Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie

Only 4 more days until the big turkey feast, are you ready? I can't wait for turkey, potatoes, stuffing, veggies and of course the pies! Thanksgiving may just be my favorite meal of the year! So much delicious food and left overs for days! I am craving some dark meat turkey right about now.

We are heading to Clemson, SC this year to spend the holiday with Randolph's family. I'm excited to head back to my college alma mater. It will be a nice change of scenery for a few days and hopefully the air will be a little more crisp and cool than what we have been experiencing here in Mobile. It just doesn't feel like Fall when the temps are in the high 70s. We are looking forward to taking a trip up to the mountains and checking out the vibrant leaves and getting some fresh apple cider. But before I head out of town I want to leave you all with one last pumpkin recipe.

If you are still finalizing your Thanksgiving menu and looking for that perfect pie recipe, I think I've come up with one that you will enjoy! Take the traditional pumpkin pie to the next level by adding a chocolate chip, pecan and brown sugar topping! Your guests are sure to love a slice of this pie!

Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie

Ingredients:
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 tsp cinnamon
-2 large eggs
-1 can (15 oz) Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
-1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
-1 unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie shell

Pecan Chocolate Chip Topping

Ingredients: (mix all together and set aside)
-1 cup chopped pecans
-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip
-1/4 cup light brown sugar
-2 Tbsp melted butter

• Mix sugar, salt and cinnamon in small bowl.
  
• Beat eggs in large bowl.
• Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture.
• Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
• Pour mixture into pie shell.
• Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake 40 minutes.
• Remove pie from oven and add Pecan Chocolate Chip topping. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
  
• Cool on wire rack.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving this year? Does your family have a favorite pie?

Cupcake a Week: Pecan Pie

Apple, pumpkin, pecan...which is your favorite fall pie? Although I love all three of these, my absolute must have at Thanksgiving is pecan. I am a sucker for the ooey gooey brown sugary center of this pie. It really doesn't get much better than pecan pie as far as I'm concerned. Well except for maybe cupcakes. So I had this brilliant idea to make some pecan pie cupcakes and see how they compare to a slice of good ole pecan pie. You see I've had this recipe for a 3-layer Pecan Pie Cake in my recipe binder for the past few years now. Every fall I put it on my "must make" list and somehow it has yet to happen. I think the recipe is from an older issue of Southern Living magazine. So this year I was determined to try this cake in one way or another so I decided, let's try it as cupcakes.

I will just come right out and tell you I have some mixed feelings about how this recipe turned out. I think the cake part is excellent. It's moist and there's a pecan in every bite, can't complain about that. It's the Pecan Pie topping where things got a little weird. I'm not quite sure what to make of the consistency that I ended up with. I followed the recipe for the most part, although I did cut the ingredients in half because I didn't need a big batch of cupcakes and then I substituted light brown sugar and light corn syrup instead of the dark brown that was called for in the recipe. I heated the mixture, and whisked constantly, but wasn't really sure what the end result was suppose to look like. Unfortunately I did not have a picture of the final cake to go buy which would have been helpful. This topping required chilling as well. So I put the mixture into the fridge and came back 4 hours later hoping for the best. What I ended up with was a brown congealed glob that was no where near spreadable. So I let the mixture come to room temperature for a while and then came back to spread on top of the cupcakes. The mixture was still not easily spreadable but I made the most of it. Afterall, I wasn't going to let a perfectly good batch of cupcakes go to waste.

After spreading the icing on to the best of my abilities, I was left with a not too appetizing looking cupcake. I needed to do something quick to make it some what appealing...enter my friend Mr. Turkey! Oh yes, my turkey cookie cutter came to the rescue as I decided to bring in a traditional "pie" element and top each cupcake with a piece of baked pie crust in the shape of a turkey. Thank you Mr. Turkey for saving this batch of cupcakes, you sure are cute sitting up on top!


Pecan Pie Cupcakes (makes 12, adapted from Southern Living Magazine)

Ingredients:
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
-3 eggs, separated
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup buttermilk
-1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
• Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy, gradually add sugar and beat well.
• Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
• Combine flour and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
  
• Stir in 1 cup of pecans.
• Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form and fold into batter.
• Pour batter into prepared liners about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Let cupcakes cool on wire rack.
• Frost with Pecan Pie Topping. Garnish with remaining 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Pecan Pie Topping

Ingredients:
-1/4 cup light brown sugar
-1/2 cup light corn syrup
-1/4 cup cornstarch
-2 egg yolks
-3/4 cup half and half
-1/8 tsp salt
-2 Tbsp unsalted butter
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Whisk together first 6 ingredients in saucepan until smooth.
• Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, and boil 1 minute or until thickened.
• Remove from heat, whisk in butter and vanilla extract.
• Place a sheet of wax paper directly on surface of mixture to prevent a film from forming, and chill 4 hours.
• Remove topping from refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting cupcakes.

Turkey Pastry Garnish

Ingredients:
-1 refrigerated pie crust
-granulated sugar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll out pie crust on lightly floured surface.
• Cut out 12 turkeys using cookie cutters.
• Lightly sprinkle some granulated sugar on each turkey cut out.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Place turkey garnish on top of cupcakes, by placing a toothpick behind them to allow them to stand up straight.

Have any of you ever made Pecan Pie cupcakes? If so how did they turn out, please share the recipe with me, I'm in need of a better one! Or have you tried to make this Pecan Pie Cake from Southern Living...what did you think of the Pecan Pie filling portion of the recipe...did it work for you, was it spreadable? Any suggestions, send them my way, I need to give these another try!

Although these cupcakes tasted good, the topping was just a little strange, I think a good ole pie of pecan pie comes out on top today!

Pumpkin Pie Pops

Happy November and Happy Pumpkin Month...well at least in my house there will be pumpkin all month long! I absolutely love the fall flavors of pumpkin and cinnamon so get ready for some festive holiday sweets that will be great additions at your Thanksgiving feast this year! If you don't like recipes with pumpkin I promise to sprinkle in a few other recipes as well this month...how about apples? Do you like apples? I'm thinking maybe an apple pie or apple cake/cupcakes sound mighty tasty! And for all you chocolate lovers out there, I'm sure there will be at least one recipe that contains chocolate for you too! So let's welcome November with some pumpkin, shall we?

This first recipe is a spin off of the traditional pumpkin pie! After all, is it really Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? I'm excited to share with you my mini pumpkin pie pop! I don't know about you but my favorite part of any pie is the crust, so this pie pop is fantastic b/c you get double the crust and tons of cuteness! I guarantee any kid will want to take a bite out of one of these!

So let's get started on the assembly!

Roll out refrigerated pie crust and cut out circles.

Sprinkle crust with a cinnamon & sugar mixture! This takes me back to my childhood, sometimes my mom would pull a pie crust out of the fridge and sprinkle the entire thing with cinnamon & sugar and bake it up. She would cut it into triangle slices like a pizza and we would eat it for dessert! Yum!

Next add a small dollop of pumpkin pie mixture. You don't want too much or the filling will squeeze out the sides when you put the top crust on.

Place a lollipop stick on top of the pumpkin pie filling.

Place another pie crust circle on top to close off the pie.

Take a lollipop stick and gently press all the way around the edges to seal the top and bottom crusts together.

Pies are sealed and ready to add a little personality!

Use your excess pie dough to create some pumpkin faces, the kids will go crazy over these! Pop these babies into the oven to bake and then it's time to eat pie!

You can dress up the pie pops with some colored ribbon!

Pumpkin Pie Pops (makes 32)

Ingredients:
-2 boxes Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts (4 crusts)
-1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1 egg
-1/4 cup sugar
-1 egg white, set aside for brushing tops of pies

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll out pie crusts, using circle cutter make circles for top & bottom of pies.
• Combine pumpkin, cinnamon, egg and sugar in a bowl and mix.
• Place pie circles on baking sheet, evenly spaced apart for baking.
  
• Place small dollop of pumpkin pie mixture on pie crust.
• Place lollipop stick on top of mixture.
• Place another circle of pie crust on top to seal the pie.
• Using the tip of a lollipop stick gently press around the edge of the pie circle to seal the top and bottom crusts together.
• Brush tops of pies with egg white.
  
• Using extra dough cut out pumpkin faces and stick on mini pies.
  
• Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

ENJOY!