Oreo Pie (or Banana Cream Pie)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cold milk
2 pkg (4-serving size each) Jell-O Oreo Flavor Instant pudding and pie filling
1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip
1 Oreo Pie Crust
5 Oreos, halved

Directions:

1. Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in half of the Cool Whip.
2. Pour into pie crust.
3. Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. (Though sometimes we don't really wait the four hours and just dig into it right away). Garnish with remaining Cool Whip and cookie halves just before serving. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

(When I make Banana Cream. I just use a graham cracker crust and banana pudding instead of oreo pudding.)

Submitted by Wanda Husted from the back of the Oreo Pie Crust Label

Apple Crumb Pie

Ingredients:

5-7 tart apples (Granny Smith are the best)
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. flour
1/3 c. butter

Directions:

Peel and core apples and cut into eighths. Arrange in unbaked pie shell. Mix 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over apples. Mix other 1/2 c. sugar with flour and butter. Blend with a pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Do not overcook.

Submitted by Karan Johnson (our guest from 3rd ward)

1-2-3-4 Pie Crust

Ingredients:

1 t. salt
2 c. flour
2/3 c. plus 2 T. shortening
4 T. cold water

Directions:
Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender. Add water and mix until all flour is moistened. Mold dough into two equal-sized balls. Flatten each ball and roll between waxed paper to 2 inches larger than the pie plate. Makes 2 9-inch pie crusts.

You can half this recipe to make one bottom crust. Also, you need to poke holes in bottom of crust if cooking just the empty shell.

Submitted by Karan Johnson (our guest from 3rd Ward)

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:

6 pounds apples
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 T. lemon juice

Directions:

Wash, peel, core, and slice apples. Treat to prevent darkening. Combine sugar, flour, and spices. Rinse and drain apples; stir into sugar mixture. Let stand until juices begin to flow, about 30 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. Ladle pie filling into can-or-freeze jars or plastic freezer boxes, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. (I use zip-top freezer bags so they can lie flat in the freezer.) Cool at room temperature, not to exceed 2 hours. Seal, label, and freeze.

This makes about 2 deep dish fillings or 3 regular/thin pies worth of filling.

Submitted by Jen Lee from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving

Pecan Tarts

Ingredients:

Shells:
4 cubes margarine
4 T. oil
2 T. water
2 8-oz. cream cheese
6 cups flour

Filling:
4 T. melted butter
4 eggs, beaten
3 c. brown sugar
1 t. salt
4 t. vanilla
3 c. pecans, chopped

Directions:
Mix shell ingredients together and roll into small balls. Press balls into mini-muffin pans and hollow out shells with fingers. Be careful not to leave the bottom too thin and to make sure the dough rises all the way to the top of the pan. This will avoid filling getting out. This dough makes about 9 dozen little tarts. Mix the filling ingredients well. Spoon into shells to make 3/4 full. Clean up the filling that drips on the pan to make for easier clean up. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. (The trick is to make the filling and shells come out even.) You can also half this recipe to make about 50. If anyone wants to borrow mini muffin pans to make these, I have some and would be happy to lend them out.

Submitted by Janis Hansen