Birthday Pie

Whenever I solicit a special dessert request, my husband usually asks for pie. His favorites? Shoo-fly and pecan. For his 30th birthday this year, he was in a pecan mood.

I like pecan pie too, but I'm not a huge fan of pecan pie which is basically a custard with some pecans floating on top. I want a dense, not-too-too-sweet pie chock-full of pecans. This one fit the bill (and I think he liked it too!). Now let me go find that splattered piece of paper I wrote everything down on so I can pass the goodness to you . . .


Birthday Pecan Pie

1 c. pecans, chopped and toasted
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 TBSP flour
1 TBSP milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. maple flavoring

Place pecans in un-baked pie shell (I pre-baked mine a few minutes so it wouldn't get soggy). Beat together eggs and sugars. Stir in butter. Add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour filling over pecans. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 300F and bake another 40-50 minutes. Let pie cool to room temperature before eating. No need to garnish!

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

See that pie on the right? After testing and re-testing my pumpkin pie recipe for Thanksgiving, I ended up liking this sweet potato pecan pie even better.

I found the recipe here at allrecipes.com. I made a few changes because we were running low on brown sugar (and something else I can't remember anymore), but it was so simple. I just threw my cooked, diced sweet potatoes in the blender with all the ingredients except the pecans, and whizzed until smooth! Pour into the pie crust, sprinkle pecans on top, and that's it! The filling did make more than would fit in my standard 9-inch pie pan (try a deep dish pan), so I ended up making a mini one for the in-laws too. Try it for yourself!

Recipe Exchange

One of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes has to be Nutmeg Logs from the "Pantry Gems II" cookbook. The recipe is attributed to Dorothy Cross--thanks for sharing Dorothy!

While the instructions say to roll the dough out and cut into strips, I go ahead and use cookie cutters to make more festive shapes. One trick I learned while scouring the internet for rolled cookie recipes was to dust the table and rolling pin with powdered sugar rather than flour to keep the cookies from getting too floury. Worked pretty well! I also like to bake these cookies until they are brown on the edges--yummy crunchy, buttery flavor.

Nutmeg Logs (or shaped cookies)

3 cups flour
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp rum flavoring
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Instructions: Mix ingredients together for a dough that resembles pie crust. Roll 1/2-inch thick and cut into shapes as desired. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes.


Frosting

3 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp rum flavoring
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 TBSP cream

Beat until spreading consistency and frost cookies when cool.



Got any favorite Christmas cookie recipes to share?