Fresh Peach Pie

     One of the things I miss most about our old apartment is having Sprouts in walking distance.  Sprouts is a grocery store that is very much like a farmer's market.  There is tons of really good, cheap, and locally grown produce.  Now that my trips to Sprouts are going to be far and few between, I really have to plan what we need and what we can eat before it goes bad.  So as I walked past the delicious looking peaches that were on sale for $0.88/pound, immediately I thought back to all the recipes I had recently pinned for peach pie, peach cobbler, peach french toast...and the list goes on.  Ultimately, I decided on making this peach pie from recipe girl, which was very simple and allowed the sweetness of the peaches to stand out.  Plus, with pie you can eat ice cream, which is something I am always up for!  I recently have fallen in love with Blue Bell ice cream (we didn't have it up north) and found a peach and vanilla flavor that went well with my pie (and of course was great by itself after my pie was gone!).  I have to say, the thing I am most proud of is my lattice top on this pie.  I had never done a lattice top must admit I was really intimidated by it, but after watching this quick video, I was ready to try it.  If I might say so myself, I think it turned out pretty nicely!

8-10 large fresh peaches
dash of lemon juice
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup butter
2  pie crusts (I used store bought, but feel free to make your own)
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
course sugar (or just regular sugar!)

     Preheat the oven to 350°.  Set the butter and pie crusts on the counter, allowing them to come to room temperature while you begin working with the peaches.  Peel, slice, and remove the pits from the peaches.  Place in a bowl and mix with lemon juice to keep from browning.
     In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  Use a pastry blender or a fork to mix together until crumbly.  Press the first crust into the bottom of the pie plate.  Place a layer of peaches on the bottom, then cover with a layer of the flour mixture.  Alternate these two layers until you have used all the peaches.
     Create the lattice top with the other pie crust (if you don't know how, watch the video link above!).  Whisk together the egg and water and brush it onto the lattice crust.  Sprinkle sugar over top.  Place in the oven for about 1-1½ hours, mine took just over an hour.  If your pie is filled to the brim with peaches, it may be a good idea to put a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch anything that bubbles over!

Banoffee Pie

     I took parts of two similar but separate recipes that I wanted to try and combined them to make this dessert.  The first pie was a banana pudding pie from Lick the Bowl Good.  After I had bought all the ingredients for it, I read the recipe and it seemed like more effort than I was willing to put forth at the time.  The other recipe was for Banoffee Danger Pie from Brooklyn Limestone.  Although the pictures looked delicious, the recipe sounded a bit bland.  So I decided to pull pieces from each recipe (and use some of the ingredients I had bought for the banana pudding pie) to create this Banoffee Pie.  Next time I make this I will probably put another layer of bananas on top before covering with whipped cream and probably make sure I have some chocolate to shave over top of the whipped cream!  Please note that although this recipe is simple to make, it does take over 2 hours for the sweetened condensed milk to cook into dulce de leche.

2½ cups vanilla wafers, crushed (about 50 wafers)
½ stick of butter
4+ bananas
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
½ cup powered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 chocolate bar (optional, for shavings on top of pie)

Ahead of time you will need to make the dulce de leche (similar to caramel) for this recipe.  Remove the label from the sweetened condensed milk.  Place the can in a saucepan and completely cover with water.  Bring water to a boil and continue boiling for about 2½ hours.  It is very important to make sure to keep adding water to the pot, so that the can is completely covered with water at all times.  Remove can from water with tongs, allowing to cool completely before trying to open.

To make the crust:  Preheat oven to 350°.  Place wafers in a large Ziploc bag.  Use a rolling pin to crush the wafers.  Melt the butter.  In a medium bowl, combine the butter and the wafers until well blended.  Press the wafer mixture into the bottom and sides of a pie plate to create the crust.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.  (If you choose, you can skip this step and use a store bought graham cracker crust.)

To make the whipped cream:  In a electric mixing bowl, beat whipping cream on high until soft peaks form.  Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until it has the consistency of whipped cream.  (If you choose, you can skip this step and use cool whip.)

To make the pie:  Slice 3-4 bananas and place in the bottom of the pie crust.  Pour the can of cooked sweetened condensed milk over top of the bananas.  Top with additional bananas if you choose!  Spread the whipped cream over top of the bananas and caramel.  Top with chocolate shavings (optional).  Keep refrigerated.