More pie, please!

Photo: Eli Kaplan

“I ate another apple pie and ice cream; that's practically all I ate all the way across the country, I knew it was nutritious and it was delicious, of course.” ― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Pie is hands-down one of my favorite categories of desserts. Apple pie, chocolate cream pie, key lime pie… it doesn’t really matter. There is something about that flaky crust forming the foundation for a yummy filling that gets me every time.

Over the years, I have struggled to find the perfect pie crust recipe and when I found Williams-Sonoma Deep-Dish Pie Crust recipe, my baking career changed. Finally, a foolproof pie dough that yields enough for a double crust, is easy to make, always rolls out easily, and rarely breaks. It is now my go-to pie crust.

Pie recipes I strongly recommend — traditional crust and otherwise — include:

• Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie with a classic pie dough crust

• Lemon Lime Cream Tart with a Nilla Wafer crust

• Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with a graham cracker crust

• Impossible Easy Crustless Coconut Pie (I use flour instead of Bisquick)

But my all-time favorite pies are the mini pies I make using my Breville Personal Pie Maker. I am obsessed! The mini pies yield perfect individual servings and great for parties. The blueberry pie recipe (I use Williams Sonoma’s cherry pie recipe and modify it for a blueberry filling.) is the winner in my book, but the sky’s the limit in terms of what flavor pies you can make using the machine — including both sweet and savory.

Wishing you a very happy Pie Day! Let me know if you discover any yummy recipes we should try!