Crack{Chess}Pie

Happy St. Patrick’s Day  – today is your lucky day because I am sharing this recipe with you!!

I teased you with a photo of this pie on Sunday.

I found today’s recipe in the Oregonian FoodDay several weeks ago and I’ve been looking for an opportunity to try it.  We were invited to a dinner party last week and it was the perfect opportunity!

The title of the article in the paper is what caught my attention- “You’ll get hooked on Crack Pie”.

As I continued reading and found out that the Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar in Manhattan was making these pies and selling them for $44.00 a pie I was even more intrigued.  Yes, that is not a typo – $44.00!!  They are selling 60-90 pies a day!!

The recipe is actually based on the old school “Chess Pie” recipe originally found in Joy of Cooking.

The pie is made with basic ingredients – butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla.

But the Momofuku Bakery has put a little modern twist on the recipe. Instead of using a traditional pastry crust they use a crust made out of homemade oatmeal cookies!  I am not a big crust fan so I usually just end up eating the inside of the pie but not with this one!  The pie crust is just as delicious as the filling!

There is a debate going on whether the pie should be eaten chilled or warm.  The chef at the bakery says chilled and I have to say warm!

The recipe makes two pies so I chilled one and served the other warm and the warm one disappeared first!  You should have heard the oohs and aahs coming out of people’s mouths as they tasted this pie.  I can understand why it is called “Crack” pie – you really have a hard time stopping!  I wanted to eat the entire pie by myself.  Can you tell I fell off the no/low carb diet I was on with this pie!!  It was so worth it!

The pie will seem undercooked when you remove it from the oven – it will be golden brown on top but still jiggly.

The pie will be puffy when it comes out but will fall and flatten out as it cools – no worries, it is suppose to do that!

Starting to fall…

Fallen…

If you want to follow my advice and eat this pie warm do let it cool for awhile as it may be a bit like trying to eat hot lava if you don’t!!

Or if you choose to let it chill – I promise you it will still be delicious.  It did not stop me from eating the left over pie forkful by forkful right out of the pie pan!!

After it has cooled a bit sprinkle with powdered sugar to make it a little prettier.

Can be eaten straight out of the pan or sliced and served nicely on a plate – you choose!  If you are sharing I recommend using a plate.

With powdered sugar….

or without…

Either way – heaven!  When you give it a try come back and let me know which way you prefer – chilled or warm!  You are going to want to try this one – I promise!!!

Momofuku’s Crack Pie

Makes 2 10 inch pies.  If you only have 9 inch pie pans just cook it another 5 minutes (which is what I did)

Cookie for crust:

2/3 C plus 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

Scant 1/8 tsp baking powder

Scant 1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C butter, softened

1/3 C firmly packed light brown sugar

3 Tbsp sugar

1 egg

scant 1 C old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt – yes I sifted it!

In your mixer using the paddle attachment beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.  Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fluffy and incorporated.  With the mixture running, beat in the flour mixture a little at a time until totally combined.  Stir in the oatmeal until well incorporated.

Spread the mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on rack.  Crumble the cooked cookie to use in the crust.

Crust:

Crumbled cookie for crust (see above)

1/4 C butter

1 1/2 Tbsp firmly packed brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended ( a little of the mixture will clump together between your fingers and hold together)  Divide the crust between the two 10 inch pie pans.  Press the crust into each shell to form a thin even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins.  Don’t worry about making it beautiful – it is going to taste beautiful!

Filling:

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

3/4 C plus a scant 3 Tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 C plus 1 tsp powdered milk

1 C butter, melted

3/4 C plus a scant 2 Tbsp whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

8 egg yolks

2 prepared crusts (see above)

powdered sugar for garnish.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and powdered milk.  Whisk in the melted butter then whisk in the cream and vanilla.  Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.

Divide the filling evenly between 2 pie shells.

Bake the pies one at a time for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie) about 10 minutes or 15 minutes if using a 9 inch pie pan.   Remove pie from oven and cool on rack.

Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled.  Dust with powdered sugar.

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Tagged as: chess pie, crack pie, dessert, pie