Beer Girl Cooks

Cooking & Craft Beer

pie

Vanilla Stout Pecan Pie

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Vanilla Stout Pecan Pie is an updated classic brought to the future with an infusion of some awesome craft beer in the form of a vanilla stout.

 

I can’t make a pretty pie crust to save my life.

Vanilla Stout Pecan Pie is an updated classic brought to the future with an infusion of some awesome craft beer in the form of a vanilla stout.

I’m going to go with rustic on this one.

Please do not judge this Vanilla Stout Pecan Pie based on my inability to make those pretty crimps and shapes around the edge.  After all, I did put beer in the pie AND the crust for you.  Maybe if you have enough you won’t notice?

Although this pie makes no apologies for its ugliness, it does make up for it with flavor.  I promise.   Put this on your Thanksgiving table and Great Aunt Petunia won’t know what hit her.

Vanilla Stout Pecan Pie is an updated classic brought to the future with an infusion of some awesome craft beer in the form of a vanilla stout.

However, I do not recommend slamming this pie down on the dining room table because it may make some of the crust fall off, which may or may not have happened here during a lively political discussion. I’m just sayin’….

Vanilla Stout Pecan Pie
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Vanilla Stout Pecan Pie

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 14 tablespoons butter very cold and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup shortening very cold
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 cups very cold beer - vanilla porter or stout is perfect

For the Pie

  • 1 stick butter 1/2 cup
  • 2/3 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cups brown sugar
  • 1 cup dark brown corn syrup
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup beer - vanilla stout
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • 3 cups halved and chopped pecans
  • 3 eggs

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400

For the Crust

  1. Transfer flour, salt, and sugar in food processor and pulse until combined
  2. Add butter and shortening and pulse until resembles the shape of peas
  3. Slowly pour beer into dough mix and pulse until comes together
  4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead until it comes together again, divide in half, wrap in plastic, store in freezer bag and freeze until needed - freeze one and use the other
  5. Cover crust with parchment, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake for about 25 minutes

For the Pie

  1. In a Dutch oven combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and maple syrup, bring to a simmer over medium low heat until combined, set aside to cool slightly
  2. Add beer, nuts, and vanilla
  3. Slowly whisk in eggs one at a time
  4. Pour into crust
  5. Cover edges of crust and bake 40 minutes
  6. Remove foil and bake another 10 - 15 minutes or until crust is golden and pie is set
  7. cool on wire rack

NOTES:

  1. I used both chopped and halved pecans, but feel free to use whatever kind you like
  2. I also used a stout that is heavily flavored with vanilla, which comes through in both the pie and the crust.  If you are using something with a more subtle flavor, you’ll probably want to compensate with a little more vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

Vanilla Stout Pecan Pie

People’s Porter Shepherd’s Pie + Giveaway

by 20 Comments

People’s Porter (Foothills Brewing) Shepherd’s Pie

People's Porter Shepherd's Pie

 

I’m feeling frisky this week, y’all!  It’s my birthday month and we’re giving stuff away! Woot!  So, I’m coming at you with an additional post to remind you to wish me a happy birthday enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day holiday and to enter the giveaway for some free food from HelloFresh!  If you’re not familiar with these fine folks, you can find them here.

 

People's Porter Shepherd's Pie

 

We (and again, I mean me and IDK why????) have stepped things up a bit and in the spirit of my birthday and the upcoming holiday, I took the traditional Shepherd’s Pie and, well….. duh!  I added beer! Because why not?  If you want a family friendly version either substitute the beer for beef stock or go with this recipe where I made Shepherd’s Pie and lamented about how the only thing I wished I did different was to add beer.  So I put it in a glass.  What can you do?  I went with the People’s Porter from North Carolina’s own Foothills Brewing because if it’s a beer you want to drink in a glass, it’s a beer you want to cook with.  And I do love their beer any way I can get it!

BTW – this is not a sponsored post and I have not received any compensation from Foothills or anyone else.  I just love good craft beer.

 

People's Porter Shepherd's Pie

 

Anyways, I’m having a birthday and I hope you win a gift!  I’ve teamed up with a bunch of super cool bloggers who know what it’s like to need a break and have someone else put together a meal for you. Who doesn’t need a break now and then?  Scroll down to see the widget to enter and be sure to check out some of the other websites!  Good luck!

 

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Win $500 Worth of Delicious HelloFresh Meals!

Giveaway Courtesy of HelloFresh and Arousing Appetites

People's Porter Shepherd's Pie

Cranberry and Blueberry Galette

by 32 Comments

Cranberry Blueberry Galette

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Hi, y’all!  How’s your week going?  I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a severe case of the winter blues and need some kind of sunshine happening over here!  So I baked you a pie!

 

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Ok!  Ok!  I cheated and baked you a fake pie.  Well, what I baked isn’t fake.  I baked something that’s real.  It’s just not really a pie.  It’s an easy free-form pie otherwise known as a galette.    You can call it a tart if that blows your dress up.  This is a judgment free zone.

 

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I’m just so happy looking at all these bright and cheery berries!  I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but here it’s been either dark, gloomy, rainy, and humid or dark, gloomy, rainy, and cold.  Oh! And don’t forget windy.  I’m not joking when I say the wind has been so crazy there are trees and power lines falling all over the place!  Whaaaat?   So, I’m totally ready for some warm weather and sunshine!  Who’s with me?!

 

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Fortunately, spring is right around the corner and so is my birthday! Woot!  It sure will be great to turn 29 again. 😉

 

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What are you laughing at? 🙂

Have a fantastic weekend, friends!

 

 

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Cranberry and Blueberry Galette

Peanut Butter Pie

by 13 Comments

 

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It’s Christmas eve, friends!  I know everyone has a lot going on with family, wrapping presents, sleigh bells, and getting ready for Santa, but I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas with one last very easy holiday dessert that’s a family favorite!

 

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This is my hijacked version of Aunt Mary’s Peanut Butter Pie.

 

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Yeah.  Totally guilty.  Cool Whip and Hershey’s syrup.  Don’t judge me.

 

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I told you it’s easy.  No joke.  I hijacked Aunt Mary’s recipe by doubling it and making it with a chocolate graham crust in a spring form pan, but you can totally half everything and throw it into a prepared regular pie crust.

 

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So if you need a quick, easy, and last minute dessert to bring to your Christmas festivities, I got your back.  DO IT, YO!  Or DO IT!  HO HO HO!

 

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This is what was left after my family got their hands on it.

Merry Christmas, y’all!

 

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Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients

  • 2 cups graham crumbs
  • 1 stick butter melted
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 8 ounce block cream cheese softened
  • 2 cups confectioner sugar
  • 1 cup peanut butter - crunchy or smooth according to preference
  • 1 16 ounce container whipped toppinig
  • chocolate syrup

Instructions

  1. Combine graham crumbs, butter, sugar, and cocoa powder in a large bowl
  2. Press into bottom and up sides of a spring form pan
  3. Beat cream cheese until soft and fluffy
  4. Blend in sugar and peanut butter and beat until smooth
  5. Fold in 3/4 of the whipped topping
  6. Pour into prepared spring form pan
  7. Swirl chocolate syrup on top
  8. Cover pie with remaining whipped topping
  9. Refrigerate

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake, Bourbon Whipped Cream + GIVEAWAY

by 66 Comments

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It’s November and the sun has been missing from the south for almost 2 weeks, so we’re just moving on and celebrating the Thanksgiving countdown with a vengence.  We’ve been talking about sides and vegetables and I love them all, but I’m in need of some sunshine and sugar because this time change early darkness business and the constant gloomy doomy rain is an absolute buzzkill.

To be fair, the sun did come out for a bit yesterday.  I felt like a vampire coming out of my cave when the bright light hit my face.  I cowered, cringed, and covered my eyes.  I couldn’t find my sunglasses because it had been so long they ended up in the dark scary place in the bottom of my bag with stale gum and used tissues. Don’t judge me.

 

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So I made you a cheesecake!  A pumpkin one with a bourbon boozy whipped cream and just for kicks and giggles I made a ginger snap crust!  Whaaat?  And this pumpkin cheesecake is not for the faint of heart – it’s like 6 inches tall.  Ok, that may be an exaggeration and it might be closer to 3.74 inches. Either way, it’s a hot mess over the top ginormous pumpkin cheesecake totally appropriate for a holiday party.  DO IT!

 

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And it would hardly be a holiday party without some swag, so a bunch of my blogger buddies and I got together to bring you this giveaway.  Dudes!  It’s a $650 AMAZON GIFT CARD!   Booyah!  Think of all the awesome stuff you can get at Amazon with $650!

 

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We like to have fun on this here website, but on a serious note I’d like to add a reminder that today is Veteran’s Day.  Thank and be thankful for your service members.  And since this is an Amazon giveaway, I’ll let you know in case you didn’t, that if you go in through Smile.Amazon.com, you can choose a charity and Amazon will contribute a portion of the proceeds from your sale to the charity you choose.  Mine is the Wounded Warrior Project.

 

Use the Rafflecopter below the recipe to enter and get a kick start on your holiday shopping!  The giveaway runs for two weeks and ends on November 25 to residents of the US, UK, and Canada. Good luck, y’all! (CLOSED)

 

Amazon Giveaway Square (1)

 

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Pumpkin Cheesecake with Ginger Snap Crust and Bourbon Whipped Cream

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • about 1/2 box ginger snap cookies
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 stick butter melted

For the Cheesecake

  • 5 8 ounce packages cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour sifted
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
  • 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
  • 6 eggs at room temperature

Additional Items

  • Heavy duty aluminum foil
  • Spring form pan
  • Large roasting pan
  • Large teapot or measuring cup for boiled water

For the Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon bourbon I used Maker's Mark

Instructions

  1. Wrap 2 sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil tightly around a spring form pan
  2. Using a food processor, pulse gingersnaps until they become fairly fine crumbs
  3. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add sugar and melted butter, and stir to combine and all crumbs are evenly coated
  4. Transfer to the spring form pan, using hands press across bottom and up the sides
  5. Set aside
  6. Add the cream cheese to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment
  7. Beat cream cheese on low until fluffy, 2-3 minutes
  8. Combine brown sugar and confectioner's sugar in a bowl, sift in flour
  9. With the mixer still running on low, add the sugar - flour mix to cream cheese a little at a time
  10. Add vanilla bean paste and pumpkin, scrape down sides if necessary
  11. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next
  12. Turn of mixer, remove bowl, and tap on counter several times to remove air pockets, set aside for 20 minutes or so
  13. Preheat oven to 350
  14. Put the prepared spring form in the large roasting pan
  15. Transfer batter to the prepared spring form pan
  16. Boil about 6-8 cups water in a teapot or in the microwave in a measuring cup that can pour safely
  17. Put the pan on the oven rack
  18. Pour boiling water in the roasting pan, halfway up the sides of the spring form pan, careful not to splash the water on the cheesecake (or yourself)
  19. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes
  20. Reduce heat to 325 and bake an additional 60 minutes
  21. Turn off oven, leave door open halfway with the cheesecake still inside for 30 minutes
  22. Remove from oven and cool completely
  23. Refrigerate overnight

For the Whipped Cream

  1. Chill metal bowl and whisk of stand mixer in freezer for 20-30 minutes
  2. Combine cream, sugar, and bourbon in the bowl and attach whisk to stand mixer
  3. Start on low so you don't splash, whip and increase to medium until soft peaks form

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here are all my cool friends that brought you this giveaway!

Food Fashion and Fun

Arousing Appetites

Beer Girl Cooks

Seduction Meals

OMG Food

Haute and Healthy Living

Lou Lou Biscuit

Platings and Pairings

The Merchant Baker

Eat Within Your Means

Rhubarbarians

Kitchen of Eatin

Wholesomelicious

Lemon-Sugar

Cooking with Janica

Salt Sole

Leelalicious

My California Roots

Bessie Bakes

The Gingham Apron

A Season on the Mountain

I Knead to Eat

Majorly Delicious 

My Tea Cake

Frugal Nutrition

Jeannie’s Tried and True Recipes

 

 

 

Happy Memorial Day and Boozy Caramel Apple Pie

by 38 Comments

Happy Memorial Day!

 

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I come from a family full of sailors and soldiers and I just want to say thank you to our service members and their families for the sacrifices you make every single day.

 

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I can’t think of many things that say America more than Apple Pie.

 

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I made this one with something special.

 

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My grandmother’s rolling pin.  My mom gave it to me on Mother’s Day and this was the first time I used it.  It felt right since my grandfather was a World War II Veteran.

While I had my hands where she had hers so many years ago, I couldn’t help wondering what it must have been like to be the equivalent of a single mom in the 1940’s.  To have to go to work in a factory and raise children alone.  Although she only had 2 at the time since my mom was the youngest of 3 and a product of her father’s return from the South Pacific.  🙂

 

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I say a big cheers to our service members by adding beer to every part of this pie.  It’s called Victory at Sea by Ballast Point.  This also just seemed right.

 

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I wish all of you a safe and happy Memorial Day and I’ll leave you with some pictures of my grandparents.  I hijacked them from my mom’s Facebook page.

 

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Happy Memorial Day and Boozy Caramel Apple Pie

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 12 tablespoons butter 1 and 1/2 sticks
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup cold vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 cup cold imperial coffee vanilla porter reserve the rest of the 12 oz bottle - I used Ballast Point Victory at Sea

For the Filling

  • 10 granny smith apples peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon nut meg
  • 4 oz imperial coffee vanilla porter remainder of the bottle used for the crust
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch

For the Caramel Sauce

  • Reserved beer from making the apple filling
  • 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup light corn syrup
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cups heavy cream

Other

  • 1 egg white
  • 1 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

Make the Pie Crust

  1. Measure vegetable shortening and chill in fridge if not already chilled
  2. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch pieces and refrigerate (both of these steps can be done the day before)
  3. Add flour, salt, and sugar to the bowl of a food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times to combine
  4. Add butter and shortening and pulse 12 - 14 times until you have butter about the size of peas
  5. Slowly pour the beer in while pulsing until dough forms
  6. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form into a ball, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes

Make the Filling

  1. In a Dutch Oven, combine apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and remaining 4 ounces of beer
  2. Cook apple mixture uncovered over medium heat until apples are soft, but not mushy, stirring frequently - about 15 - 20 minutes
  3. Remove apples from the beer liquid, reserving the liquid and set the apples aside
  4. When apples have cooled, stir in cornstarch

For the Caramel

  1. In the same Dutch oven with the remaining beer, add the brown sugar, butter, salt and corn syrup and cook over medium heat until it bubbles vigorously.
  2. Continue cooking about 10 - 12 minutes, stirring occasionally
  3. Remove from heat, carefully stir in cream 1/2 cup at a time, let cool
  4. Preheat oven to 400
  5. While caramel is cooling and oven is preheating roll crust
  6. Lightly flour counter
  7. Divide prepared dough in half
  8. Roll one half to a circle that will fit your pie pan (mine is an 11 inch deep dish)
  9. Wrap rolled dough over your rolling pin to transfer to pan
  10. Roll the other half out and cut shapes with a cookie cutter of your choice
  11. Continue rolling and cutting remainder until you have about 12 - 15 shapes

Assemble the Pie

  1. Add half the apple mixture to the prepared pie pan
  2. Pour on 3/4 cup of the caramel
  3. Repeat with remaining apples and another 3/4 cup of caramel (save remainder caramel for topping or another use)
  4. Top with cut shapes
  5. Brush cut shapes and pie shell edges with egg white
  6. Sprinkle with sugar
  7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put the pie on it and bake for 45 - 50 minutes, checking after 30 minutes - if the edges start getting too dark wrap aluminum foil around
  8. Remove and cool on a wire rack

Crust recipe adapted from Ina Garten

Caramel Apple Pie adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Star crust design inspired by Brit + Co

Mile High Key Lime Pie

by 27 Comments

There isn’t much more that says spring/summer/warm weather to me than Key Lime Pie.

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I want warm weather to be here so bad that I had to take it to the extreme.  A plain old Key Lime Pie was not going to cut the mustard.  I had to make it epic.

 

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The first time I ever had Key Lime Pie was at the beach on a summer vacation, so it always reminds me of beach and summer.  I’m ready for both.

 

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My uncle gave me this recipe several years ago and it makes two pies.  I decided that two pies were going to collide into one ginormous  beautiful blast of  Key West in my kitchen.

 

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So I say adios to winter.  I open my arms, spin around like Julie Andrews on a mountain top, and say hello to spring. I missed you old friend.

 

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And Old Man Winter?  I moon you, spit in your face, and flip you the bird.

 

Print

Mile High Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons of sugar
  • 1 stick of butter melted

For the pie

  • 3 cans of condensed milk
  • 16 ounces sour cream
  • 1 cup key lime juice I used Aunt Nellie
  • 2/3 cup lemon juice
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

For the topping

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 2-3 keylimes

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Mix graham crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a bowl. Press to bottom and sides of a spring form pan.
  3. Add all pie ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium low until combined
  4. Pour pie mix into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes
  5. Cool completely and refrigerate uncovered at least 4 hours or overnight
  6. Add cream and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment
  7. Whip on medium high until stiff peaks appear (6-8 minutes)
  8. Spread over top of pie and top with lime zest

Note: You can make two pies by dividing the batter between two prepared pie pans and reduce the baking time to 20-25 minutes.

Random Fact: I took this pie to a birthday party and my friends hid it to save for themselves, so that’s why there are no pictures of it sliced and the pictures are in a pie/cake carrier 🙂

Random Fact: You can buy pie/cake carriers at the Dollar Tree for (you guessed it) one dollar, so if you take it to a party you don’t have to worry about the return of your plate or carrier.