at least 3 more hours.
15. Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve cold.
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3 comments:

  1. Sounds delicious; I might actually try it since Oatmeal cookies are great.

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  2. Looks and sounds amazing!!

    ReplyDelete