Individual Peanut Butter and Jelly Pies

If you read the last post, you saw solution number one to Hoosband's peanut-butter-pie deprivation issues: Individual Peanut-Butter S'mores Pies.

Today I present variation number two: Individual Peanut Butter and Jelly Pies.

Not exactly a novel concept, but easy and delicious all the same.

I have to admit, growing up I was never a fan of the peanut-butter-and-jelly combo. Peanut-butter-and-honey sandwiches were the pride of my lunchbox--no jelly allowed.

But somehow, over the years, as I've sampled variations on the PB and J (especially variations that include chocolate) I've grown to find the combo not only appealing but down right addictive.

This recipe layers strawberry jelly, simple peanut-butter-custard filling, and easy chocolate ganache in homemade graham-cracker crusts to create perfectly portioned pies that effortlessly elevate a childhood favorite to something truly party worthy.

Individual Peanut Butter and Jelly Pies
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (preferably homemade)
2 T dark brown sugar or coconut palm sugar
3 T melted butter
1/3 cup strawberry jelly
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup peanut butter (I used Jiff Natural)
2 egg yolks (the whites can be frozen and thawed for later use if desired)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I used Guittard Extra Dark)


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. Place a rounded teaspoon of jelly into the bottom of each prepared crust (use the bottom of the spoon to gently spread out the jelly blob if desired). 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 from the oven and allow to cool completely.

While the pies are cooling, place the heavy whipping cream in a two-cup, microwave-safe bowl or Pyrex measuring cup. Microwave on high for one minute. Add the chocolate chips and stir until completely smooth--this will take a few minutes. Divide the chocolate mixture evenly among the pies and allow to cool completely at room temperature before placing in airtight containers to store in the fridge. The pies will keep, stored this way, for up to one week.

Makes 12 Individual Peanut Butter and Jelly Pies.

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

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.

Honey-Walnut Pie and Homemade Butter Crust

The Setting: Blue and gray are duking it out in the sky...looks like gray is winning.

The Soundtrack: The dishwasher. Oh, how I love that thing! Seriously, sonnets are in order.

Steaming up the Oven: Nothing. So far, it's been a peanut butter and Kashi kind of day.

The Scenario: An alternative to the sweet Southern staple that's become a holiday hit.

Growing up, I never liked nuts until I tried pecan pie. The first bite of that gooey, ultra-sweet filling transformed the nut from just another thing I'd been avoiding (like veggies or the obligatory glass of milk with dinner) to something I actually wanted to eat (like ice cream, or, well, pie).

Last year I all but burnt myself out on pecan pie attempting to perfect my recipe. So this year I decided to do something slightly different but equally festive for the holidays.

Honey and walnuts are a classic combination. Here, they are complimented by butter for richness, brown sugar for depth, and a combo of cinnamon and cardamom for subtle complexity.

The flavor will vary marginally depending on the type of honey used. Honeys are a lot like wines in that they can be blends or varietals. Tupelo, orange blossom, clover, and other varietals are made from nectar gathered from their namesake blossoms, while "local honey" and your standard supermarket squeeze-bear are generally blends. I have no idea what combination of plants the bees of Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan prefer to pollinate, but that's what went into my pie. Whatever honey you choose will bring its own nuances to the recipe--select accordingly.

When fully cooked, the top of this pie will puff and crack slightly, almost reminiscent of the top of a cake. But don't be fooled: underneath the puffy, nutty exterior lies a gooey, honeyed caramel that is nothing but pie.

Honey Walnut Pie
This is one of those recipes that makes you get why people say "easy as pie." Simply whisk up the filling, pour it over the walnuts in the unbaked crust, and bake!

1 unbaked pie crust (recipe follows), fitted into a greased pie pan, placed on a baking sheet
2 cups walnut halves
3 large eggs
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
4 T melted butter
¼ tsp fine salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
Dash cardamom

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and make sure a rack is positioned in the center of the oven.

Prick the bottom of the pie crust all over with a fork.

Spread the walnuts out evenly in the unbaked pie crust.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Pour this mixture over the walnuts.

Cover the pie with aluminum foil, and bake for 35 minutes.  Carefully remove the foil, rotate the pan in the oven, and bake an additional 32-35 minutes.  Don’t worry if the pie cracks slightly--this is normal and can actually be a good indication that the pie has cooked enough to set.

Allow the pie to cool at least 20 minutes to set before cutting.

The pie will keep, covered with aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 5 days, but it is best eaten within 1-2 days.

All-Butter Crust

Shortening is often used either in place of or in combination with butter to produce flaky pie crusts, but I prefer an all-butter approach. Butter is more flavorful and is naturally free of trans fats. My favorite butter to bake with is Kerrygold, but more often than not, I use the cheap, store-brand stuff. For the liquid component, I have used everything from water to cream to coconut milk, and even spiced rum. Whatever liquid you choose, be sure that it is cold, and use only as much as it takes for your dough to come together. The instructions below are for the food-processor method, but this dough can also be made by hand. Use a fork or a pastry cutter to cut very cold (but not frozen, which is too hard to cut in effectively by hand) butter into the dry ingredients until the largest clumps are the size of a pea and the rest of the mixture looks like grated Parmesan cheese. Add the liquid about 1 T at a time, using either a fork or a wooden spoon to incorporate just enough of the liquid so that if you press a clump of the mixture together, it will form a soft dough.

3/4 cup (12 T, or 1 1/2 regular sticks) cold, unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour), plus a little extra for sprinkling
2 T sugar
½ tsp fine salt
3-6 T ice water or very cold milk or cream (substitute some of the liquid with vodka if desired*)

Use a knife to cut the butter into cm-sized cubes. Freeze the butter cubes for at least 15 minutes.

Pulse the flour, sugar, and salt together in a food processor several times to mix.

Add the butter to the processor and pulse several times until the mixture has a sandy appearance and the largest clumps are about the size of a pea. The mixture will resemble Parmesan cheese.

Remove the liquid-shoot insert from the processor. Turn the processor on and pour about 1 T of the liquid through the shoot at a time, just until the mixture starts to come together in a mass. Use only as much liquid as necessary and avoid over-mixing.

Turn the dough out onto a large piece of parchment paper and press into a large, flat disk.

Wrap gently in the parchment, and place in the fridge until ready to use (or up to 48 hours).  Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before rolling if it has been in the fridge for more than an hour. This will make it easier to roll out.

When ready to use, unwrap the disk, lightly sprinkle it all over with flour, and place another sheet of parchment on top so that the dough is sandwiched between the two sheets. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a thickness of ¼-1/8^th inch.

Gently peel the dough off the parchment and transfer to a buttered pie pan, aiming to align the center of the dough with the center of the pan.

Gently lift the edges of the dough and ease it into the sides of the pan to avoid stretching the dough, which would cause it to shrink during baking. 

Trim the overhanging edges of the dough so that about 1 inch hangs over the edge of the pan all the way around.

Gently tuck or roll the overhanging dough under itself so that it sits up on the edge of the pan.

Use your fingers and thumb to crimp the edges if desired. 

Gently press parchment paper or plastic wrap onto the surface to cover and chill until ready to use. The unbaked crust can be stored like this in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Note 1: I used to make this dough using my food processor's dough blade, but I have found that the metal blade mixes the dough more quickly and more evenly.

Note 2: If desired, dough scraps can be re-rolled, cut out with festive mini-cutters, and placed atop the pie either before baking or before the second phase of baking (after the foil is removed).

Use a paring knife to add detail, such as veins on leaves.

*Aggressively mixing water and flour helps to develop the flour's gluten, which makes for strong, crusty French baguettes, but tough, chewy, gluey pie crusts. This is why it is best to use as little liquid as possible and to mix the dough as little as possible. Alcohol does not activate the gluten like water does, so it may be used in place of some of the liquid to achieve lighter, flakier results.

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