Easy as Pie -

Round off your holiday feast the right way- with pie everyone will feast on.

Pie is near and dear to the holiday table, so we made six pie recipes for fall that honor the oldies, but have some new goodies added to them. Your friends and family will beg for second (and third) helpings of these fantastic desserts. We’ll start with some pies you know and graduate to some less common—but just as delectable—offerings that will have you wondering how you made it through a holiday season without them.

Butter Crust

A great pie begins with a tasty crust. This crust recipe is enough for one 9-inch crust (two batches are needed for a double-crust pie).

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, frozen until solid
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 tablespoon ice water, + 1 tablespoon more, as needed

Directions:

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add 1/3 of the butter and pulse several times until incorporated. Add the remaining butter and pulse 3 or 4 times, so little chunks of butter are visible.
Beat the egg, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon ice water with a fork until well combined. Add the mixture to the processor while pulsing 2 or 3 times. Dump the dough onto a work surface. Working quickly so the butter doesn’t melt, use the heel of your hand to smear the dough, bit by bit, across the board, sprinkling with additional water where needed. Take care not to over mix. Pat into a flat round, wrap in plastic, and chill until firm, about an hour. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Single-Crust Instructions: Roll floured dough into a 12-inch round between two pieces of waxed paper. Center the crust in a 9-inch pie plate; fold the edges under, pinch together, then crimp as desired. Chill about an hour.
To blind-bake a single crust: Press a sheet of aluminum foil onto the crust, draping over the rim of the pie plate. Fill with dried beans or pie weights and place on a baking sheet. Bake until crust is starts to brown, about 25 minutes. Remove beans and foil and continue baking until golden, 5 to 10 minutes. Cool completely.
Double-Crust Instructions: Roll 1 disk of floured dough into a 12-inch round between 2 pieces of waxed paper; center in a 9-inch pie plate. Add the filling, mounding it in the center. Roll the remaining dough into a 12-inch round; lay it over the filling. Press the edges firmly together to form a seal. Fold the excess under, then pinch to crimp or flute as desired.

Note: Dough can be made up to 2 days in advance. Remove from refrigerator to soften slightly, lightly flour, then roll between two sheets of waxed paper. Return dough to the refrigerator for several minutes to firm if it gets too warm and seems unmanageable.

>>We love our Butter Crust recipe’s melt-in –your-mouth moistness, but gluten-free flour or gluten-free pie crust mixes work just as deliciously with these pie fillings. We like gluten-free piecrust mixes by Bob’s Red Mill or Glutino. Just remember, gluten-free flour tends to need less liquid than wheat flour, so have a light touch when using these mixes.

Classic Apple Pie

Ingredients:

2 Butter Crusts, chilled
½ stick unsalted butter
3 pounds mixed Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut in 1/2 inch wedges
Juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup light brown sugar, + 2 tablespoons for the glaze
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Large pinch salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or gluten-free piecrust flour mixture), plus extra for the board
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples, lemon juice, 2/3 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the apples are just tender, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour, toss to coat. Remove from heat and cool completely before assembling the pie.
Prepare crust and fill according to the double-crust directions and chill for an hour before baking.
Place a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack and preheat to 400 degrees F. Brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Cut 4 to 6 decorative slits to release the steam. Carefully place the pie on the hot baking sheet and lower the temperature to 375 degrees. Bake until golden, 60 to 75 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 Butter Crust
All-purpose flour
1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin purée, about 1 3/4 cups
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Lightly sweetened whipped cream for serving

Directions:

Prepare a single crust according to the given directions. Blind-bake after roasting the pumpkin purée.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a shallow 8- or 9-inch baking dish with butter, add the pumpkin purée, spread to cover the bottom. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Bake until the pumpkin starts to caramelize, about 30 minutes. Set aside and cool completely.
Whisk together the pumpkin, eggs and yolks, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and the remaining sugar. Gradually whisk in cream, water, and vanilla so the filling is very smooth and creamy. If the mixture seems lumpy, pass through a fine mesh sieve. Pour into the prepared crust; bake until the center is just set, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Then chill and serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Brown Butter Vanilla Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 Butter Crust
All-purpose flour or gluten-free piecrust flour for rolling the dough
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split (or substitute 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)
3 large eggs
¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
Pinch salt
2 cups pecan halves, about half of them finely chopped

Directions:

Prepare a single crust according to the given directions.
Place a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack; preheat to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile make the filling. In a medium skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add, along with the pod. Cook, stirring, until the butter turns nutty brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, scraping the seeds from the bottom of the pan and discarding the pod. Whisk in the eggs, light and brown sugars, corn syrup and salt. If substituting vanilla extract, add it here.
Spread the chopped pecans in the chilled crust and pour in the filling. Top with the pecan halves, adding them in concentric circles. Carefully place the pie on the hot baking sheet and lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until the crust and nuts are golden and the filling is set, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving.

Coconut Eggnog Custard Pie

Makes one 9-inch Pie

1 Butter Crust

All-purpose flour or gluten-free piecrust flour for rolling the dough

1 cup of shredded baking coconut (moist and sweet)

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg, grated

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 1/3 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Prepare a single crust according to the given directions and blind-bake. While the crust cools, spread the coconut on a sheet pan and bake until very lightly toasted, about 6 minutes, stirring halfway.

Rest a mesh sieve in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Add the eggs, yolks, and vanilla, and whisk to combine. Heat the milk and cream in a saucepan until it starts to simmer. Gradually add this to egg mixture while mixing until smooth. Pass the custard through the sieve into the bowl. Stir in 3/4 cup of toasted coconut.

Transfer the filling to the prepared crust. Bake in the oven until the custard is set in the center, about 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then chill completely. Sprinkle with the remaining coconut and serve.

Gingered Pear and Molasses Pie

Makes one 9-inch Pie

2 Butter Crusts, chilled

12 large bosc pears, peeled, cored, cut in ½-inch wedges, about 12 cups

Juice of l lemon

1/2 stick unsalted butter

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

¼ cup molasses

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Large pinch salt

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or gluten-free piecrust flour mixture), plus extra for the board

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pears, lemon juice, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, ginger, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the pears are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour, toss to coat. Remove from heat and cool completely before assembling the pie.

Prepare a double crust according to the given directions and fill. Chill for 45 minutes.

Place a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack and preheat to 400 degrees F. Brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Cut 4 to 6 decorative slits to release the steam. Carefully place the pie on the hot baking sheet and lower temperature to 375 degrees. Bake until golden, one hour to one hour, 15 minutes. Cover the edges with foil if they brown too quickly. Cool on a rack at least one hour.

[sidebar] Become a Pie Pro With These 3 Tips:

>>Uneven crusts put a pin in our pie production, and we know just the trick to avoid that. If you make sure the crimped part of your crust is resting on the very edge of the pie dish, you’ll ensure a more even crust all the way around and it won’t slip during baking.

>>Does your pie crust brown too quickly at the edges? Are your family members picking off the crust because it’s a little too well done? Just cover the edges with foil once you notice them browning ahead of the rest of your pie! The foil reflects heat from the edges, slowing down the baking process to leave those exposed edges just as moist as the rest of the crust.