{"id":5215,"date":"2011-11-20T19:24:49","date_gmt":"2011-11-21T02:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/?p=5215"},"modified":"2011-11-22T10:23:11","modified_gmt":"2011-11-22T17:23:11","slug":"pumpkin-pie-by-any-other-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/pumpkin-pie-by-any-other-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkin pie by any other name"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same without pumpkin pie.<\/p>\n

Mind you, that doesn’t mean it has to be the very same recipe your mother took off the back of the pumpkin can decades ago.\u00a0 Sometimes it’s good to mix things up a bit and dessert is the one place on the menu where even hidebound traditionalists usually are willing to experiment a bit.<\/p>\n

This year I’m making pumpkin pie bars to cap off the big feast.\u00a0 They combine all the best parts of a nutty shortbread cookie, pumpkin cheesecake and pecan pie in one great package and the crust never gets soggy.\u00a0\u00a0 Because they’re baked in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan, a single batch will serve a crowd with some left over for the next day.<\/p>\n

The inspiration comes from a recipe in the “Greyston Bakery Cookbook,” by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan (Rodale, 2007), but the bars have evolved over time.\u00a0 There’s more spice and\u00a0 less sugar now. The praline topping is riff on the Thanksgiving Twofer pie in Dorie Greenspan’s charming new iPad app, “Baking with Dorie.”<\/p>\n

This dessert may not be served in wedges, but your mouth won’t know the difference.\u00a0 This is one of the best pumpkin pies I’ve ever eaten.<\/p>\n

\n

PECAN PIE BARS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Makes about 24 bars<\/em><\/p>\n

Crust:<\/strong>
\n1\/2 cup pecans
\n1 1\/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
\n1\/2 teaspoon salt
\n1\/2 teaspoon baking soda
\n1 teaspoon ground ginger
\n3\/4 cup butter, softened
\n1\/4 cup granulated sugar
\n1\/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed<\/p>\n

Filling:<\/strong>
\n8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
\n3\/4 cup granulated sugar
\n1\/2 teaspoon ground ginger
\n1\/2 teaspoon cinnamon
\n1\/4 teaspoon allspice
\n1\/2 teaspoon salt
\n2 eggs, lightly beaten
\n2 cups (15-ounce can) plain pumpkin puree
\n1\/4 cup cream<\/p>\n

Topping:<\/strong>
\n1\/4 cup corn syrup
\n2 tablespoons brown sugar
\n1 egg
\n1\/4 teaspoon vanilla
\n1\/8 teaspoon cinnamon
\nPinch salt
\n1 cup pecans<\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.\u00a0 Butter a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving a couple inches overhanging the two long sides to serve as handles for removing the bars after baking.\u00a0\u00a0 On a cookie sheet, lightly toast the pecans for the crust and topping, about 5 minutes.\u00a0 Remove pecans and let cool.<\/p>\n

Make the crust:<\/strong> In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, soda and ginger together and set aside.\u00a0 In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, whirl 1\/2 cup of the pecans until finely chopped.\u00a0 Pour nuts into a small dish and set aside.\u00a0 In the same work bowl, cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.\u00a0\u00a0 Add flour mixture and pulse just until the flour is incorporated.\u00a0 Add nuts and pulse until well-blended.<\/p>\n

Press dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan.\u00a0 Bake for 10 minutes and let pan cool while you mix the filling.<\/p>\n

Make the filling:<\/strong> In the work bowl of the processor, whirl together the cream cheese, sugar and spices until well blended.\u00a0 Add eggs and pulse a couple of times.\u00a0 Add pumpkin puree and cream and whirl until white streaks disappear.\u00a0 Carefully pour the filling over the partially baked crust.<\/p>\n

Make topping:<\/strong> Coarsely chop pecans and scatter evenly over the top of the pumpkin filling.\u00a0 In a small bowl, whisk together corn syrup, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Drizzle this mixture evenly over the pecans.\u00a0 Gently push any pecans lying on the surface down into the filling.<\/p>\n

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the filling is set and a small, thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean.<\/p>\n

Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.\u00a0 Wrapped well in plastic wrap, the bars will hold for several days in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n

Aleta Watson<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same without pumpkin pie. Mind you, that doesn’t mean it has to be the very same recipe your mother took off the back of the pumpkin can decades ago.\u00a0 Sometimes it’s good to mix things up a bit and dessert is the one place on the menu where even hidebound … Continue reading Pumpkin pie by any other name<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5215"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5238,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215\/revisions\/5238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}