Cook’s Corner: When Your Crew On The Boat Has A Sweet Tooth!

When you have a sweet tooth, I am sure one of these pies can cure the crave.

I have also included three options for those who may be dieting. They are low-cal pies, but still delicious. These would be the banana cream pie, the strawberry

gelatin cream cheese pie and the lemon pie.

Truth be told, the three pies I just mentioned that are low-calorie, the crew did not know the difference. But that’s just a little secret between us! And oh, they are so good.

Now the chocolate chip pecan pie, “oh my,” this one is sweet but good. Similar  pies, often served on the same day as the Kentucky Derby horse race, are usually a pecan pie with chocolate chips and bourbon. But boo hoo; no bourbon in this version of the pie.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) frozen deep-dish pie crust

1 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon rum extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1 cup whole pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl or mixer, beat the corn syrup, sugar and eggs until combined. Add rum extract (this is where you would add 2 tablespoons of bourbon instead of the rum extract). Fold in chocolate chips and pecans. Pour the pie filling into the pie crust. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place pie on baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes. Cool and refrigerate.

Note: I have made this pie before. I layered the chocolate chips on the bottom, then added the pie filling with pecans on top of chips. Either way is good.

Banana Cream Pie (low-cal)

Ingredients

1 (9-inch) frozen deep-dish pie crust

1 large box (5.9 ounce) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding

Milk for pudding (as directed on pudding package minus 1/2 cup)

2 fresh bananas – sliced

1 (8-ounce) tub light whipped topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake pie shell as directed on package or until done and lightly browned. Cool. Prepare vanilla pudding with the milk. (Omit 1/2 cup of the milk; this helps your pie set up better. Put your sliced bananas in cooled pie shell. Pour pudding on top of bananas. Top pie with whipped topping. Use a spoon to create many peaks on the pie with your whipped topping for looks. That’s it. Simple.

Strawberry Gelatin Cream Cheese Pie (low-cal)

Ingredients:

1 (3-ounce) box sugar-free strawberry or cherry flavored gelatin1 (9-inch) graham cracker pie shell

2 bricks of cream cheese

1/2 cup Splenda brand sugar-free sweetener

1 (8-ounce) tub whipped topping1 pint strawberries, rinsed and sliced

Directions:

Prepare gelatin as directed on the box using the quick chill method. Or just make the gelatin as directed and put in the freezer for 10 -15 minutes. The quick chill method will start the thickening process of your gelatin. You do not want your gelatin completely set up because you will have to pour it on your pie. Remove wrapping from cream cheese and soften in microwave about one minute.

Blend the cream cheese and sweetener in a mixer or use a handheld blender. Fold in whipped topping. Put cream cheese mixture into graham cracker pie shell. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on top. With a spatula, form an outer edge and indentation in the cream cheese on your pie. Fill pie with strawberries. Now pour the thickened gelatin on top of strawberries. You must judge this according to the size of your strawberries. I do like a lot of strawberries, but you need that indentation to also hold the gelatin.

Note: This strawberry gelatin cream cheese may be doubled and put in a 9×13 pan.

Standard Graham cracker crust (for 9-inch pie pan or 9×13)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups crushed graham crackers (about 12-14 whole crackers)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a large Ziploc bag to crush your graham crackers. Add in sugar and melted butter. Squish bag to combine butter and sugar into graham crackers. Press mixture into the bottom and side of your pie shell. Bake 6-8 minutes. Double this recipe for a 9×13 pan. Cooking time remains the same.

Low Calorie Cheesecake

Ingredients:

3-ounce package sugar-free lemon gelatin

1 cup hot water

1-1/2 packs of cream cheese

1/4 cup Splenda brand sugar-free sweetener

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)

1 (8-ounce) tub whipped topping1 (9-inch) graham cracker pie shell

Directions:

Dissolve package of lemon gelatin in one cup hot water. Let cool. Remove wrapping from cream cheese, and place cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for one minute. Stir cream cheese until completely soft and lump free. Mix in sweetener, vanilla and lemon extract. Slowly blend in gelatin mixture. Mix well.  Fold in whipped topping. Pour into the graham cracker pie shell and chill for several hours.

Top photo: Chocolate chip pecan pie.