Dark Chocolate Chip Maple Pecan Pie

Happy Thanksgiving! Perhaps you (should you exist) thought you had wrangled yourself out of the obligatory Thanksgiving post since I already posted a pumpkin pie recipe, but you would be wrong. Thanksgiving is about MULTIPLE pies. And multiple friends.
This Thanksgiving, I brought home two friends from college---one of whom (An) has been responsible for all of the photos on this lovely blog. They had never had a classic American Thanksgiving, and since they both live far away, I took the opportunity to appease my mother’s overactive maternal instinct and give them the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving experience by bringing them home for break. We had an amazing time. Seriously. Of course I was always grateful for what I had, but it really brings about a new sense of appreciation to see so many aspects of your home that have become trivialized to you through the bright eyes of an enthusiastic guest. The comforts of a charming old home, the warmth of a small town, and the affection of a mother all become magnified under the lens of presentation. It emphasized what Thanksgiving really is all about.

And, of course, I baked. That’s how I show my gratitude for all that I have---brown sugar gel with toasted nuts in a pie crust. Next to my grandmother’s legendary apple pie and my perfect gingersnap pumpkin pie rested this new staple---Dark Chocolate Chip Maple Pecan Pie. I was planning on adding “bourbon” to the name, but Asmahan is Muslim and can’t consume anything with alcohol in it. It was delicious on its own. I noticed most recipes were EITHER maple or chocolate pecan, but that seemed pretty dumb to me---why not both? And this pie was AMAZING. So good; my grandmother asked me for the recipe. That NEVER happens.

Pie Crust: 

1 cup all-purpose flour

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 1/2 cup shortening

 1/4 cup water

Method: In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half, and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don't over work it. 

Dark Chocolate Chip Maple Pecan Pie Filling:

1 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup light brown sugar 

3 eggs 

3 tbsp. butter, melted

 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

 1 tsp. salt 

1 1/2 cups pecan halves

 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips 

Method: Preheat oven to 425 F. Whisk eggs, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla, melted butter, and salt together in a bowl. Combine pecans and bittersweet chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pie crust. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 F for ~30 minutes, until set.

Perfect Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie

I’m in this play right now. 4-hour rehearsals on top of hours of homework on top of independent character work has its downside, sure, but in a super cliché sense the creative satisfaction makes it all worthwhile. But one of the things that really make rehearsals awesome are the cookies our assistant director Abby makes. Just so you can have a tiny sense of how good these cookies are: she uses special-ordered feves (none of that semisweet Nestle chips shit), sprinkles large flaked sea salt on top, and the edges are crisp and the centers buttery and gooey. It’s basically a party/orgy in my mouth. Sorry for that image.

Now, I know I’m a decent baker. But I don’t special order feves, and hey, sometimes I use all white sugar because I’m out of brown sugar. And that’s okay (say it with me). Actually, the only reason that’s okay is because the people who eat my baking (read: indiscriminate, starving college freshmen) are 110% appreciative and loving, even if I’m kind of out of eggs and use an on-the-go pack of applesauce instead. They love me/my cookies anyway, even when they’re objectively not the world’s most perfect (like Abby’s are). So on this turkey week, I am giving thanks to them (my suitemates) by sending them each home with a pumpkin pie. This is coincidentally the same pie my roommate took a bite of and her eyes rolled back into her head, because it was “so goddamn good”. The gingersnap crust adds the perfect bit of spiced crunch to the creamy filling. Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Gingersnap Crust:

 1 cup crushed gingersnaps

 4 tbsp. melted butter 

Method: Stir together and press into the pie dish. 

Pumpkin Pie Filling: (EAGLE BRAND® recipe)

 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

 1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

 2 large eggs

 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 1/2 teaspoon salt

Method: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Cake

I’ve had a rough week. It’s been a week of emotional curveballs, theatre surprises, family drama, Hurricane Sandy aftermath, an article I handed in late, and lots. And lots. Of essays.

Not to dump all of my shit on you or anything (like I did to my suitemates two hours ago), or else I’d have to make it up to you with a gooey peanut butter cup banana cake (like I did for my suitemates twenty minutes ago). Sometimes you make decisions you don’t really know will lead to the result they end up leading to, and for that you have to just have a little angry freshman-year-music session, forgive yourself, and make something with a definitively certain result. There’s such great security in baking. Unless you’re like me and measure things half-assed and make substitutions that really aren’t okay---except don’t substitute anything in this banana cake, because it’s sort of perfect the way it is.

As a self-defined stress baker, I have learned that using very ripe bananas is a wonderful culinary decision, and not such a great emotional one. It’s way too easy to mash. No pent-up frustration induced force necessary.

Enjoy! (Photography credits to An Uong.)

  Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread by Ambitious Kitchen:

(adaptations include Angsty Freshman Year Music and a dash of morose)

 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

 ½ tsp baking soda

 1 tsp baking powder

 ½ tsp salt

 ¼ cup of softened butter

 ¾ cup of sugar

 3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed 

2 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla

 1/2 cup of milk

 ¼ cup of fat free vanilla yogurt

 1 ¼ cup chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

 1/3 cup chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups for topping

 Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan. In a medium mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and mashed banana together until very creamy about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs and beat until well combined. Add flour, yogurt and milk alternatively until well combined. Gently fold in 1 ¼ cup of chopped peanut butter cups. Pour batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of chopped peanut butter cups over the top. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick comes out almost clean in center. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove from pan gently and transfer to wire rack. Cool completely.

Grapefruit Olive Oil Cakes

As a college dorm baker, I’ve learned that each ingredient in everything I bake has some kind of back-story. Since I am in fact in a dorm kitchen, it’s not exactly the most well-stocked and high-tech of places. I buy a big bag of flour and sugar and 4 sticks of butter when I make the trek to Stop & Shop, but other than that, every other ingredient that’s in my recipes is something someone’s mom randomly dropped off or something bought blindly with excess meal money from the downstairs food place.

One of my roommates is Greek, and brought back the most incredible olive oil from Greece. Another one of my suitemates loves grapefruit, so we had these gorgeous Pomelos sitting on top of the fridge and staring at me. (Kudos to both for lending these/everything to me.) Additionally, every recipe is an adventure of convenience. For example: this very recipe began as a desire to meticulously follow a recipe for an orange olive oil cake. Maybe I’d incorporate some dried cranberries? Soon, disaster struck---the two oranges we had were completely dehydrated. And then, a revelation! Of grapefruit and the pistachios I’ve been hoarding, which I painstakingly shelled and smashed with a ladle for your benefit, Internet. You’re welcome.

And then, deliciousness ensued. These grapefruit olive oil cakes were moist, but not too dense---bright and citrusy, but brought down to Earth with rich olive oil and salty pistachios. Don’t worry about only having roasted & salted pistachios on hand. Any will work, but these added real depth when combined with the brown sugar. Happy adventure baking! (Credits to my suitemate An Uong for her incredible photography. Amen.)

Credits to my suitemate (as always) An Uong for her incredible photography. Amen.

  Adapted from Melissa D’Arabian’s Orange Olive Oil Cake--makes roughly a dozen standard muffins)

Cooking spray

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan

 3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs 

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Juice, zest, and pulp of ½ a grapefruit (double for a more grapefruit-y taste---simply add more flour)

 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Brown sugar and pistachios for topping 

 Method: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a muffin pan. Mix together the sugar and eggs in a medium bowl until blended and light. Drizzle in the olive oil and vanilla and mix until light and smooth. Add the grapefruit juice, pulp, and zest and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, and salt in another medium bowl. Add the flour mixture half at a time to the wet ingredients and mix on low just to incorporate. Pour into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with chopped pistachios and brown sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool and serve.