Pecan Fudge Pie

1/2 cup butter
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
4 eggs
3 Tbsp. white corn syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
9" pie crust

Melt butter and chocolate in top of double boiler or over low heat. Meanwhile, beat eggs until light. Beat syrup, sugar, salt and vanilla into eggs. Add the nuts. Now add slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Mix thoroughly and pour into an unbaked 9" pie crust. Bake at 350º for 25-35 minutes or until top is crusty and filling is set but soft inside. Do not over bake. Pie should shake like custard so it will not be too stiff when cool.
Serve plain or with ice cream or whipped cream.

This is another wonderful dish from my Think With Your Taste Buds - Desserts Co-Author, Lillian.

Lillian - The center of this may sink in a little and that is ok. It is also, very rich and so you can serve smaller pieces. You can substitute the home pastry with the pie crust found in the frozen foods section or those in the dairy section of your store. You can do so much with this, as you did. I usually serve it with ice cream or whipped cream. The whipped cream can contain a bit of shaved chocolate or flavorings that will work well with the chocolate. You can just use pecans or almonds to top the whipped cream.

Martha - I made 2 of these pies but made a change in both. By thinking with my taste buds I decided to use up a couple of ingredients that needed to be used. One was some large flake coconut, the other was a partial jar of dried peanuts. I also had some chocolate chips that needed to be used but not enough for 2 pies. This is what I did. The recipe calls for 3 squares of chocolate, I used 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a cup of peanuts one pie. I had about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips left so I made up the difference using white chocolate chips and added a cup of coconut instead of the nuts. I'm not a chocolate lover but I have to say that both of these pies came out making even me want more. I did find that this makes just a bit more than 1 pie filling so I poured the leftover in a small baking dish that I lined with vanilla wafers and baked it along with the full size pie, checking it after about 20 minutes.

The pie on the top is peanut, the one on the bottom is coconut.

Banana Marshmallow Pie

1 vanilla wafer pie crust (9")
1 pkg (3 1/8 oz.) instant vanilla pie filling
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup whipped cream
2 bananas

Prepare vanilla pie filling using 1 1/2 cups of milk. Chill until firm. Fold in marshmallows and whipped cream. Slice bananas and place evenly over the bottom of the pie crust. Spoon filling over bananas. Chill for several hours or even over night.

Changes - change the pie crust to graham cracker, chocolate, shortbread, etc. Change pie filling flavor or instead of bananas, use fresh strawberries.

Coconut Nut Pie

Coconut Nut Pie

1 stick butter
2 Tbl. flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Mix in flour. Add syrup and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each. Add vanilla, coconut and nuts. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake 45 minutes or until center is set.

This has to be one of my favorites because it includes 2 of the things I like most... coconut and nuts. You can change the nuts to maybe walnuts or almonds but I don't think I would change anything else.

Chocolate Chunky Pecan Pie

1 deep dish pie 9" pie crust, unbaked
3 large eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla with a wire whisk. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle chocolate chunks over bottom of crust. Pour pecan mix slowly over chocolate. Bake 50 minutes.

If your crust starts to brown too quickly, cover it with foil. If you are using a frozen pie shell, do not thaw. Always bake pies with a baking sheet under them just in case they boil over. If you have trouble finding chocolate chunks, buy squares and chop them or use a good quality of chocolate chip.

Nutty Coconut Pie

1 stick of butter, softened
2 Tbl. self rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light syrup
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, add flour, then syrup mixing well after each addition. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each. Stir in vanilla and coconut. Sprinkle nuts in the bottom of an unbaked pie crust. Carefully spoon coconut mixture over nuts (trying not to disturb the nuts). Bake 45 minutes or until center is set.