What’s Cookin’, Good Lookin’?

Right now, just go ahead and get down on your knees and say a prayer of repentance.  Trust me!  You’re going to need to beg forgiveness for your wicked soul after making and eating this pie!  Cuz it’s just downright evil, wicked, mean and nasty GOOD!  Me?  I’m just plum ashamed of myself for serving it!  And with Praline Ice Cream on top, to boot!  Lord, have mercy on me!  Forgive me, for I have sinned!

Y’all wanna sin too?  LOL  Honestly, this pie will just flip your wig!  I’m a fat woman and I love to eat!  But dessert usually isn’t my “thang.”  But this pie?  OH YEAH BABY!  Ummmmmmmmmmmmm!  Did I mention evil?  Wicked?  Mean?  And NASTYgood!?  OK, yeah, I thought so, but I think it bears repeating!

Years ago when I was baking for other folks, I started making this pie as part of a Holiday package.  The turkey was great!  Dressing too.  But folks went crazy over this pie.  Kentucky Derby Pie, or as it is sometimes referred to as just Derby Pie, came from Kentucky about half a century ago.  It started as the specialty pastry at a little inn in Prospect, Kentucky called the Melrose Inn.  It got its name from putting a bunch of names for the pie in a hat.  And VOILA!  Kentucky Derby Pie was born!  It actually has nothing to do with the famous race held in Churchill Downs every year.  But it has everything to do with FABULOUS!

Let’s get started making this delightfully sinful creation!  Here’s what you’ll need:

Flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, chocolate chips, pecans and pie crust.

Bought pie crust, Amy?  Seriously?  You don’t make your OWN pie crust?  Well, you see, it’s like this.  See this beautiful lady?

That’s my Granny.  You see, Alene could make pie crust that would make you cry!  The flakiest crust that ever passed your lips!  Those of you out there old enough…..do you remember those Loretta Lynn commercials where she was hawking Crisco because it made the best pie crust?  Well, ole Loretta made a lot more money than my Granny ever saw in her lifetime, but I guarantee you, that mess she called pie crust couldn’t hold a candle to the magnificent pastry that came out of my Granny’s kitchen.  Can I make pie crust?  Sure I can!  But mine ain’t gonna make you cry like Granny’s would.  So why make all that mess on the counter rolling out dough if it’s not going to be positively spectacular when you’re done?  Thus, bought pie crust!

So let’s put this pie together!  It’s so simple your kids can do it!

Start out by pouring the sugar into a mixing bowl.

Now add the flour in with the sugar.

Melt the butter.  I use my Pampered Chef microwave steamer bowl for melting butter.  Once the butter is melted, set it aside to cool for a little while.

When the butter is completely cool, add it to the flour and sugar mixture.

Give it a little mix.  It doesn’t have to be completely mixed yet.  Just get the dry ingredients wet so they won’t clump when you add the eggs.

See?  Like this.  It’s not smooth, but the big clumps are gone.

Break the eggs into a bowl individually.  Once you break one egg and know it’s OK, add it to the mixing bowl.  You always want to break eggs one at a time and add them one at a time so you don’t end up ruining a dish by adding a rotten egg straight into the mixing bowl.  If you break them one at a time into a separate bowl, you can just toss the one bad egg.  That’s a good rule of thumb for any baking.

Now mix the eggs in and beat the mixture well with a wire whisk.

Add the vanilla after you’ve gotten the eggs well incorporated into the batter.  But let’s stop a minute and talk about vanilla.  Y’all, if you don’t ever listen to another word from me, listen now.  PLEASE, use real vanilla.  Please don’t use that “imitation” vanilla.  Get real vanilla extract!  It really DOES make a difference in taste!

Whisk until all the lumps are gone and the vanilla is all stirred in.  And you could stop right here and bake this pie up and it would taste just grand!  But we’re about to make this pie happier than a dead hog in the sunshine!  What makes a dead hog all that happy, sunshine or not?  I dunno personally, but that was an Alene-ism and since we’re making pie, I thought I’d throw in an ode to Granny there.  I just know this pie is about to get crazy happy!

Throw in some chopped pecans.  You can chop your own, but I’m a little too lazy for that.  I bought ‘em already in pieces!

Now add semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Make sure they’re semi-sweet and not milk chocolate.

Now fold those into the batter.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, mercy me!  Somebody shout “GLORY” and pass the offering plate cuz surely there’s a sinner out there that just came to know Jesus over this pie!

Lookie there!  It’s ready to go into a pie crust.

So let’s do that.  Pour the batter into a prepared pie crust.

Just like this!  In the oven it goes!  And in a few minutes, you’re going to be smelling something heavenly wafting through your house!  This might be a good time to tell you that you probably shouldn’t ever just make one of these at a time.  It’s a good thing to just go ahead and double everything and make two.  Cuz one is NEVER enough!  EVER!  And it’s just as easy to whip up two as it is to make one.  Trust me on this!  You will SOOOOOOOOOOO be sorry if you only have one of these in the house.

And there you go!  Kentucky Derby Pie in all its glory!  I think I might just hear the Hallelujah Chorus playing now!  It’s that amazing!

Kentucky Derby Pie

*  1 cup sugar

*  1/2 cup flour

*  2 eggs

*  1 stick butter, melted and cooled

*  1 cup pecans, chopped

*  1/2 bag chocolate chips

*  1 Tbsp. vanilla

*  1 deep dish pie crust

Melt the butter and set it aside to cool.  Pour the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl.  Once the butter is cooled, add it to the sugar and flour mixture.  Stir together until the large clumps have disappeared.  Add the eggs one at a time, then stir into the mixture until well incorporated.  Add vanilla and stir.  Add pecans and chocolate chips.  Fold those into the batter.  Pour into a pie crust.  Bake in a pre-heated 325° oven for 1 hour.  Serve warm, straight out of the oven or room temperature.

Whew!  Words almost fail me now.  What else is there to say about this pie?  It will rock your world!  This is great for the Holidays!  You can make up 6 or 8 of these pies and wrap them and throw them in the freezer!  Then when Thanksgiving or Christmas comes along, take it out and let it get room temperature.  It will be just like you baked it fresh!  This will be great for your Holiday dessert buffet, church potluck, work party or Sunday night supper!  This pie also makes a wonderful home-baked gift!

I hope you enjoy this pie as much as we do!  Happy Holidays friends!

Filed under: Christmas/Holidays, Dessert, Thanksgiving Ideas