Coconut Cream Pie (Chad's Favorite)

1 unbaked Pie Crust
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 (14 ounce) can full fat coconut milk
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
optional: 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

Whipped Cream
1 and 1/2 cups cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
3 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar or granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°F. Fully blind bake the pie crust. Cool pie crust completely. 

Make the coconut filling: Whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch together. Set aside. Whisk the coconut milk, half-and-half, granulated sugar, and salt together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisking occasionally, bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then reduce temperature to medium-low heat. Once boiling, remove about 1/2 cup of the mixture and, in a slow and steady stream, whisk into the egg yolk and cornstarch mixture. Keep those egg yolks moving so they don’t scramble. In a slow and steady stream, pour and whisk the egg yolk mixture into the pot.

The pudding will immediately begin to bubble and thicken. Stand back and use caution as the bubbles may burst. Whisk and cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut, butter, vanilla, and coconut extract (if using).

Pour warm filling into cooled pie crust. Cover tightly with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding (to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight until chilled and thickened. Pie may be refrigerated for up to 1 day.

For the whipped cream: Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.

Pipe or spread the whipped cream on top. Garnish with extra coconut (toasted), if desired. Chill the pie uncovered up to a few hours or you can serve it immediately.

Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Lemon Fluff Pie

1 recipe sugar free cookie crust
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup swerve powdered sugar 
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Make crust and press into pie pan.  Bake 10-15 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool.

Mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.  Add ½ cup cream at a time (to prevent lumps) and mix until smooth.  Mix in lemon zest and lemon juice and mix until smooth.

Refrigerate at least two hours before serving.  Best made a day ahead.

Sugar Free Cookie Crust

1 1/4 cups almond flour
1/4 cup brown sugar Swerve sweetener
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter melted

Mix all ingredients well and press into pan.  Bake 15 minutes.

Enough for a 9-inch pie pan, 9-inch springform pan or 8x8 baking dish.

Cottage Pie

4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon  
½ tablespoon basil
½ tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon tomato paste 
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups beef broth
1 pound lean ground beef, browned and cooled
salt and pepper to taste
freshly mashed potatoes (6 servings)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place a large, oven safe skillet over medium heat. Melt butter then add onion and carrot and sauté until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon, basil, parsley, rosemary, oregano and thyme.  Add mixture to onion and carrots and sauté until herbs are fragrant about 2 minutes.

Add tomato paste, mix well and sauté for 1 minute.

Add flour, mix well and sauté for 1 minute.

Whisk in beef broth.

Add ground beef and salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat and simmer mixture for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost all of liquid has been absorbed. 

Spread potatoes evenly over beef filling. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until top is browned and filling is bubbly.

Apple Pie

3 pounds tart apples (about 5 large), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 recipe for all butter pie crust, enough for a top and bottom crust, made the night before

Place the slices of apple in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice. Add the sugars, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and toss to combine. Put the apples in a large strainer, cover with plastic wrap, and place over a large bowl (to capture the juices). Let the apples drain for 1 to 2 hours.

While waiting for apples to drain, roll out pie crusts.  Place one into a pie plate and trim all excess on the edges.  For the top, roll it out to the right size then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place both top and bottom in the fridge until ready to fill.

After the slices of apples have drained for 1 to 2 hours, you should have about 1/2 cup of apple juice. Pour the juice into a saucepan. Place over medium high heat and bring to a boil.  Boil the juices for one minute, then remove from heat. In a small dish whisk the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water, until combined. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the apple juices. Return to heat and boil, whisking constantly, until the mixture has thickened, 1-2 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

Transfer the drained apples slices to a large bowl, add the cooled apple juice mixture and toss to combine. By hand, place the apple slices into the chilled bottom pie crust, packing them closely together, working from the outside to the center.  Once all the apples have been placed, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and pour any extra juice evenly over the apples.  Dot with butter. Gently place the top crust over the apples. Trim any excess dough around the edges, leaving 1 inch overhang for the crimping.  Tuck the extra 1inch of crust under the bottom crust and then crimp the edges to seal using your fingers or a fork. Using a sharp knife, make five- 2-inch slits from the center of the pie out towards the edge of the pie to allow the steam to escape. Place the unbaked pie in the refrigerator to chill while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bake for about 45 to 55 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the juices start to bubble through the slits. If needed, cover the edges of the pie with a pie shield or foil to prevent over browning after about 30 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool 4 hours before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream. Store at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

Makes one 9 inch pie.

All Butter Pie Crust

Not as flaky as a pie crust made with shortening but more delicious!  This is an easy dough to work with.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and pulse 5-6 times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Pour 1/4 cup water into the mixture and pulse to combine.  Add more water, a tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to clump together when pinched, it should just be starting to come together and should not be a solid ball of dough.

Turn the dough out onto your work surface and gather it into a ball. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, flatten each portion a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least one hour.  If you wanted to make this ahead of time, at this point you can also leave the dough overnight or freeze it for up to a month.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to fit into your pie dish.  Use the dish as a guide and roll it out two inches wider than the pie dish. To prevent the dough from sticking to the counter, keep lifting and turning the dough a quarter turn as you roll.

When the dough is rolled to the desired size, lightly roll dough around your rolling pin, dusting off any excess flour as you roll. Unroll onto the top of your pie pan and gently press the dough onto the bottom and sides of the dish.  Remove any excess dough around the edges and flute the edges to seal the dough. Chill the pie crust 30 minutes before filling and baking.

Makes two - 9 inch pie crusts.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pie

1 Prepared 9-inch Graham Cracker Crust

Cream Cheese Filling
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Lemon Filling
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 dash salt
1 cup water
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the cream cheese filling by mixing cream cheese with 1/4 cup sugar until smooth.  Add vanilla and egg and mix well until smooth.

Pour cream cheese filling into graham cracker crust and bake for 30 minutes or until center is just a little jiggly but the rest is set.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

As the pie cools, make the lemon filling by mixing 1/2 cup sugar with cornstarch, salt and water in a small saucepan.  Heat mixture over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring often.

In a bowl, whisk egg yolks.  While whisking, pour a small amount of the hot sugar mixture into the eggs to warm the eggs then pour the eggs into the saucepan with the rest of the sugar mixture, whisking constantly.  Add lemon juice and butter and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.  When mixture comes to a simmer again, remove it immediately from the heat.

Pour the lemon filling over the cream cheese filling, and let the pie cool.

When cool, chill pie in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

Key Lime Pie

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 prepared graham cracker crust
1 cup chilled heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together condensed milk and yolks in a bowl until combined. Add juice and whisk until combined well.

Pour filling into crust and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack, then chill, covered, at least 8 hours.

Just before serving, beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until it holds stiff peaks. Serve pie topped with cream.

Pumpkin Pie

1 9- inch unbaked pie shell
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  With mixer, beat pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt until well mixed.  Pour into crust.

Bake 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, bake 40-50 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool.  Garnish as desired.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Blueberry Pie

For the Pastry:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

For the Filling:
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, finely grated
Juice from 1 lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Make Pastry:  In medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour and the salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl.  Gather pastry into a ball. Divide in half; shape into 2 flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove dough for the bottom crust from the refrigerator.  Roll out to just larger than pie pan and transfer to pie pan.  Leave overhanging dough.

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice in a bowl.  Add the blueberries and toss to coat.  Pour berry mixture into the crust.

Roll out remaining pastry and cut into 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top. Fold over any overhanging dough and crimp and flute edges.

Bake pie for 40-50 minutes, or until filling is thickly bubbling.  Cover with foil at about 30 minutes along to protect crust from getting too brown.

Cool the pie on a rack for at least 4 hours before cutting.

Key Lime Pie

1 (10 inch) pie crust, baked and cooled (or pre-made graham cracker crust)

1 tablespoon grated lime zest

1 cup fresh lime juice

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

1 (8 ounce) container whipped topping

In a large bowl, mix together lime zest, lime juice, and sweetened condensed milk.  Whish in pudding mix and allow to set up for 5 minutes.  Fold in 8 ounce tub of whipped topping (I save a little to top the pie).  Pour into prepared crust.  Chill at least 2 hours before serving.  Top with saved whipped topping and garnish with lime slices.

Makes 8 servings

Pecan Tassies

Pastry:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Dash of salt
¼ cup (2 ounces) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
cooking spray

Filling:
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
½ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup light-colored corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 large egg white


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare pastry, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, level with a knife. Combine flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and a dash of salt in a small bowl. Combine cream cheese, butter and milk in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well-blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until blended (mixture will be crumbly). Press flour mixture into a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 3 to 4 times. Divide dough into 24 portions. Place 1 dough portion into each of 24 miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Press dough into bottom and sides of cups, using lightly floured fingers.

To prepare filling, divide pecans evenly among muffin cups. Combine brown sugar and remaining ingredients; spoon about 2 teaspoons filling over pecans in each muffin cup.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until pastry is lightly browned and filling is puffy. Cool in cups for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Run a knife around outside edge of each tassie; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.


Makes 24 tassies

NOTE: For a time-saver, you can substitute pre-made dough -- cut with biscuit cutter and fit into mini muffin pans.

Coconut Cream Pie

3 cups half and half
2 eggs
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked and cooled
1 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine half and half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in ¾ cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract. Pour into pie shell and chill 2-4 hours or overnight, until firm.

Whip cream and sugar and top pie before serving.

Makes 8 servings
Ready in appx 4 hours 50 minutes