Happy Friday!
Today, I’m talking food. I mean, it is November, the month of Thanksgiving AKA a day dedicated to eating. I’ve always loved this holiday, because I love to eat.
This year is my first year having thanksgiving away from home. I’ll be joining my husband’s family for their celebration, and I’m looking forward to my first “big” (but still COVID-approved) thanksgiving celebration after years of a small dinner with my immediate family. So, of course, I want to make a good impression, and the best way to do that is through food.
We’ll be bringing two dishes to the feast, but today I’m going to talk about the one I’m most excited for: the chocolate chip cookie pie I’m bringing for dessert.
I’m not a big pie person. I’m not a big fruit person, actually. Apple pie was never my thing, and I hate the taste of pumpkin. For thanksgiving dessert, usually my mom would get a Carvel ice cream cake shaped like a turkey and we’d all love it. But when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it.
This is the original recipe I found on Pinterest, but I’m modifying it juuuust a bit. Ricky and I both enjoy nuts in our dessert, but it makes our throat itchy. Some people say we’re allergic to nuts, I say it’s an aversion, neither of us have died yet and I will continue to eat walnuts, almonds, and peanuts in every dessert I can for the foreseeable future.
However, his sister and dad don’t like nuts in dessert. It’s not that they have any bad reaction to them, they just aren’t a fan. Totally cool, respectable. But this recipe has walnuts, and I have my heart set on it, so I’ve planned to make some modifications.
The easiest thing would be to omit the nuts entirely, but when I first started thinking about it, I felt like the recipe would be missing that crunch without the nuts. Rather than replace them, though, I’m left with two options: cook two pies, one with nuts and one without (potentially leaving us with way more leftover pie than anyone needs in their life), or make one pie and split it down the middle, half nuts, half none. I’ll share how I plan to do this down below.
I haven’t fully decided which option I’ll go with yet, but since nobody has a life threatening allergy, I’m really leaning towards the half and half idea. Stay tuned on my Instagram (@ari.xlsx) for the final decision!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- 9-in deep-dish pie plate
- 1 unbacked 9-in deep-dish pie shell
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup (or 1 ½ sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips*
- 1 cup chopped walnuts**
- Vanilla ice cream (optional for serving)
*I am always an advocate for using more chocolate than the recipe calls for, but some people like things more or less sweet! Depending on your tastes, add or subtract ¼ – ½ cup of chocolate chips
** If you’re going to do half of the pie with walnuts and the other without, only use ½ cup of chopped walnuts
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Prepare your pie crust. Pro-tip: if you’re a novice to pie baking like I am, maybe don’t buy a dough that you have to make and roll out yourself. It might look something like this:
- Instead, do yourself a favor and buy the pre-made dough you just have to refrigerate and roll out from Pillsbury. Seriously, it’ll save you a lot of time and a lot of cuss words!
- Preheat the oven to 325. Prep the pie by lining the pie plate with the shell, crimping the edges before setting aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs on high speed until they’re light and foamy. Add the flour and sugars to the bowl and mix until combined. Then, add the butter and mix until the components are combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips first. Spoon half the batter into the prepared pie crust, being careful to keep the chocolate chip-only batter to one side, like this:
- Make a mark in the pie crust on the side of where this batter ends and the next begins so you don’t forget (I put a small “w” on the side of the line where the walnut batter would be as a reminder).
- Take the remaining half of the batter and stir in the walnuts until evenly combined. Spoon the rest of the batter into the remaining pie crust, being careful not to let the two mix.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a sharp knife or toothpick inserted about two inches from the edge comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes.
- Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream.
And there you have it! In total, this took me about an hour and a half to make, including prep time and cooling time – not counting the hour I spent on that homemade pie crust abomination, that is. But it was super easy, and so delicious! After some consideration, I think I’m going to completely omit the nuts when I bake it for everyone next week, though. While they definitely added that extra crunch, I just don’t know that it’s worth the hassle of dividing the pie, marking it, and then making sure everyone is aware of which side has nuts and which side doesn’t. But if I were to make this for Ricky and I again, I would definitely try the full 1-cup of walnuts!
A Fresh Startt 