Cherry Hand Pies

These a fairly easy and SO good.  I have made them twice now.  I thought I would share them in honor of Independence Day!  Enjoy!

Cherry Hand Pies - Click to link to recipe.

Recipe Notes:  I obviously don't use the egg wash on these.  I just brush them with milk and I do sprinkle a little sugar on them.  Once they are cooked and slightly cooled, I also drizzle them with a vanilla glaze.  I don't really have a recipe for that.  I just add milk to powdered sugar until it is the texture I need.  Then I add a little vanilla to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon for this recipe).

Chicken Pot Pie

My husband LOVES chicken pot pie.  I have tried so many recipes and never found one I liked.  The sauce was too runny, it took took long to prepare, and so on.  I found this recipe on pinterest recently and have already made it twice.  It is a keeper for sure and easier than most recipes as it uses purchased puff pastry dough.

The Ultimate Chicken Pot Pie - click here to link to the recipe.  I used a rotisserie chicken cubed.

Southern Peach Cobbler

Happy New Year!  For our meal today, we had Hoppin' John (EF, DF, GF) and this peach cobbler made with frozen peaches from the summer.  I prefer more of a cake like cobbler, while my husband prefers a pie like cobbler.  My favorite cake like cobbler recipe can be found here Easy Peach Cobbler (EF).  The more pie like cobbler below is an adaptation of two recipes I found.  Enjoy!

Southern Peach Cobbler

Pastry Dough

Adapted from epicurious.com

2 ¼ c all-purpose flour

2 T granulated sugar

1 t salt

2 sticks (1 cup) less 1 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

6 to 8 T ice water

In a large bowl with a pastry blender, in a food processor or stand mixer blend or pulse together flour, sugar, salt, and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add 2 tablespoons ice water and toss with a fork or pulse until incorporated. Add enough remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing or pulsing to incorporate, until mixture begins to form a dough. Pat into a ball and chill 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough.  With about 1/3 of the dough, cut into one inch squares (or smaller) then place on a cookie sheet.  Bake the squares on 375 F for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Peach Filling

Adapted from iheartrecipes.com

2 lbs sliced frozen peaches, drained (reserve juice)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 T unsalted butter

1 t ground cinnamon

¼ t ground nutmeg

1½ c water or reserved peach juice

2 t pure vanilla extract

3 T all purpose flour

Place the peaches in a large pot.  Add 1 cup water or peach juice, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Turn the heat to medium high.  With the remaining ½ cup of water or peach juice sprinkle in 3 tbsp of all purpose flour then mix.  Once the peach mixture starts to bubble, pour the flour mixture into the peach mixture. Stir, and reduce the heat to low.  Once mixture is slightly thickened, remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  Toss the cooked pie dough squares into the peach mixture and fold in. 

Pour the peach mixture into a lightly greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  Roll out the remaining dough, and cut it into strips Place the dough strips on top of the cobbler, lattice style.  Bake for 40 minutes on 375^o.  Cool slightly and serve topped with vanilla ice cream.

Perfect Pie Crust

For Father's Day, my husband requested a blueberry pie.  I used fresh blueberries and it was really good.  Ah... I love summertime when fresh produce is abundant!  I may still make a few more adjustments to the pie filling so I am not posting that just yet.  But you do need to try this crust!  It is so good!!  It is the flakiest crust I have ever made!  Yum!

Perfect Pie Crust << Click to link to the recipe.
ALLERGY NOTE:  I mostly made this crust as described in the recipe but I DID NOT brush this crust with beaten egg!  I brushed it with milk and sprinkled with granulated sugar.  As you can see it turned out a lovely golden color.

Lemon Cream Pie {Egg-free} UPDATE

The last few times I have made this pie, my filling was kind of grainy.  I made it again for Easter weekend and decided to make some changes.  Ah... so much better!  It is lemony, smooth and delicious.  I am updating my original recipe here.

If you are familiar with my original recipe, I reduced the sugar in the crust because it would get kind of sticky and would stick to the pie plate.  I also took out the added sugar in the filling because the sweetened condensed milk has plenty!  I also doubled the lemon zest and adjusted the cooking instructions to make sure you don't curdle the milk during cooking.  I figured out that was my biggest problem with the filling.

Happy Easter everyone!!

Lemon Cream Pie (EF)  <<Click to link to recipe.

Holiday Foods

As we are entering the holiday season, or as my husband calls it pie season, I wanted to share some of our favorite egg-free holiday recipes.  Click on the link below each picture for the recipe.  I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Herb Turkey Breast {Slow-cooker} (EF, DF, GF)

Pot Roast {Slow-cooker} (EF, DF, GF)

Cornbread Dressing (EF, DF)

Mashed Potatoes (EF, DF, GF)

Cinnamon Jello Salad (EF, DF, GF)

Cranberry Nut Bread (EF, DF)

Pumpkin Pie (EF, GF)

Pecan Cobbler (EF)

Pecan Caramel Cheesecake (EF, GF)

Cut Out Cookies (EF)

Easter {Egg-free}

Easter is only a week away!  Because the date changes every year, it always sneaks up on me.  I am still trying to decide what we should have for Easter dinner.  I always serve ham for Easter, so that is decided.  I am thinking about maybe baked potatoes and green beans.  Some other things things that have been on menu in the past...

Resurrection Rolls (EF) - We make these with the kids Easter morning.

Lemon Cream Pie (EF,) - I made this for our Easter dinner last year.  It is one of my husband's favorites!

Easter Cupcakes (EF) - We made these fun cupcakes the past two years.  I think we may skip these this year and have only one dessert in an attempt to cut back our holiday indulgences.

Easy Banana Pudding (EF) - I think this creamy light pudding is a pretty color for Easter.  Plus, I really like it!  I may make this for our Easter dinner dessert this year.

Slow-cooker Ham and Beans (EF, DF, GF) - This is what I plan to do with my leftover ham.  Yummy!

Pecan Cobbler

I love pecan pie.  I grew up eating it every Thanksgiving and almost every Christmas.  There are 2-3 eggs in a pecan pie.  I have yet to figure out how to make pecan pie or something like it without egg.  Recently, I came across pecan cobbler all over Pinterest.  Some of these recipes have egg but some do not.

We decided to give it a try for Thanksgiving.  Then I made it again this month for a Christmas party with a few changes.  The result tastes very similar to pecan pie, but I do think it is sweeter and a little richer.  Some of the recipes suggest serving it with ice cream and that a 9x13" pan only serves eight!  I thought ice cream was too much and a pan could serve way more, since a little goes a long way with satisfying your sweet tooth.  If you are allergic to eggs and love pecan pie, you have to try this!

Pecan Cobbler

Adapted from Pecan Cobbler by Call Me PMC

6 T unsalted butter (no substitutions)

2 c pecans (toasted)

1½ c flour

¾ t salt

2 ¼ t baking powder

1½ c granulated sugar

⅔ c skim milk

1 t vanilla

1½ c packed light brown sugar

1½ c hot water

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread pecans on rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven for about 10-12 minutes or until pecans are aromatic and darker in color, stirring every 3-4 minutes. Cool.  Maintain oven temperature.  Add butter to a 9x13 inch cake pan or casserole dish and melt in oven.  Once butter is melted, spread pecans over butter.  In a bowl, stir flour, sugar, milk and vanilla until combined.  Do not over mix.  Batter will be thick.  Spoon batter over butter and pecans.  Do not mix.  Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over batter.  Do not mix.  Slowly, pour hot water over top.  Do not mix.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.  The sauce will thicken, as it cools.

Serves 12-16

Thanksgiving {Egg-free}

Ah... Thanksgiving week!  Are you getting ready to cook your feast?  It can be a little stressful, especially when food allergies are involved.  Here is a list of some of the holiday favorites you can find on our egg-free Thanksgiving Menu.

Herb Turkey Breast {Slow-cooker} (EF, DF, GF)

Cornbread Dressing (EF, DF)

Cinnamon Jello Salad (EF, DF, GF)

Pumpkin Pie (EF, GF)

Fall Baking . . . Pumpkins

We are making pumpkin pie today with the fresh pie pumpkins we got at a pumpkin farm this week.  I love this time of year!

Try cooking with fresh pumpkin.

Then you make your own roasted pumpkin seeds!

We are quickly approaching what my husband affectionately calls pie season. 

 Why not start it off with a pumpkin pie?

I love pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  

They are one of my favorite treats!

Mmmm...  Pumpkin Spice Cake

Try some pumpkin waffles.

Fall Baking . . . Apples

Fall is my favorite time of year!  I love the crispness in the air, the leaves changing colors, all of the fun activities and the delicious baking, especially all of the apple and pumpkin treats!  I was going to repost all of my previous apple and pumpkin recipes, but there are more than I expected!  So, I will have two separate posts, one for apples and one for pumpkins.  Here are some great ways to make use of your fall apples.  I hope to make apple cake soon from the apples we picked a couple of weeks ago.  Click on the links under the picture to see original post.

Here are some fun fall apple slices for a snack.

I love this fresh apple cake!

Have some warm apple crisp on a cool fall day.

Who doesn't like apple pie with streusel topping?

Enjoy some homemade applesauce.

Empanada

Our family, especially my husband, loves anything in a pie crust!  If we have some kind of pie for dinner, even better!  Empanadas are savory or sweet filled Spanish hand pies popular throughout South America.  I was surprised by how much my kids enjoyed these!  They gobbled the right up!!

If you need an easy slow-cooker shredded beef, try the recipe I use in my Shredded Beef Tacos (EF).  If you would rather try shredded chicken in this recipe, try my recipe for Shredded Chicken (EF, DF, GF) also cooked in the slow-cooker.

It just occurred to me, that I posted this in time for Cinco de Mayo!  I didn't even plan that.  This recipe was just next on my list to post.  Great timing!  Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!

Mini Empanadas

1 lb cooked shredded beef

½ t onion powder

½ t garlic powder

1 T cumin

½ t freshly ground pepper

Salt to taste

Pie crust dough (enough for two 9” pie crusts)

Shredded cheese

Preheat oven to temperature recommended for pie crust.  Mix meat with spices and set aside.  Roll out pie crust and cut into circles, about 3-4 inches in diameter.  I used a large plastic cup to cut mine.  Fill each with shredded beef mixture and shredded cheese.  Fold dough in half over meat mixture and cheese and seal seam with a fork.  Bake according to pie crust instructions, about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Lemon Cream Pie {Egg-free}

We made a lemon cream pie for Easter.  MMMmmmm.  I think the soft lemon flavor is perfect for Easter!  My husband LOVES this pie!  It is one of his favorites.  Have a Happy Easter!!

Here is a picture of the pie filling before I added the whipped cream.

Lemon Cream Pie

Crust:

1/3 c butter, melted

1 ½ c vanilla wafer crumbs

2 T granulated sugar

Filling:

1 t gelatin

2 T cold water

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 t grated lemon zest

½ c freshly squeezed lemon juice

Topping:

8 oz heavy whipping cream

3 T granulated sugar

½ t pure vanilla extract

To prepare crumb pastry shell:  Preheat oven to 375°.  Pour melted butter in a 9-inch pie plate.  Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and sugar, until combined.  Stir crumb mixture into butter and press firmly over bottom and around sides of pie plate.  Bake 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from oven; cool completely on a wire rack before filling. 

To prepare filling:  Sprinkle gelatin over water to soften.  Set aside.  In a sauce pan (off the heat), combine milk, zest and juice until blended and smooth.  Fold in softened gelatin.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thins slightly, steams and the gelatin is dissolved.  Do not boil or the milk will curdle.  Remove from heat and pour filling into prepared crust.  Cool slightly, then refrigerate until filling is chilled and set.

To prepare cream topping:  Using an electric mixer, beat cream until soft peaks form.  Gradually add sugar and vanilla extract, beating until thick and smooth.  Spread over chilled filling.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

One of my good friend's family always has chocolate pie for Christmas.  I have often been visiting her when they were enjoying the leftovers.  It always looks so delicious.  I have often thought it would be good pie to make egg-free, since the chocolate could easily be made with an egg-free pudding like mixture. 

I recently came across this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try, especially since it was already egg-free.  I also had every intention to make the crust in the recipe.  In my attempt to half the crust recipe, I halved part of the ingredients and not others.  Fail.  I was then out of butter.  So, rather than take a trip to the store.  I made one of my old stand-by shortening crust recipes, which happened to be quicker crust recipe.  The butter crust in the recipe is a little more involved. 

Regardless, of which crust you use, this pie is delicious!  We will for sure be having it again.  I think I may make it a Christmas tradition at my house.  I could even make a gluten-free crust-less version for my brother-in-law. 

 

My pictures do not do this pie justice.  Look at the pictures in the link!

Chocolate Pudding Pie - Click to link to recipe. 

Gluten-free Notes:  The filling in this recipe could easily be made gluten-free.  Just make sure you are using a gluten-free vanilla and bittersweet chocolate.  Then put the filling in your favorite gluten-free crust or make it crust-less!

Pumpkin Pie {Egg-free}

I have been making this egg-free pumpkin pie for a few years.  My husband loves pie and thinks pie season (Thanksgiving through Christmas) isn't complete without a pumpkin pie!  Since I was experimenting with cooking with fresh pumpkin, I made a pie for him a little early this year.  It was even better than the canned pumpkin version!  Note, the cook time is a little longer for fresh pumpkin versus the canned pumpkin. 

In this recipe, I use gelatin for the egg replacement to get the desired taste and texture.  Cooking the pie in the same manner as the recipes containing egg gives it the same flavor.  But to keep the desired texture, it is best refrigerated.  If you keep the pie out, it may begin to sweat and soften.  But if you keep it refrigerated, you really can't tell any difference between this egg-free version and the egg-filled counterparts.  This may make you weary but you have to trust me!  This pie keeps my husband from feeling like he is missing out during the holidays and it is good enough to share with your non allergy friends and family!  Win for everyone, especially the pie baker, who can make one pie for everyone!

 Pumpkin pie made with fresh pie pumpkins.

 

 Pumpkin pie made with canned pumpkin. 

 Pumpkin Pie

1 (7g) envelope unflavored gelatin

3 T cold water

1 c (8 oz) evaporated milk

1 16 oz can solid packed pumpkin or fresh pumpkin puree

1 ½ t ground cinnamon

¼ t ground cloves

½ t cream of tartar

¾ c sugar

Prepared uncooked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425°.  Carefully transfer pie crust to a pie plate.  Trim excess pastry and crimp edges.  Set aside.  In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water to soften.  Set aside for a few minutes.  Bring milk to a soft boil.  Remove from heat and add gelatin stirring until dissolved.   Let cool slightly.  

Blend together pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, cream of tartar and sugar, until well combined.  Very gradually, add the milk mixture to the pumpkin mixture, mixing constantly.  Once all of the milk mixture has been added, scrap the sides of bowl to make sure fully incorporated.  Pour into pie plate over prepared uncooked crust.  

Bake at 425° for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350° for about 40 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Once cooled, refrigerate for a minimum of 4-6 hours.  Keep leftovers refrigerated. 

If using fresh pumpkin, bake at 425° for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350° for about 50 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Once cooled, refrigerate for a minimum of 6-8 hours.  Keep leftovers refrigerated.  

To make gluten-free use your favorite gluten-free pie crust.  You can also make pumpkin custard cups, pour evenly into eight 6 ounce ramekin cups.  Place the filled ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet.  Bake at 350° for about 25-30 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Once cooled, refrigerate for a minimum of 3-4 hours.  Keep leftovers refrigerated.  

Serves 8