My Grandma’s Pecan Pie

My grandma was this tiny lady with a very big heart who loved nothing more than having her huge family return to her home in rural central Kansas for the holidays. The “grown-ups” would all squeeze in around the dining table, cousins galore would scatter to card tables across the basement, and the whole house always felt full in the best possible way. And without fail, the dessert everyone looked forward to most was Grandma’s delicious pecan pies.

Her version was as classic as it gets — sweet, buttery, and generously studded with pecans. We’ve always made it in our family with a mix of chopped and whole pecans, which gives every slice that perfect blend of gooey and crunchy. And while my grandma’s version definitely included corn syrup, you’re welcome to try to this maple syrup version instead if you prefer.

I’ve been baking this pie for more years than I can remember. So if you’re looking for a nostalgic, classic recipe to try, it’s a good one!

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Who’s in the mood for a slice of pure summer nostalgia? ♡

This peanut butter pie brings back all the charm of the old-school, no-bake dessert we grew up loving — just slightly modernized with natural peanut butter and fresh whipped cream (no Cool Whip here!). It’s every bit as rich, creamy, and satisfying as the original. And all you need are 7 basic ingredients and about 20 minutes of prep time to make it happen!

Here in our house, we’re big fans of any chocolate-peanut butter combo and love using an Oreo crust, but you’re more than welcome to sub in a graham cracker crust or a traditional pie crust if you prefer. And while I find this pie incredibly rich as-is, an extra layer of ganache on top is always welcome if that’s the version you grew up loving.

There’s a reason this pie has been a favorite for generations. So the next time you’re craving a cool and creamy no-bake dessert, grab the peanut butter and let’s make pie!

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To all of my fellow apple pie lovers out there…have you ever tried making apple pandowdy? ♡

I first heard about this old-fashioned dish, which is said to have originated in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition, years ago from Martha Stewart. And I was immediately intrigued because it was basically everything I love about apple pie…without all of the work of having to assemble a pie!

Details about the exact heritage of this dish seem to be a little fuzzy. But traditionally, apple pandowdy is usually made a baking dish (or cast-iron skillet) with bite-sized pieces of pie dough sprinkled on top of a cozy cinnamon apple filling. Everything bakes up together in the oven to toasty, bubbly, sweet perfection. Then immediately after pulling the dish out of the oven, you take a spoon and press the topping down gently into the filling so that it can soak up some of those hot apple juices. And finally, serve the apple pandowdy nice and warm with a generous scoop of cold vanilla ice cream.

It’s all exactly as delicious as you would imagine. And so much quicker and easier to make than apple pie! So since I figure we could all use some easy shortcuts for our lower-key holiday season this year, this seemed like the perfect time to bring this old-fashioned dish back to the future.

I have loved making this dessert with homemade (or store-bought) pie crust over the years. But I actually recently saw a fun version from Bon Appetit that used fluffy puff pastry as an apple pandowdy topping, and after trying it out a few times, my husband and I have agreed that we like it even more than the original! Granted, I have made a few tweaks to BA’s recipe to make it a bit quicker and easier. And I’ve also been on a big vanilla chai kick this winter, so I’ve added a few extra chai-inspired spices to the apple filling to make it extra-special too.

So for anyone else who might be interested in an apple pie-ish recipe this holiday season that requires a bit less work, here’s the pandowdy version that we have been loving lately. I think you’re going to love it too!

Apple Pandowdy Ingredients:

Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few notes about the ingredients you will need to make this apple pandowdy:

• Store-bought puff pastry: One package of store-bought frozen puff pastry, which we will let thaw on the countertop while the apple filling is prepared so that it becomes a bit more soft and pliable. (That said, if you live in a country outside of the USA where puff pastry is sold refrigerated instead of frozen, no need to let the package thaw — you can just unfold and cut it immediately after removing it from the fridge.)
• Apples: I used Granny Smith apples, whose tart flavor and firm texture I love in apple pie filling. But feel free to use any type of apples that you prefer — peeled or unpeeled, cut into either 1/2-inch-thick slices or chunks.
• Lemon: We will toss both the zest and juice of 1 lemon with the apple, which will add a hint of tartness to the filling and help prevent the apples from browning.
• Brown sugar: Or you are welcome to use any other type of sugar or sweetener that you prefer.
• Melted butter: Half of which we will mix into the apple pie filling, and half of which we will brush over the puff pastry.
• Flour: To thicken the apple filling a bit.
• Warming spices: I used a chai-inspired blend of warming spices for the apple filling, including ground cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, nutmeg (plus some fine sea salt). But if you don’t have all of these spices on hand, you can keep things simple with just cinnamon and cardamom. Or you could also use pre-made apple pie spice (or pumpkin pie spice) for the apple filling instead, if you prefer.
• Vanilla extract: To compliment all of those delicious warming spices in the apple pie filling.
• Powdered sugar: To dust on top of the pandowdy before serving.

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Alright, so the million dollar Thanksgiving question — which pie do you choose? ♡

I’m a lifetime member of Team Pumpkin myself, and have already been counting down the days until I get to make this naturally-sweetened pumpkin pie recipe again for our big Thanksgiving fiesta here next week. But my husband is one thousand percent on Team Pecan, and as such, he has already made sure that our pantry is well stocked for at least a few homemade pecan pies this holiday season. (We usually have to make an extra pie on Thanksgiving just so he can be sure to have some leftovers!)

The thing is that neither of us really want to be cooking with corn syrup nowadays, which has always traditionally been used to sweeten pecan pies. So for the past few years, we have been trying out some of the internet’s most popular naturally-sweetened pecan pie recipes. And after a few trials (and a few “whelming” fails, as Barclay calls them), I think that we have finally landed on our new family favorite pecan pie recipe. It’s our twist on the maple pecan pie recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, and we absolutely love it.

First off, we love this pecan pie because it is indeed corn-syrup-free and naturally sweetened instead with a combination of pure maple syrup and coconut sugar (or you can use brown sugar, if you prefer). It’s also delightfully full of pecans, since we prefer a dense nutty filling, versus just a thin layer of nuts floating on top. We also added in plenty of butter and vanilla and a hint of cinnamon to our filling, as my grandma always used to do with her classic pecan pie recipe. But then we took things a step further and also added in a generous (yet optional) splash of bourbon, whose flavor kicks this pie up a mega notch and pairs perfectly with the toasted pecans. So good.

I also used my favorite homemade pie crust in this recipe, but you’re welcome to sub in a gluten-free pie crust if you would like this pie to be completely gluten-free. And if you’re interested in more of a chocolate pecan pie, I’ve included an option below for how to also add in some chocolate chips too.

Basically, this pecan pie recipe is everything we love about the classic — just modernized with some more natural ingredients, with all of those good flavors amped up a bit. The result is a total winner. And if you or your loved ones are on Team Pecan, you should totally give it a try.

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Expat craving alert.

We couldn’t let our first summer abroad go by without making at least one decadent ice cream pie to celebrate. And as you can see, we went all-out with every favorite American goodie that we could get our hands on here in Spain. Then layered everything high into one scrumptious, summer-celebrating, show-stopping masterpiece that we humbly call…

…the Ultimate Snickers Ice Cream Cake. ♡

It’s pretty much exactly what you think it is. We’re talkin’ an Oreo crust (classic), chocolate and vanilla ice cream (double the fun), two layers of chopped up Oreos and Snickers (because ‘Merica), a generous drizzle of caramel and chocolate sauce (pretty and delish), plus a sprinkle of flaked sea salt on top if you’re feeling fancy. And if you make it that far, I sure hope you’re in for fancy.

Friends, this cake is roughly 0% healthy. But I can assure you that it is fully 100% happy and nostalgic and delicious. And when you’re halfway around the world feeling a bit homesick — or hey, maybe spending Labor Day outside right in the heart of the USA this weekend — I can assure you that this one will hit the spot and taste just like home.

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Greetings from Wichita! I’m back in my hometown this weekend, celebrating the holidays with my family. And we kicked things off yesterday with a mega baking day and made four pies. So much pie!!!

While whipping up 6 batches of my favorite homemade butter pie crust recipe, we did end up having quite a few conversations about pie crusts and how they work and why they so often shrink. And after receiving questions from some of you about the same topic, I thought I’d pop in with a quick list of tips to prevent your pie crusts from shrinking. Because after you go to all of that work to make them homemade, and then shape and crimp and lattice them to look pretty in the pan, who wants them to shrink?!?

Not this pie lover.

So without further ado, here are 7 quick tips to keep pie crust from shrinking. If you have more of your own, be sure to share them in the comments below!

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So, I made this bourbon pumpkin pie to be the grand finale of our first annual “Neighborsgiving” last week. But like just about everything else that night, it didn’t quite go according to plan.

Let me back up.

As many of you may know, my neighbors in downtown Kansas City have been meeting together for our Neighbor Nights for a little over two years now. But being the wonderfully disorganized crew that we are, we have never quite gotten our act together to plan something together for Thanksgiving…until this year. We all love Thanksgiving, and love our neighbors, and we definitely love to eat together. So it seemed only natural that we get this Neighborsgiving started! I volunteered to cook a big turkey, and everyone rsvp-ed with an impressive array of classic Thanksgiving recipes that they planned to bring.

Well, to make a long story short, the turkey did not happen (I went out to buy it the night before, conveniently forgetting about — you know — that small fact that frozen turkeys take days to thaw). But my neighbor, John, volunteered to instead make a few beer can chickens, but those also did not happen (due to an exploding empty Pyrex dish that he set in the oven to catch the juices — oops!). Then he went to Costco to pick up a bunch of rotisserie chickens to feed 40+ people, but only two of those happened (because guess what night Costco conveniently ran out of chicken?!). Add to that about 5 other dishes people planned to make which did not happen (long work hours and botched recipes), some cute Pinterest-y table decor that didn’t happen (a neighbor ran out of time), and this amazing bourbon pumpkin pie that didn’t happen (because guess who completely forgot about it in the fridge), and well, you get the idea. Nothing quite went according to plan.

But you know what did happen?!?

We had the BEST time.

Bourbon Pumpkin Pie Recipe | 1-Minute Video

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This past Tuesday, the hallowed day that our neighbors all get together for our #neighbornights to grill dinner together, it was raining. So on a whim, I decided to invite the neighborhood over to my house for the evening.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love to entertain. But…

1. My place was a MESS. No really — a mess. My dining room was piled high with props for a project I’m working on. I had shot three recipes that day, and managed to use practically all of the dishes in the house — which were thus stacked high in my sink. And I finished my last shot a few minutes before everyone came, so I didn’t even get time to hide — ahem load — things in the dishwasher.

2. I had no idea who was coming. This is the thing with our neighbor nights (and maybe millenials in general) — no one RSVPs. Some weeks we have 3, some weeks we have 30. When the start time rolled around, I knew of 3 people who were coming for sure, and 4 people who were not. But since it was a location change, I figured it might just be a handful.

3. I was dog-tired.  I have still been catching up on work all week after being gone in El Salvador. And I had pulled a late-nighter the night before, and it was catching up with me after a long workday come dinnertime.

4. I had barely any food in the house.  Literally, I had just done my quarterly fridge clean-out before leaving the country, and hadn’t been on a serious grocery store trip since. So I basically had condiments and butter in the fridge…and some nachos and this mojito pie that I had photographed that day.

Not quite the Martha Stewart moment of my dreams. Especially when 12 people decided to show up at the last minute.

But you know what? I actually loved the mess (literally) out of that moment. Because that’s real life.

And it ended up being a stellar night.

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Oui. Our next recipe for pie week is none other than the classic French Silk Pie!

Some of you probably know it simply as Chocolate Pie. But whatever you call it, this French Silk Chocolate Pie is decadent, creamy, silky, and a definite crowd-pleaser.

And it is filled with chocolate!!!

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I have stumbled upon something you must try — these quick and easy Baklava Cups!!

When I saw my friend Kristin’s recipe this week for spanakopita bites, they reminded me that I still had a few leftover boxes of phyllo cups sitting in my freezer. (Always good to have on hand!)  And for some reason, her appetizer sparked the idea to turn one of my other favorite phyllo recipes into some little “cups” — baklava! I know that the process of making homemade baklava is fairly complex, but the actual ingredients themselves are super simple — just some nuts, honey, maybe a little butter, and phyllo dough.

So the bite-sized-dessert-lover in me instantly thought it would be fun to try and make baklava with my phyllo cups! I popped over to the Middle-Eastern market across the street and bypassed the real baklava (yes, I live with the temptation every day of fresh baklava being sold a block away!), and instead beelined for the huge bins of nuts. While you can literally make baklava with whatever nut or combination of nuts you want, I decided to go colorful with a mix of pistachios, almonds and walnuts. Then I came home and chopped them up, combined them with some butter, cinnamon and honey, popped them into mini phyllo cups, warmed them in the oven, and then drizzled each with an extra dose of honey. And…then indulged. :)

These baklava cups were amazing!!! They seriously tasted just like the real deal, and were so quick and easy to make. All of those delicious toasted nuts paired perfectly with the crispy phyllo and warm honey, and (bonus!) they don’t even make your fingers sticky when you eat them. I can already tell that this is going to become one of my new go-to desserts to serve to friends.

Phyllo cups for the win!

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