Individual Peanut-Butter S'mores Pies

I can't remember what we were watching, but Hoosband and I saw some reference to peanut-butter pie on TV a couple weeks ago, and he got that dreamy look in his eye. There might have also been an audible tummy response and a rogue drop of drool making a run for his chin.

"Oh man, I used to make peanut-butter pie all the time," I reminisced. 

He looked at me as if he'd learned I'd been skimming half his income into a private account in the Caymans. "And you've been keeping this from me?" the betrayed inquired.

My penance was clear. 

A bag of homemade graham crackers leftover from creating a fresh chevre cheesecake for a Mother Earth News post sat on my counter, so the timing was perfect for pie.

Now a custard-y peanut-butter filling in a crumbly homemade graham cracker crust is a fine thing on its own, but I wanted to have a little fun with it. I settled on two variations, and since I'm only really fond of one of my pie pans, I decided to make a bunch of mini-pies instead of two large ones. Portion control is an added bonus.

I knew right away I wanted to do a Peanut-Butter S'mores Pie, but I didn't have time to make homemade marshmallows, and I really didn't want to go to the store to get the Jet-Puffed variety.

Then I realized I had a perfectly marshmallow-y substance right at my disposal in the two egg whites I'd be reserving from the filling. Since crunchy-on-the-outside, marshmallow-y-on-the-inside meringues are an all-time Hoosband favorite on their own, I figured it was a fair swap out.

What do you think?

Individual Peanut-Butter S'mores Pies

~for the crust~
2 cups homemade-graham-cracker crumbs
2 T dark brown sugar or coconut palm sugar
3 T melted butter

~for the filling~
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup peanut butter (I use Jiff Natural)
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used Guittard Extra Dark)

~for the meringue~
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar (I used Wholesome Sweeteners Organic)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 12-cup, standard-sized muffin pan with muffin liners.

Use a fork to thoroughly combine the crust ingredients. Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared cups, and use your fingers to press the mixture firmly into the bottoms and up the sides of the liners. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, peanut butter, and egg yolks until very thoroughly combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared crusts, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and wait about two minutes for the filling to settle before evenly distributing the chocolate chips among the pies. Set aside.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat on medium speed until foamy, voluminous, and just able to hold very soft peaks when the beater is lifted out of the mixer. With the mixer on, beat in the vanilla and one tablespoon of sugar at a time until the mixture is extremely white and glossy and able to hold stiff peaks.

Transfer the mixture to a large piping bag, and pipe the meringue in a climbing spiral over the top of each pie so that no chocolate or filling is showing.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and bake 20 minutes more.

Remove pies from the oven and allow to cool completely before very carefully lifting them out of the pan--a fork may be helpful in this process to avoid cracking the meringue.

Store the pies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, and stay tuned for variation number two, coming soon!

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Cherry-Chocolate Chewies

My love for meringues has been well documented:

Meringue Ghosts
Raspberry Pavlovas
Strawberry Colada Pavlovas
Peppermint Bark Meringues

But why not add one more variation to the list?

With a higher moisture-content, thanks to the bounty of tart, dried cherries running throughout, these two-bite treats have a purely chewy, marshmallow-y texture, without the exterior crunch of my usual meringues.

Even better the day after baking, these little chewies will last up to a week, stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Cherry-Chocolate Chewies
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
2 large egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup finely chopped dark chocolate (I used Chocolove Strong Dark 70%)

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the sugar and the dried cherries in the bowl of a food processor and pulse for 20-second intervals until the sugar is evenly freckled with flecks of cherries.

Set aside.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat until the egg whites are thick, foamy, and just able to hold a very soft peak.

With the mixer on low, add the sugar mixture one tablespoon at a time. Slowly add the vanilla and the chopped chocolate.

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag, and pipe out small "kisses" onto the prepared baking sheets. The kisses can be fairly close together, as the mixture should not spread much while baking.

Bake one sheet at a time at 300 degrees F. for 20 minutes, giving the sheet a 180-degree rotation halfway through. Allow cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes before using a spatula to transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Store in a zip-top bag or other airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Makes about 30 little chewies.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Raspberry Pavlovas

The Setting: Melting snow, vanishing clouds, messy apartment.

The Soundtrack: Gilmore Girls, Season 4

Steaming up the Oven: Meringue Pavlovas

The Scenario: Working on some Valentine's Day ideas....

If you haven't noticed, I have a bit of a thing for meringues (Peppermint Bark Meringues, Meringue Ghosts).

For Valentine's Day I thought I'd up the romantic ante and turn my classic meringues into Raspberry Pavlovas, or individual meringue wells filled with Chantilly cream and topped with fresh raspberries.

Easy on the eyes and almost as easy to throw together, this impressive looking dessert is perfect for a Valentine's Day dinner party or an intimate dinner for two.

Raspberry Pavlovas
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
Chantilly cream, recipe follows
2 cups fresh raspberries (Do not rinse the raspberries, as they will become waterlogged. Instead, gently pat them with a damp paper towel.)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If you desire, you can use a 3-inch biscuit cutter or coffee cup to trace circles on the back side of the parchment paper to give yourself a guide for piping. I like to wing it.

Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla with an electric mixer just until stiff peaks start to form. With mixer on, beat in sugar 1 T at a time, allowing each addition to become incorporated.

Gently transfer the mixture to a piping bag and pipe five 3-inch circles of meringue on the parchment. Fill in the circles, and make two more unfilled circles on top of each to create wells.

Bake at 300 degrees F for 25 minutes or until cream-colored, crispy on the edges, and just set in the centers. Since meringues are very delicate and oven temperatures vary, peek at these after 15 minutes. If they appear to be taking on too much color, reduce the oven temp slightly.

Cool to room temperature before very gently removing from the parchment paper. Handle with care.

To serve, fill each well with Chantilly cream and fresh raspberries.

Chantilly Cream

Chantilly cream is a fancy name for sweetened whipped cream flavored with vanilla. This one is sweetened very lightly because the meringues are so sweet already.

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 T powdered sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in an electric mixer on med-low speed. Beat for 2 minutes. Gradually increase speed to med-high and beat just till the cream holds stiff peaks. Store leftover Chantilly Cream in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.

Extra meringues can be carefully placed in a flat, single layer in a zip-top plastic bag and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

The perfect bite will have a bit of everything: chewy, marshmallowy meringue, light and fluffy Chantilly Cream, and the sweet-tart burst of raspberry, flecked with crunchy bits of meringue crust. In the mood yet? 

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life!

Meringue ghosts

 

The Setting: Reaching awkwardly over the sleeping baby on my lap to the laptop perched atop a large cookbook on the kicked-out leg of the loveseat recliner on which I sit. Did that make sense at all?

The Soundtrack: Glee on Hulu.

Steaming up the Oven (the real one this time!): Meringue ghosts.

The Scenario: Bringing a little Halloween cheer to a favorite handed-down recipe dear.


I did make it to the Halloween party with a few of the homemade butterfingers, but let's just say I had to supplement them a little.

Enter Meringue Ghosts.

My recipe for Meringue Kisses, written in sky blue on a folded and worn piece of paper from an Oak Hill School notepad, was given to me by my friend Suzanne's mom in elementary school and remains my favorite light and airy alternative to traditional chocolate-chip cookies.

Here, big chocolate chips throughout are swapped out for mini-chocolate chip eyes, and a piping bag streamlines the shaping.

Meringue Ghosts:
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup granulated sugar
mini semisweet chocolate chips, for eyes

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and vanilla till semi-stiff peaks form.

3. Add sugar, 1 T at a time, continuing to beat during and after each addition.

4. Carefully transfer meringue to a disposable piping bag. Snip off end of bag so that the opening is about 1/2 inch in width.

5. Pipe ghosts onto prepared baking sheet and gently press two chocolate chips into the "head" of each. Ghosts will not spread much, but will puff a little, so space at least 1/2 inch apart.

6. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until ghosts will easily separate from the parchment paper. The meringues should be crispy on the outside and slightly marshmallow-y in the center. Yum!