Sunday, December 16, 2012

Bite Sized Pecan Pies

 
Bite Sized Pecan Pies
Yield: 120 pies
 
Ingredients:
 
120 Athens Phyllo Shells
2 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of Karo light corn syrup
1 stick of melted butter
3 large eggs (beaten)
 
 
Directions:
 
1. Chop your pecans roughly and portion out about 3/4 teaspoon to each phyllo cup.
2. Melt your butter in the microwave for about a minute.
3. In your Kitchen Aid Mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat your eggs for about a minute.
4. Add in your salt, brown and granulated sugars, and melted butter. Mix well.
5. Add in your corn syrup and mix well.
6. Carefully pour your mixture over your pecans in each phyllo shell. Only fill half way!! I know it is tempting to cover the pecans with the mixture, but if you do the shells will overflow while baking.
7. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. Only bake one tray of pies at a time.
8. Let your pies rest for at least an hour before serving, or let cool for serving. They refrigerate well and will last about 3-4 days in your fridge.
 
 
These Pecan Pie Bites are so much better than traditional pecan pie because you get all the "good stuff" from the pecan pie with out the feeling of it being so heavy. I surely didn't regret eating five last night, where as I would have regretted eating a whole slice for pecan pie. Ahh, the guilt we put on ourselves for eating yummy food.... Happy Holidays!


Mini Pumpkin Pies



Mini Pumpkin Pies
Yield: 32 pies


Ingredients:

2 cans of Libby's Pumpkin Puree (15 oz each)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ginger
1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice
4 large eggs
2 cans of evaporated milk (12 oz each)
32 unbaked mini pie shells

Directions:

1. In your Kitchen Aid Mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat your eggs for about a minute.
2. Add in your evaporated milk, salt, and all your spices. Mix well.
3. Add in your sugar and pumpkin puree and mix well.
4. Place all your pie shells on a cookie sheet (or two) and make sure they are evenly spaced. Gently pour your pie mixture into each shell. Fill them right below the crust lip...does that make sense?
5. Heat your oven to 425 F and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temp down to 350 F, while your pies are baking, for an additional 20 minutes.
6. Let pies rest for at least one hour before eating warm or let cool and serve cool. You can store them in your fridge for a couple of days, but after about three days they start to get funky!
Enjoy! :)

These make for perfect neighbor gifts. I plan wrapping some pies up in cellophane and giving them to our neighbors today. Happy Holidays!



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Mudslides



Yield: 14 servings

Ingredients:

3 quarts of Vanilla Ice Cream
2 cups of Irish cream (Bailey's)
2 cups of coffee liqueur (Kahlua)
2 cups of vodka
chocolate syrup

Directions:

1. Pull your ice cream out of the freezer and run under water for about a minute. Let it sit in the container and in the sink for about 10 minutes un-thawing.
2. Dump your ice cream into a large bowl.  Add in all your alcohol and mix well with a large spoon or spatula. It is okay to leave ice cream lumps.
3. Drizzle your chocolate syrup into your martini glasses and poor your mixture in. Top with whip cream and more chocolate syrup or leave it as is.

I picked up these martini glasses from the dollar store...for you guessed it $1 each! I had several containers of vanilla ice cream in my freezer that needed to get used so I mixed these up to serve at our Christmas Party last night. I'm really pleased with how they turned out.  I had planned on topping them with whipped cream, but I didn't whip enough cream to go with my cheesecake and the Mudslides. In all honesty, I didn't measure anything and I just dumped alcohol into my melting ice cream, but I am guesstimating that is how much I put in them. Enjoy!!