Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Um, this was incredible and totally was perfect for brunch! It has protein right?! I swapped out the heavy cream for half and half, used 1/3 pound of bacon, omitted the extra salt, and only used a small sprinkle of cheese. I adjusted the amounts and it will JUST fit into the 9 inch pie plate. If you are going to add more cheese I would reduce the bacon and use 5 eggs.

This is easy enough to make the morning of your brunch within an hour (about 15 minutes of prep work) - but make the bacon the night before!

I baked the bacon at 350F for 15 minutes on a foil lined cookie tray.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

adapted from Paula Deen
serves 8

6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups half and half
Pepper
2 cup chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
1/3 pound bacon, cooked well done and crumbled
A sprinkle of cheese (cheddar, Swiss, or mozzarella)
3 scallions, chopped
1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake pie crust in 9 inch pie plate for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile...

Microwave spinach for 2-3 minutes, then chop. Squeeze spinach in a couple paper towels or a cheese cloth to remove most of the water.

Whisk the eggs, cream, and pepper in a large bowl - really really well!

On the hot pie crust add a sprinkle of cheese (this helps keep the crust from getting soggy), then add the spinach, scallions, and the crumbled bacon.

Pour the egg mixture on top. 

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is mostly set with a slight jiggle. 

Cut into 8 wedges.

Single Serving Blueberry or Apple Pie

When you have cravings for pie but don't want to go into the effort of making an entire pie...this was a perfect treat!

Blueberry Filling
2-1/4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup fresh blueberries

Apple Filling

1 apple, peeled, cored, diced small
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Crust
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoon butter, chilled - plus 1 additional tablespoon butter, chopped to dot on top of filling
2 teaspoon ice water

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine filling ingredients for either apple or blueberry. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt.

Using a fork, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the water and stir to form dough.
Split into 2 sections, one slightly smaller then the other. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle for both.
Fit the crust into the pan (I used a 2 cup glass pyrex).
Pour in filling and dot with butter. Cover with remaing dough.
Bake for 20-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown

Key Lime Pie

Boy it is hot out already!! This is Martha Stewart's Key Lime Pie recipe. My cousin made this pie for us last summer and it was so tart and refreshing!! I have been looking forward to making this for quite some time.

One of the perks of this pie is that you can make it ahead of time. I also took a peek at the Pioneer Woman's Key Lime Pie Sorta Recipe and hers is pretty similar except that instead of room temperature she makes hers as a refrigerator pie  and chills it for 1 hour or more prior to serving. She also uses 2 eggs instead of 4. Maybe next time I'll use 3 eggs?

I used regular limes instead of key limes since there weren't any at the store. I made these in small bowls so that each was a serving and could be stored for a little longer. I used about 2 heaping tbsp of graham cracker crumbs in each and then pressed them in using the bottom of one of the other bowls. The filling was about the same thickness as the graham crackers, so if you'd prefer less crust use less of the crumbs. As these are a lot smaller I baked the crusts for 10 minutes and baked the pie with the filling for 9 minutes. 

Key Lime Pie
Makes 1 pie or 10 ramekins

Crust:

1 1/4 cups graham-cracker crumbs (1 - 1 1/2 packs of graham crackers)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

Filling (makes about 2 cups worth of filling):

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh Key-lime juice
1 tablespoon grated Key-lime rind

Topping:
3/4 cup heavy cream, chilled

Heat oven to 375°. Put graham crackers in the food processor and pulse until combined. Add butter, sugar, and salt and continue to pulse until combined. Press into a buttered 8-inch pie plate (or whatever container you are using), and bake 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool completely.

In a mixing bowl, combine condensed milk, egg yolks, lime juice, and rind. Pour into the prepared, cooled crust.

Lower oven to 325°. Return pie to oven, and bake approximately 15 to 17 minutes, until the center is set but still quivers when the pan is nudged.

Remove from oven, and let stand until cool. Prior to serving, whip cream until stiffened. Decorate pie with whipped cream, and serve at room temperature.

Pecan Pie Bars

While it may seem that I have stopped baking/cooking... that is only partially true. I have been storing up for some holiday baking!! Here are some pecan pie bars that I made for work! I found the original recipe on Pinterest and I love making things in bar form - you can taste things before serving! Folks will be sure to notice a slice of pie missing!

I couldn't believe how easy these were to put together. I changed only the halved the recipe and used a 9x9 pan. I swapped heavy cream for light cream and dark brown sugar for light brown (since that was what I have). The dark brown sugar won't make a big difference except that the topping will be a bit darker and the taste may be a bit sweeter. I sliced the bars very small so it created about 35 bite size desserts.

All in all this took maybe an hour to make and at least half of it was the bars baking.

The bottom was similar to a shortbread. I would under cook the bars a little because the top does get a little crunchy/crispy if is cooked too long.

What would I do differently? I would make a bigger batch!

Add dough, its crumbly

Press down

Combine Butter, Brown Sugar, Honey, and Cream

Melted!

Pour onto the cooked shortbread

Bake!

Let it cool over night, remove from pan, slice and serve!

Pecan Pie Bars

Adapted from Just a Taste 

Ingredients:

For crust:

1 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

For topping:

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 of 1/3 cup honey (approx 2 2/3 tbsp)

1 tablespoons light cream

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 9x9-inch pan with foil, with enough of an edge to be able to pull it out at the end.

Make the crust by creaming together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add in the flour and salt and mix until crumbly.

Press the crust into the foil-lined pan and bake for 20 minutes until a light golden brown (it might not change color too much, but keep an eye out for the edges starting to get really brown, I took mine out at 17 minutes).

While the crust bakes (since it only took about 10 minutes to prepare the filling, I the stove on low and stirred occasionally until the crust was done), prepare the filling by combining the butter, brown sugar, honey and heavy cream in a saucepan and stirring constantly it over medium heat (it all melts and comes together). Simmer the mixture for 1 minute, and then stir in the chopped pecans.

Remove the crust from the oven and immediately pour the pecan filling over the hot crust spreading it to cover the entire surface. Return the pan to the oven and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Remove the pan and allow the bars to fully cool in the pan (I did over night on the counter).

Use the foil overhang to lift out the bars and transfer them to a cutting board. Peel off the foil, slice into bars and serve!

Mini Apple Pies

Made these last year and received some good reviews. So I brought it back for this year. Last year I was trying to find a good apple pie recipe and there are just so many out there! I looked and looked but just decided to pick this one.

This pie recipe is so easy! The crust is all made in my stand mixer, chilled for an hour. During that time I prep the apples. Chop em, cover them in cinnamon, sugar, and butter. When the dough is all set, roll it out, put it in the pie plate and then put in the apples.

For the mini apple pies, I used the left over topping from the Apple Strudel Muffins and some of the remaining dough. Last year I used Paula Dean's Crunch Topping to top some of the pies. (Also check out the apple crisp!)

Apple pie is a choice your own adventure, you can make so many different combos of toppings, crusts, sizes, and glazes.

Roll out dough (thinner than you would for regular pie), cut out circles for the muffin tins

Lines muffin tins, insert the dough

Add filling!!

Top with crumble, dough, or whatever you want!

Update 3/29 - Yum! I halved the recipe and oh man, in less than an hour we had hot fresh apple pies!

these little glass dishes were GREAT for this!

so flaky and yummy!!!!

updated 10/13/2015:

Apple Pie
makes 1 pie

Crust
2 1/2 cups flour 380g
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup ice water

Filling
7 medium apples 780g, 3 granny smith, macintosh
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch

In mixer (or food processor) combine flour, salt, sugar. Add butter and combine until it looks like coarse sand. Then slowly add the water. You are waiting for the dough to just come together in a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Meanwhile, slice the apples. Diced for smaller pies and larger slices for regular size pies. Combine with the rest of the filling ingredients and stir to combine. Cook on the stove for 5-8 minutes then put to the side to cool. 

Take the dough out of the fridge and flour the surface.

Now you have some options...

Hand Pies
Roll the dough very thin and use a bowl or really large cookie cutter into a circle. Fill one side with a couple tablespoons of the filling and fold in half. Pinch the edges together. Tip: cut the apples on the smaller side.

Mini Pies
(cupcake tins or glass pyrex dishes which are great because then you can serve them that way or pop covers on them for later!)
Roll the dough thinner than if you are making one big pie. Cut out a circle that is about 4 inches. This is big enough to go in the bottom of the muffin tin. I used cupcake papers to line the tins. Put the dough into the tin, add the filling, top with another thin piece of dough/crumble topping/strudel topping. Note: You can also place strips of parchment paper in the bottom of the cupcake tin and place the bottom layer of dough over that. When the pie is done baking you can use the strips as handles for taking them out of the tins.

9 Inch Pies
Roll the dough on a well floured surface. You can use the rolling pin to help you get the dough over the bottom. Place into the bottom of the pan, add filling, cover with more rolled dough, crumble topping, or strudel topping, etc. If you top with another piece of rolled dough be sure you put a slit into it so the steam can vent and the pie won't bubble over.

After the pies are assembled I do a milk wash (pour some milk in a bowl and use a pastry brush to "paint" the pie crust) and sprinkle with some sugar.

Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes and then drop to 350 for 30-40 minutes. The crust will be golden. Let the pie cool for a bit because the large ones won't slice well and the smaller ones will make you think you just ate lava.