I had originally intended to make this for pi day--started it that day, but didn't complete until day after pi day. The name of this recipe is supposed to be due to the addictive nature of the pie. While I do agree that it's a very tasty pie, I think calling it 'crack pie' goes a bit too far. A better name would be 'cookie dough pie', as that's that the filling most resembles (very much like the cookie dough in cookie dough ice cream). I give this 8 stars our of 10; hubby says 9 stars :) It's quite rich, thus the small slice portion shown for serving.
Original recipe link:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/crack-pie
Ingredients:
Oat cookie crust--
9 T. unsalted butter, room temp., divided
5 1/2 T. golden brown sugar, packed, divided
2 T. sugar
1 large egg
3/4 c. plus 2 T. old-fashioned oats
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
heaping 1/4 tsp. salt
Filling--
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 T. nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
6 1/2 T. heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9x2" metal baking pan with parchment paper, then spray to coat with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl (or stand mixer bowl), combine 6 T. of the butter, 4 T. of the brown sugar, and 2 T. sugar, beating with mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg, beat until pale and fluffy.
4. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until well blended.
5. Spread oat mixture onto prepared parchment paper in baking pan. Push/spread the mixture to the edges using your fingers (it is very sticky and not easy to do this--you've been warned!--I could only get it most of the way to the edges.)
6. Bake until light golden on top, 17-18 minutes (I only went 17). Transfer baking pan to a cooling rack and cool completely.
7. Crumble the oat cookie into a bowl. **The original recipe indicates to do this by hand. Unless you really need a hand strengthening workout and/or an exfoliation via cookie crumbling, do what I wished I had done about 2 minutes into this: put it in a plastic bag and crumble it gently with a mallet!**
8. Now this part, yes, do
this by hand: add remaining 3 T. of butter and 1 1/2 T. brown sugar by mashing/mixing/rubbing together with fingers until well combined (you should not longer be able to see any yellow butter spots and it will feel like you could press it together into a ball.)
9. Press the dough into a 9" diameter (mine was actually 9.5") glass pie dish. Make sure it is as even as possible and comes up the sides of the pie dish--it will be slightly thick.
10. Place pie dish onto rimmed baking sheet. (I actually forgot to do this until halfway through baking--oops!)
11. Return oven to 350°F and begin making filling.
12. In a medium bowl, whisk together both sugars, milk powder, and salt until blended.
13. Add melted butter and whisk again until blended.
14. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla, whisk again until blended.
15. Pour filling into crust and spread to edges evenly.
16. Bake pie 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325°F. Bake until pie filling is browned in spots and set around edges but center still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, 15-20 minutes. Watch the oven carefully on this, as the reviews for this recipe indicated it can end up burnt easily. Mine was brown all over the filling when I took it out at 17 minutes.
17. Cool pie for 2 hours in pie dish on cooling rack. Refrigerate uncovered overnight (I went 8 hours, as I had baked early in the day and wanted it for dessert with dinner. Seemed to be just fine.)
18. If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar (I didn't, but original recipe suggests). Serve cold and enjoy!
