Blueberry Pie

My husband loves blueberry pie.  I love blueberries.  We have a beautiful blueberry farm here in Dexter http://dexterblueberry.com/default.aspx and I can spend hours there during July and August. That being said, on my last visit I managed to walk away with 34 pounds of big fat berries that were just screaming to be turned into a delicious dessert. This recipe is being made gluten free so that my husband can enjoy it, but it can easily be changed using all-purpose flour.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

 

Filling Ingredients:

6 C. blueberries

1 C. granulated sugar

4 Tbsp.  Tom Sawyer GF Flour Mix

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 Tbsp freshly grated lemon peel

In a large bowl stir flour, sugar, nutmeg and lemon peel together, add berries and toss to coat.  Let stand for 15 minutes.  Pour into pie crust. (see below) and place on baking sheet.  Cover edge with pie guard or aluminum foil. Bake for 50 minutes.  Remove foil; bake for 20 to 30 minutes more or till the top is golden and the fruit mixture is bubbly.  Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Double Pastry Crust:

3 C. Tom Sawyer GF Flour Mix 

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 C. cold butter, cubed

1/2 C.vegetable shortening

2 egg yolks

2 tsp. vinegar

ice water

In a large bowl, combine flour with salt.  Cut in butter and shortening, blending until crumbled.  Whisk egg yolks with vinegar; add enough ice water to make 2/3 cup.  Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir with a fork until it holds together, adding a bit more flour if necessary.  Press into two disk shapes; wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for one hour until well chilled.

Remove dough from fridge and flour your work surface.  Roll each disk into a large circle, approximately 1/4 inch thick.  Transfer dough to a 9 inch pie plate and press into plate (this can be a difficult task with GF dough as it breaks apart, but fear not.  If this happens you need to work quickly to press several pieces of dough into the pie plate until formed together). Prick bottom and sides with a fork. 

Gently transfer remaining dough and cover the pie filling, crimping edges to seal dough (if using the GF recipe I have found that this task requires two people in order to keep the dough from tearing). Use any remaining scrapes of dough to make shapes to decorate the top of the pie.  Brush crust with egg wash (egg whisked with a couple drops of cold water) and sprinkle with sugar.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:
2 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. red food coloring (1 oz. bottle)
1 can cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat, set aside.  In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds.  Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined.  Gently stir in food coloring.

Spoon batter in 1 or 2 inch diameter rounds, about 1/2 inch high on prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart.  Bake for 8 minutes and remove to a baking rack to cool.  After cooled, spread a small amount of frosting on flat side of cookie and sandwich with another cookie.  Wrap frosted pies individually in plastic wrap.  Store in container.

Crumb Topped Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

If there is one thing my husband loves, it's dessert. You may have noticed that I have entered more dessert recipes on here than anything else! That being said I am always trying to perfect a recipe or come up with a new one. In the case of this recipe I played around with the filling just a tad and then modified my pie crust to be gluten free. When my husband was told that he could no longer eat wheat gluten we thought it would be impossible, but slowly I have been coming up with some recipes that are proving to be family favorites (even for my teenagers).

Crust - see Flaky Single Crust Pastry (*note - if you are making this gluten free you will need to prebake the crust for 10 minutes to ensure a thoroughly cooked crust on the bottom)

Filling
3 cups sliced rhubard
2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour (you can use all-purpose or a gluten free mix. I prefer Tom Sawyer brand)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crumb Topping
1 cup flour ((you can use all-purpose or a gluten free mix. I prefer Tom Sawyer brand)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
1 tablespoon butter, cut into smaller pieces for topping pie before baking

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Stir all filling ingredients together until well coated and allow to sit for 45 minutes. Pour into prepared crust. Combine crumb topping ingredients and mix together by hand until crumbly. Top pie with crumb mixture and dot the top with 1 tablespoon cold butter bits. Bake for 55 minutes, or until bubbly. Allow to cool before serving for easier slicing.

Gluten Free Butterscotch Blondies

These "un-brownies" are chewy and full of pecans and butterscotch chips. They are very sweet and go great with a big dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream...Yummy!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. gluten free baking powder
1 1/4 cups gluten free flour mixture (I use Tom Sawyer's)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butterscotch baking chips

Line a 13x9 pan with parchment, overlapping sides, to prevent sticking (you can also heavily spray with gluten free non-stick spray). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized pan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, stirring until well blended and the mixture just begins to bubble (similar to making a pecan pie). Remove from heat. Whisk eggs and yolk together with vanilla. Pour in the eggs in a steady stream, while whisking constantly to prevent scrambling. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk flour into the egg mixture. Fold in pecans and butterscotch chips. Spread into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes (5 minutes less for dark coated pans). Remove from oven and cool on a rack. Lift parchment out and cut when cooled.

Molten Spiced Chocolate Cakes

Ingredients:
4 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. Cabernet Sauvignon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter 4 custard cups and place on a baking sheet. Microwave chocolate and butter on HIGH for 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate is melted. Stir in wine, vanilla and sugar until blended. Whisk in eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon evenly into dishes. Bake for 12 minutes, until edges are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute. Loosen edges with a sharp knife. Invert onto serving dish. Sprinkle with extra confectioners sugar.
For an extra special touch you can make a raspberry puree and drizzle onto the plate before inverting the cake. Serve hot.

Blonde Brownies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
4 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter in saucepan. Place brown sugar in mixing bowl and add melted butter; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, and dry ingredients, mixing well. Pour into a 13 x 9 greased baking dish. Top with chocolate chips. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Flaky Single Crust Pastry

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1/4 cup Crisco shortening
1 egg yolk1 tsp. vinegar
ice water

In large bowl, combine flour with salt. With pastry blender cut in butter and shortening until in fine crumbs. In 1 cup measure, whisk egg yolk with vinegar; add enough ice water to make 1/3 cup.
Gradually sprinkle egg mixture over flour mixture, stirring briskly with a fork until pastry holds together. Press into disc shape; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hours or until chilled or up to 3 days.
*To make this recipe gluten free I substituted Tom Sawyer's brand gluten free flour mix and chilled for 3 hours. When you roll this crust out it will not have the same consistency as a regular pie crust, this one will be softer and require a bit more of your flour mix for dusting. It also sticks to your rolling surface so I have had to press it into the pie plate and form by hand. It seems that with the delicate process of rolling it out followed by the hand pressing I still end up with a beautifully flaky crust.
**I use pie weights while prebaking to prevent it from falling down in the oven. Bake at 425 for 8-14 minutes, or until lightly browned.

A Thanksgiving Family Tradition

This was always my favorite dessert as a young girl and my mom always served it at Thanksgiving. Today I continue that tradition, much to my family's delight.

Cherry Delight
Combine and press into 13 x 9 pan:
2 pkgs. graham crackers, crushed
2 sticks butter, melted
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Beat together:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Whip together:
2 envelopes Dream Whip, prepared as directed
Combine Dream Whip with cream cheese mixture. Spread over graham cracker crust and top with 2 cans of cherry pie filling. Chill for at least 5 hours.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Cake Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp oil
3 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin

Filling:
2 egg whites
4 tsp. vanilla
4 tsp. milk
4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups Crisco shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend sugar and oil; add eggs and beat well. Add pumpkin and mix well. Add dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and cool on wire rack.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until fluffy. Spread onto cooled cake rounds and make sandwiches. Wrap each cake with plastic and store in a cool place.