Recipe: My Banana Coconut Cream Pie With Coconut Crust Couldn’t Be Easier Or More Delicious!

This recipe makes a big 10" pie!

Today, I want to share one of the tastiest and foolproof pies that will ever touch your lips with my Banana Coconut Cream Pie With Coconut Crust.  This recipe uses a simple crust of melted butter and coconut that you brown until golden and then press into your greased pie pan and bake first.  While that lusciousness is baking, you are making a velvety pudding filling that instead of pouring over bananas later in that baked shell, you will be mashing them into the hot pudding, intensifying the banana flavor even more!

I do hope that you try my recipe because it is a sensational treat.  It is especially wonderful to make when you have lots of ripe bananas that you need to do something with.  

Mary's Banana Coconut Cream Pie With Coconut Crust

My Banana Coconut Cream Pie With Coconut Crust  will be a keeper!

Coconut Pie Crust:

3 cups of flaked coconut
7 tablespoons of butter 

Pie Filling:

3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of flour
3 tablespoons of cornstarch
4 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1-1/2 cups of undiluted evaporated milk (1 can)
1-1/2 cups of water 
3 medium, ripe bananas
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract


To make the crust:

Melt the butter in a pan.  Then add the flaked coconut and saute until golden brown.  Reserve two tablespoons because you’ll use them to later top the pie.  Press the remaining browned coconut mixture into a greased 10-inch pie pan and bake at 350-degrees for about seven minutes until it starts browning.


To make the filling:

Add the yolks, flour, sugar, cornstarch, salt, milk, water and cook in your pot until the mixture bubbles and thickens.  

Use your potato masher or electric beater or a fork to thoroughly mash the ripe banana and then add to the cooked pudding.  You will be surprised at how this mashing releases more banana flavor than just slicing.
Take off of the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Pour into your baked shell and top with that remaining coconut.  

Chill thoroughly before serving.

ENJOY!

Recipe: My Apple Cream Pie Is a Deliciously Different Treat That You Need to Try!

Today, I have a wonderful recipe that I want to share with you for my Apple Cream Pie. Unlike a traditional apple pie that is brimming with apples and spices, this tasty version has an unusual ingredient of sour cream added to the mix along with a pastry-like crumb topping instead of a normal top crust.

You’ll find that the sour cream gives those apples and spices a luscious texture and such delectable flavor that you’ll fail to understand why you never tried sour cream before with your fruit pies.

As always, I do hope that you will use my oil-pie crust for this recipe.  Honestly, it is foolproof despite the oily ball you will form. It is the easiest, flakiest, and simply the best pastry recipe that you will ever want for dessert crusts, pot pies, or even quiche.

My Apple Cream Pie

one 9" pie crust or one recipe of my oil-pie crust

1 cup of sour cream

2 tablespoons of flour

3/4 cup of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 large egg

3 cups of diced tart apples

½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Topping:

1/3 cup of flour

½ cup of firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)

1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 cup of butter

Mix the sour cream, flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt together first and then add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly.

Stir in the apples to the mixture next and mix through.

Pour the ingredients into the pie crust and bake in a 400-degree oven for about 25 minutes.

While the pie is baking, prepare the topping as you would a shortening type pastry by rolling the ingredients together with your hands to form large crumbs.  

When you take the pie out, sprinkle the topping mixture over it and return to the oven and continue baking for about 15 more minutes.

ENJOY!

You’ll Crave My Creamy Caramel Pie Recipe Once You Dig in!

This pie tastes like liquid caramel candy in a creamy filling topped with a cloud of meringue.

When I didn’t share a recipe last week, I kept getting emails from disappointed readers so I do apologize. Therefore, I thought pie was in order. This is not just any pie, but something that tastes like liquid caramel candy only in a luscious, creamy form of pie that is crowned with fluffy meringue.  Served cold, my Creamy Caramel Pie will delight the family and guests.

As I always mention, I love good food but hate complicated recipes.  The hardest part of preparing this pie is cooking the filling.  I recommend trying my oil-pie crust because it is simple and foolproof even if you never baked a pie crust before.  

On the other hand, pie crust recipes that use shortening can be tricky. If you handle the dough too much, your crust can become tough and hard.  I have built my share of those. However, my oil-pie crust recipe turns out flaky every time regardless of what you do to it. This I promise you.

Here’s a tip that I want to pass along about separating eggs. Sometimes, you may forget leaving them at room temperature for a bit to improve your chances of separating them successfully.  When you’re rushed, try running them under hot water for a few seconds to warm the eggs up first. This helps separate them with greater success than fresh out of the refrigerator.


My Creamy Caramel Pie

1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1/4 cup of melted margarine (not spread) or butter
3 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
2-1/2 cups of evaporated milk
1 baked 9-inch pie shell
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Meringue Topping:

6 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3 large egg whites
½ vanilla extract



To Prepare the Caramel Filling:

Cook the brown sugar and your butter together in a heavy pot like a cast iron skillet until it caramelizes.

Mix the egg yolks, flour, and cornstarch and gradually stir in a little of the milk to it in a mixing bowl.

Add the rest of the milk and thoroughly mix.

Now pour the milk mixture slowly into the caramelized sugar-butter and continue cooking, stirring constantly until thickened.

Pour into your baked pie shell.


To Prepare the Meringue:

Take out your electric mixer and beat the salt with the egg whites until it becomes frothy.

Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.  If you add the sugar too quickly, the meringue will fall and become limp instead of stiffening up.

Be care to spread the meringue all over to the edges of your pie to seal the filling in. 

Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 8-10 minutes until slightly browned.

Chill before serving.

ENJOY!

Make Your Holidays More Merry With My Decadent Tahitian Brownie Pie!

My Decadent Tahitian Brownie Pie

Besides all those fancy varieties of cookies, a festive dessert to serve family and guests over the holidays is my Decadent Tahitian Brownie Pie.  This delight is a velvety chocolate pie with not quite a custard or a pudding texture that is infused with sweet cherry vanilla that will make your mouth water. 

I used Nielsen-Massey's Tahitian Pure Vanilla Extract, one of the five extracts from my review/giveaway yesterday so do enter after reading this.

When you take a look at my photo above, you might think this resembles more a pumpkin pie than the dark-brown of a chocolate one.  This is just outside deception because once you slice into it the dark-brown chocolate beauty awaits.

Also, I forgot that I made this recipe in the past in a smaller pie pan.  What you are seeing is the size of a 10" shell, which is the reason the filling looks thinner.

This pie is sinfully delicious!

As always, I encourage you to try my no-fail oil pie crust recipe.  This is the only recipe that I use whenever I make pastry for pies, quiche, pot pies, and tarts because it is simply the best and easy.  Trust me when I promise you will make a flaky crust unlike riskier recipes with shortening that if you work the dough too much will result in hard crust.

Another thing I want to mention is to check the type of margarine you have on hand.  Whenever you bake, you need to have a margarine that specifically states it is a margarine and not a spread.  Spreads have more water in them and will spoil baking.  So if you blamed yourself for being a bad baker for something in the past if you happened to use a spread, it was not your fault.  You were a victim of spread.

We finished this pie already and the gang already demanded another.  If your family loves chocolate as much as mine, my bet is they would probably feel the same way so do try this one because it is a winner!

 
My Decadent Tahitian Brownie Pie

unbaked 9" pie shell
1 cup of evaporated milk
2/3 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup of a margarine (not spread) or butter
2 tablespoons of Nielsen-Massey Tahitian Pure Vanilla Extract
3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa


Beat the eggs and sugar together with your electric mixer until light. 

Cook the cocoa with one-fourth cup of the milk for several minutes to thicken slightly before slowly adding and beating to combine to the eggs and sugar in your mixing bowl.

Add your melted margarine or butter, the rest of the evaporated milk, and the vanilla.  Beat those ingredients together until everything is well mixed.

Pour the mixture into an unbaked 9" pie shell.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for ten minutes before reducing the temperature to 350-degrees for about 40 minutes.  Test with a toothpick to see anything sticks.

Cool thoroughly and top with whipped cream, if desired.   Plain is just as fabulous, but the whipped cream is a nice special touch for guests.

ENJOY!

Try My Best Homemade Carrot Pie!

If you never tried a carrot pie, then you have been missing out on something extraordinary.  This pie is on the order of a creamy pumpkin pie only with a lighter texture.  Trust me, dear readers, no one will be able to refuse to eat their veggies when you serve this.

This is especially nice to make when those bags of carrots in the crisper are starting to get old.  All you do is clean and then cook and throw everything in your food processor or blender to combine before turning into your favorite unbaked pie crust.  This carrot pie is a tasty way to salvage them.

If you haven't tried my oil pie crust, I really hope you will.  Honestly, this particular recipe for crust always turns out so fear not!  You have my promise.  The oil pie crust is the only one I make these days for dessert pies, pot pie crusts, and even crusts for quiche.  It is so flaky and you never have to worry about overworking the dough that can turn your crust tough.  Believe me, but I have made plenty of those before finding this treasure of a recipe.  Besides, baking with canola oil or olive oil (for pot pie or quiche versions) is healthier than shortening.

Do try this delicious pie for your weekend splurge.  Once you taste it, you will be so glad you did!

My Simple Carrot Pie

1 lb. of fresh cooked, drained carrots
1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1-3/4 cups of milk
unbaked 9" pie shell

Clean your carrots before cooking them until softened.  Drain. 

Now combine everything into your food processor or blender and whip until smooth. 

Pour into your unbaked and greased 9-inch pie shell.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.  Then lower the oven to 300 degrees for 50 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Spoil Yourself With My Homemade Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie!

How about a piece of my Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie?

The weekend is nearly here and calls for some decadent dessert to celebrate all the days in between of healthier eating habits.   Today, I made the most delicious Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie from scratch that is simple and the perfect marriage of flavors with scrumptious peanut goodness  and dark velvety chocolate custard topped with a fluffy meringue cloud.

Most cream-pies do not get topped with meringue.  However, I am not like most other people.  All my cream pies get meringue piled high on each because that extra tasty fluff compliments the pie so much more, but also because I'm thrifty and use everything I have without waste!  

Of course, I could save the egg whites for an omelet, bread, pasta dough or even an angel food cake.  But for that few extra seconds it takes to whip up meringue, you will take that typical creamy pie into a dessert sensation.  On the other hand, if you have other intentions for those egg whites do use them as you see fit since this pie is also very yummy plain as well.

As always, I only make my oil pie crust.  Honestly, if you are afraid to make pie dough because of past failures, then you need to try this easy recipe that I guarantee this will come out like you're a champion baker.  This recipe is the only pie crust dough that you never need to worry about handling too much that will result in a tough crust like a typical shortening version, which can be tricky.  Once you do try this crust, you will fall in love with  how simple and flaky the crust will be while discovering you can turn this dough into a potpie crust, quiche crust, or this dessert crust.

My Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie

3 egg yolks
pinch of salt
2-1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup of sugar
2-1/2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 baked 9-inch pie shell

Take out your eggs first and let sit at room temperature to warm before attempting to separate the yolks from the whites.  Separate the whites into a separate mixing bowl.  Drop your yolks into your pot with your 2 cups of milk, sugar, cocoa, peanut butter and salt and warm first before mixing your cornstarch into the remaining 1/2 cup of milk, stirring and then adding to the pot.  Cook this until thickened.  Add vanilla last once it is off the heat.


Pour into your baked shell and pile on the meringue. 


My Meringue

This is how my Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie looks uncut.

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of sugar

Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff.  Gradually add the sugar and beat it in using about a tablespoon at a time.  Caution is the rule here. (If you add the sugar all at once, then you will destroy your meringue.)  Pile the stiffly beaten meringue into your filled baked shell and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until delicately browned.

I'm Nuts About Cheap and Easy Recipes Like My Oil Pie Crust

Oil makes this pie crust recipe no fail.

The recipes I'm going to share with you are far from gourmet dishes that call for expensive ingredients that you would have to drive all over creation just to find or mail away for.  Everything I cook is either in your pantry now or at the local grocery store--not a specialty shop.  So if truffles and birds' nest soup are what you crave, then you won't find it here--only basic, old-fashioned recipes made from scratch!

These are some of the recipes that I'm nuts about.  Hopefully you'll try a few out because I do think these are extra special. 

The first recipe that I want to tell you about came to me out of desperation.  It was apple season and we were lucky enough to have a bountiful apple harvest from the tree in our yard.  After hours of peeling and coring tons of apples for pie, I discovered I was out of shortening for my pies. 

The normal person would have jumped in their car to go get some shortening.  However, I was too tired after all that apple detail.  Instead, I went through tons of my cookbooks until I found this odd recipe for pie crust with oil.

Oil?  Now don't cringe at the thought.  You don't have to worry about screwing up the dough like when you use shortening and work it too much.  This oil crust is foolproof even if you never made a flaky pie before.  

This crust is the only one I still make.  It's healthier, tender and flaky consistently, much easier than traditional recipes, can be used for dessert pie, potpie, and a quiche crust.  But the only way you'll know for sure that I'm nuts about this is for you to try my crust yourself. 

Oil Pie Crust

1-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients in your bowl until they form a greasy ball.  Divide the ball into two for the top and bottom crust.  Grease a 9-inch pie pan.  Roll out the first ball on a sheet of wax paper.  You can press it into your pan or save it for your top crust.  I pat the first ball into the pan, pour my filling, then roll the remaining top crust on the wax paper so it has a nicer appearance.  If it sticks to the paper, then sprinkle a little flour to make rolling easier.   Don't worry if your dough ball feels greasy because it is normal.  Once you have the crust in the shell, you can fill it with your favorite filling and bake as usual.

*All moms know how much their kids love to help them in the kitchen.   A great together activity is mom and child working side by side on this pie crust.  Allow your child to pat the bottom crust into your pie pan for you.  You'll be surprised at how efficient those small hands can be from working with their play dough.  Your child will delight in taking part in making something delicious for the family while learning by mom's example!

Next time, I'll give you a delicious way to use your leftovers and turn them into my Super Easy Potpie!