~Top 5 Retro Pies~

 

I love to make different pies and am always getting asked for my recipes. So today I’m sharing my Top 5 Retro Pies. I got all of the recipes from vintage cookbooks I’ve collected over the years.

Mixed-Fruit Holiday Pie

{From a Lutheran Cookbook from Stevensville, MI circa 1986}

Pastry for 2-crust pie (below at bottom)

1 T grated orange peel

1/4 C orange juice

1 T grated lemon peel

1 T lemon juice

3 T flour

3 C thinly sliced Spy, Cortland or Granny Smith apples

2 C thinly sliced bananas (not over-ripe ones)

1 C brown sugar, packed

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

Line pie plate with first crust. Mix all but apples and bananas. Toss fruit in sugar mixture and place in lined pan. Top with second crust. Crimp edges to seal. Prick top with fork. Bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes. Watch that crust does not get too brown.

Sour Cream Peach Pie

{Martha Dixon Copper Kettle Cookbook, Lansing, MI 1963. My mom watched her on our local CBS TV station when I was a little girl}

1 unbaked pie crust (homemade, refrigerated roll-out type, or frozen)

5 large fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (may use 4 cups frozen. Thaw & drain first)

3/4 C brown sugar

1 T cornstarch

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4 t salt

1 1/3 C sour cream.

Combine all and place in crust.  Bake 25-30 minutes at 400 degree. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Shoofly Pie

{Recipe from an elderly neighbor at my first apartment in the late 1980’s. An Amish classic from the 1950’s}

3/4 C dark corn syrup

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1 C quick oats

2 eggs

3/4 C milk

1 stick melted butter (no substitute)

1 C coconut

1 bottom pie crust (homemade, refrigerated roll out, or frozen)

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add all but oats and coconut. Add oats and coconut and pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until set. Do not over-bake. Serve with whipped cream.

Upside-down Apple Peanut Pie

{From the Northern Indiana Historical Society cookbook circa 1930}

1/2 C chopped, salted cocktail peanuts

1/4 C brown sugar, packed

2 T butter

1 T water

1 T light corn syrup

Pastry for two-crust pie

4 C sliced, peeled Spy, Cortland or Granny Smith apples

1 T lemon juice

1/3 C sugar

1 T flour

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

Whipped cream

Sprinkle peanuts over the bottom of a buttered pie pan. In a saucepan, bring to a boil brown sugar, water, butter and corn syrup. Stir constantly for 3 minutes over medium heat being careful not to scortch. Pour over peanuts. Place first crust on top of peanuts. Mix apples with the rest of ingredients. Place in pie shell and top with second crust. Crimp and seal edges. Prick with a fork all over. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until crust is lightly golden. Invert onto platter. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Chocolate Walnut Pie

{ Circa 1960 from an old church cookbook}

One bottom pie crust (homemade, refrigerated roll out, or frozen)

1/2 C flour

1 C sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

1/4 t salt

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 C  walnut pieces

1 t vanilla

Mix flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and salt.  Fold in remaining ingredients, stirring gently. Pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until set. Test with a toothpick. Serve with whipped cream and garnish with shaved semi-sweet chocolate or mini-chocolate chips.

No-Fail Pie Crust from Scratch

2 cups unbleached flour

scant cup butter-flavored Crisco shortening or lard (about a teaspoon or two less than a cup)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vinegar

6-8 tablespoons of water from melting ice (seriously–cold tap water will not work, so get out a bowl, fill it with  ice and let it begin melting a while before you begin).

Mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender (or two forks if you don’t have one) Stir water in lightly to form a ball. DO NOT HANDLE TOO MUCH! It will make the dough tough, not flaky. Divide in half and roll out on a well floured counter to make a circle just a bit bigger in diameter than your pie pan. Repeat with top crust. Follow recipe for your favorite pie.

How about you? What are your favorite pies?

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Looking for some more fabulous pie recipes? Check out my friend Linda’s award-winning book! She owns the cutest little pie shop in the world in a tiny town near me and my boys love her pies even more than they love mine. (You are forgiven, Linda)

 

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