salted caramel apple pecan cheesecake

i know i've already tried to proposition you into making that banana cream pie for Thanksgiving and i've already used up my bossy pants points, but you should really  make this pie for your next potluck. you can save it for the Christmas one mmkay? plus it's all apple-y, so it's more fall/winter worthy than bananas are. there is just so much going on in this pie that it can't not be good.

crunchy cinnamony graham cracker crust. 

oozing salted caramel.

nutty toasted pecans.

comforting luscious brown sugar apples.

creamy savory cheesecake.

not too sweet, and slightly tart.

just try not to fall in love with this pie. it's pretty impossible. 

simple. seems like a lot but really there aren't all that many ingredients

slicing away

this is when your house starts to smell like Cinnabon does at the mall

coated apples

cooked down

isn't that stunning?

it's only getting better

cheesecake layer before baking

try not to eat the whole thing

salted caramel apple pecan cheesecake

ingredients:

crust:
- 1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tbs sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/3 c unsalted butter, melted

caramel/pecan layer:
- 3/4 c salted caramel sauce
- 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

apples:
- 5 tbs unsalted butter
- 1/2 c light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

cheesecake:
- 8 oz. cream cheese at room temp
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1 egg at room temp
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

directions:

make crust:
1. preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. in a bowl, stir to combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and ground cinnamon
3. add melted butter and stir until mixture is evenly moist
4. press evenly into pie pan
5. bake until golden brown or about 10-15 minutes
6. remove from oven and set aside to cool

decrease oven temp to 350 degrees F.

after crust has cooled drizzle caramel sauce over the entire bottom of pie crust, then layer with pecans. place pie pan in fridge to cool while you make the apples.

make apples:
1. in a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter
2. add brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and cook until melted
3. add apple slices and stir to evenly coat all slices
4. cook until apples have softened and all liquid has evaporated (approx 20 mins), stirring occasionally
5. once ready, take apples off heat and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes
6. evenly layer apples into pie crust
7. place in fridge to cool while you make the cheesecake

make cheese cake:
1. beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy
2. add egg and beat until completely mixed in. make sure to scrape sides of the bowl
3. add vanilla and lemon and beat until smooth
4. pour cheesecake into pie crust over apples and smooth with spatula
5. bake in oven for approx 30 mins or until the cheesecake loses it's jiggle
6. transfer pie to cooling rack and allow to cool to room temp
7. place pie in fridge for at least 4 hours

garnish the pie with more salted caramel and pecans

banana cream pie

banana cream pie is a dessert that works for any occasion. saaaay breakfast. or during tv time. or howsabout any time one wishes to eat at all. i suppose it would be good for Thanksgiving or potlucks as well, but that would mean you'd have to share it and i'm not sure i'm up for that. i'm only kidding, of course. i made a banana cream pie the other day for the reason that i had ripe bananas as well as a box of graham crackers that i needed to use up. it turned out to be pretty great. and in case you're wondering...yes, i did share, though i would have preferred to just eat it right out of the pan with a fork like a savage.

*this recipe calls for mashed bananas IN the crust, which i thought was weird, but i went for it anyway. the result was a chewyish type crust that was sort of hard to scrape from the bottom of the pie tin. i thought the chew was kinda odd, but everybody who tried it liked it and some even preferred it over your standard graham cracker crust. either way, it was delicious so go about it however you'd like.

for the longest time i would smash graham crackers into crumbs using a heavy bottle of olive oil until one day a light bulb lit up and i realized that that rolling pin i've had for so long would probably do the trick more efficiently. how did that not register in my brain sooner?

custard in all of it's perfection

if you don't do this the top layer will turn into a "skin" which disgusts me. correct me if i'm wrong, but i've heard that the "skin" part of homemade puddings is something that people fight over in (please excuse me...) white people households. i just can't wrap my my around that.

i followed this recipe i saw on Epicurious to a tee, except that i added whipped cream on top.

banana cream pie

ingredients:

crust

- 2 /12 c graham cracker crumbs

- 1/3 c sugar

- 1/4 c mashed banana

- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

filling

- 1/2 c sugar

- 1/3 c cornstarch

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 1/2 c whipping cream

- 1 1/2 c whole milk

- 3 large egg yolks

- 1 vanilla bean

- 2 tbs unsalted butter

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 5 ripe bananas

directions:

for crust:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. in your pie pan, mix graham crackers, sugar, and mashed banana until thoroughly mixed

3. mix in melted butter so that all elements are moist

4. evenly press into pie pan 

5. bake for until light golden brown or about 15 minutes

6. allow to cool completely

for filling:

1. in a medium saucepan stir together sugar, cornstarch and salt 

2. gradually whisk in whipping cream and whole milk

3. whisk in egg yolks 

4. cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape the seeds and add everything to the saucepan

5. whisk over medium high heat until the custard thickens or comes to a boil

6. remove from heat

7. whisk in butter and vanilla extract

8. discard the vanilla bean

9. transfer custard to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so that it touches the surface of the custard. allow custard to cool competely

assembling the pie:

layer one cup of custard on the bottom of the pie, then a layer of sliced bananas (use 4 of the 5), and continue to alternate until you've run out of ingredients. spread a layer of whipped cream atop the pie (i whipped up 3/4 c whipping cream, 2 tbs sugar and a splash of vanilla extract, whipped until stiff). adorn with last banana, sliced and extra graham cracker crumbs if you've got them.

peanut butter oreo pie

198:365 peanut butter oreo pie

(crappy picture due to indoor lights, taken at night)

i don't know anybody who doesn't love peanut butter. oh, wait. yes i do, but that seems unfathomable unless an allergy is involved so i pretend that their dislike of salty-sweet nuttiness isn't true. when i first laid eyes on peanut butter oreos, i thought "genius." why have the good people at Oreo taken so long to come up with this? it seems like there's no way this wouldn't be a winner in grocery stores, so why didn't these appear on shelves countrywide sooner? 

now as much as i love pb oreos, it's pretty impossible for me to eat a whole bag box container of them solo before they turn stale. so i found a recipe for chocolate peanut butter pie from the Pioneer Woman's blog. it looked easy and sort of amazing. i felt the need to spruce it up just a bit so i added fresh whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate pb for some pizzaz. 

only 6 ingredients. easiest pie in life!

if you're going to eat transfats, Oreos are the way to go!

pulse whole oreos until fine and creme is nearly unnoticeable 

pb, cream cheese and powdered sugar. still dense. 

the addition of cool whip makes it super light and fluffy

this is how the pioneer woman had hers...all plain and boring

it needed some funk. and whipped cream is always a grand addition!

peanut butter oreo pie

ingredients:

-25 peanut butter oreos

- 4 tbs butter, melted

- 1 c creamy peanut butter (and NOT the all natural stuff which you have to mix to incorporate the oil)

- 8 oz cream cheese

- 1 1/4 c powdered sugar

- 1 container Cool Whip

- 1 1/2 c whipping cream

- 1/4 c sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 5 mini Reese's peanut butter cups

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. pulse oreos in a blender or food processor until fine and creme is fully incorporated

3. pour into pie pan and mix with melted butter

4. with a spoon, or your hands, or however you please, press oreo crumb mixture into pan and up the sides so that there are no cracks

5. bake crust for about 8 minutes.

6. set crust aside to cool.

7. with a hand mixer with a whisk attachment cream peanut butter and cream cheese until smooth

8. add powdered sugar and whisk until fully incorporated

9. add cool whip and whisk on high until light and fluffy

10. using a spatula spoon mixture into cooled pie crust and smooth out

11. put whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. with a hand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk until mixture forms stiff peaks

12. with a spatula spoon whipped cream over pie and smooth out

13. microwave pb cups in a small bowl at 60% power until just melted. mix until it's in a uniform consistency

14. spoon melted chocolates into a plastic sandwich bag

15. cut off the tip and drizzle chocolate over pie

16. let pie chill for at least an hour before serving. (a few hours is best)

i know you can't see the crust. i was trying to make look nice so you could see the layers but swiped the peanut butter part over the crust. oh well. you know it's there, right? and it's delicious!

key lime pie

key lime pies were never my favorite. i much prefer a banana cream or a strawberry rhubarb. but then one day i had the most amazing slice of key liminess at Houston's (now called Hillstone). i saw plates of key lime pie float across the dining room all night long and became intrigued. i couldn't help but order it even though everything in my mind reminded me that i don't like key lime pie. but after taking one bite, i knew i was in love. found myself thinking about the pie weeks later. months later i called Houston's on a weekly basis to see if they had that pie. finally, when they had it, i ordered two to-go. i ate one slice in the car and froze the other one for another day. that's when i knew my love affair with key lime pie began. 

but i've got to say, more often than not, key lime pie disappoints me. if it's remotely neon in color, i refuse to eat it. if the crust is a typical pie crust and not a graham cracker crust, i'm reluctant to order it. so one day i decided i'd find a good recipe so that i could make it at any time. 

on a nice hot day, a chilled slice of key lime pie almost comes off as refreshing. and with the warm winter we've had it was only fitting that i salute the sun with a creamy tart pie. i made a pie on sunday and when my cousin and i ate nearly half the pie in one sitting, i decided to make a second one on monday. (because i made the same pie twice, you'll see pictures from both days kinda jumbled together.)

roll the hell outta them!

is butter great, or what?

please excuse my old woman hands. pressing the pie crust with your hands/fingers is much easier than with a spatula. for the edges i found pressing with your four fingers on the inside with your thumb pressing against the  outer glass gives it a little added pressure. 

squeeze juice over a strainer or you'll be fishing out seeds for days with a spoon. trust me, i've done that too many times to ever make that mistake again. plus you don't want any pulp in your pie! 

at this point my hands felt arthritic. squeezing those tiny little things isn't easy if they aren't all super juicy. 

key lime pie

ingredients:

for crust:

- 1/2 c crushed graham cracker

- 6 tbs butter, melted

- 2 tbs sugar

- pinch of salt

for filling:

- 1/2 c key lime juice (i used a little more than that bc i like mine really tart)

- 1 14oz. can of condensed milk

- 5 egg yolks, beaten

directions:

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees F

2. in your pie pan, mix together graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and salt until all of mixture is moist

3. with hands press in to pie pan to cover bottom and edges

4. bake for about 10 minutes so that the pie crust sets a bit

5. take pie crust out of the oven and allow to cool a bit

6. increase the heat of the oven to 375 degrees F

7. in a bowl mix egg yolks, condensed milk and lime juice until smooth and a uniform consistency

8. pour filling into pie crust

9. bake on bottom 1/3 of the oven for approx. 22 minutes or until the filling has set (is not jiggly)

10. let pie cool and chill in fridge. serve with whipped cream. 

simple, and not that pretty, but SO EFFING GOOD!!!! trust me, even if you think you don't like key lime pie, you'll probably like this one. i've changed minds with this pie. it's that kinda magical.