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Crack Pie

Crack Pie

06/02/15 | brown sugar, cookies, old fashioned, pie, sugar

Crack Pie

 
It is a bit past 3 am and I am wide awake. Apparently, my bladder has shrunk down to the size of a thimble and I have to wake up 12 times every night to rush to the bathroom.* Ahhh, the beauty of aging. Scientists invent everything to undo the signs of aging – miracle wrinkle creams, tone repair, facelifts, liposuction – everything except the most annoying one – interrupting precious beauty sleep with the incessant urge to rush to the bathroom at various ungodly hours. It gets worse when our new pup Ozzie wakes up and wiggles his fuzzy little butt after me. So, I have to scoop him up and carry him outside to do his own business. Then, just as I slip my flip-flops off and pull the covers over me, Milou wants to go outside. Does he need to pee? Does he want to find lizards? Who knows? After a decent 20 minutes of this ridiculousness, everyone’s back inside the house and tucked in. I finally get back to bed, but I can no longer fall sleep.
Crack PieThis is usually when I get myself into trouble, wandering the WWW for all sorts of unnecessary, but extremely tempting things like waterproof, washable seat covers for food-stained dining room chairs. Sounds great, right? Sure, except they do not fit our dining room chairs. Evidently, it is just safer to stay offline and grab a magazine.

Bon Appétit is like Playboy for foodies. Sure, the writing is really good, but, in all honesty, it’s the photos that grab and hold my attention, like the sight of something crackly, crumbly, giving way to the prongs of a fork. This temptation hails from a hip bakery in the Big Apple called Milk Bar featured in the very issue of the magazine I happened to be reading. One bite, perhaps sniff even, of this stuff and you will know how it rightfully earned the name Crack Pie. Unfortunately, it is a two-step process to make, first one big oat cookie, then a pie with a luscious sugar pie filling and the oat cookie as the crust. The cooling process is also lengthy. Crack Pie will test your patience, but prove well worth the wait, if you can wait.
The first time I made it, I was faithful to the original instructions. I made the big oatmeal cookie from scratch. Then I crushed it and pound the crumbs into the crust, which was blind baked. After the crust cooled, I whipped up the filling and tossed it into the oven for the final baking. It seemed like an eternity by the time we were finally able to taste the thing. So, I have a quicker version that I know you are going to love.

There are several great shortcuts to the crust portion of the original recipe. Skip the first step of making the oat cookie, then blind-baking the crust and just get some cookies from the market. While I don’t normally condone the use of store-bought anything, here, I make an exception. Life is too short for a long-winded recipe. Get out there and grab your favourite brand of oatmeal cookies. If you cannot find oatmeal cookies that you like, graham crackers do just fine.  For a quicker homemade solution, pulse rolled oats to a flour consistency and follow my recipe. My crust is actually based on my mom’s recipe for her famous cheesecake. It is the best part of the cheesecake and adapts beautifully to this recipe.
Crack PieSugar is a remarkable element, but working with it requires some experience. The long cooling process of this recipe is as important, if not more important, than the baking process.  So a bit of planning will have a decadent breakfast ready for you to enjoy in the morning. Who says you can’t have pie for breakfast?

Crack Pie
Note: This recipe produces an irresistibly addictive end product. You have been warned.
Adapted from BonAppetit

Ingredients

Crust
3/4 cup ground oatmeal
1/2 stick butter
5 Tb sugar
pinch salt

Filling
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 pinches salt
1 stick butter, @ room temp
4 large free-range egg yolks
6 Tb heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions
Butter a shallow 9-inch round pie or cake pan.
Blitz rolled oats in a food processor to a fine powder consistency.
Add butter, sugar and salt.
Pulse a few times until a dough forms.
Gently press dough evenly into the pie/cake pan.Preheat oven to 350*F.

Blitz filling ingredients in the food processor until smooth.
Pour over crust and transfer to the hot oven.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

Cool to room temperature (about 2 hours), then transfer to the fridge and chill, uncovered, preferably overnight, if you can wait that long.

If you can’t wait (neither could I), just let the pie rest at room temp for 15 minutes, then pop it into the freezer for another 15 minutes. We have the technology, after all. Why not use it?

Crack Pie

It was another one of my favorite lazy weekend mornings spent over coffee in our breakfast nook. The Beatles crooned in the background while Shawn worked diligently on one of those rubber-band loom bracelets that he had hoped would keep our li’l blue-eyed beauty occupied. I was focused on making a cotton-blossom wreath for my friend’s birthday while Daisy played doctor to Lucy, her sniffly toy puppy.
I can’t remember whether it was Saturday or Sunday. The only thing that remains sharp in my memory is the aroma of sweet vanilla sugar, the softness of the gooey filling with the crackly top and the toasty crunch of that cookie crust. Thank goodness baking Crack Pie is perfectly legal, because it sure tastes like home.

* An exaggeration for the sake of humour.
Crack Pie

 

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Comments

  1. Sippity Sup says

    June 2, 2015 at 21:21

    Waterproof, washable seat covers for dining room chairs? I hope that has nothing to do with that shrinking bladder (insert smiley face here). GREG

  2. Zoe says

    June 3, 2015 at 03:35

    Hi Coco,

    I can't imagine waking up 12 times every night to rush to the bathroom… Are you sure that you are ok? I hope that I don't sound nosy saying this but I think it is better that you see a doctor about this.

    I like your phrase saying that Bon Appétit is like Playboy for foodies… Of course, I like to have this crack pie for breakfast!

    Zoe

  3. Colette Joseph says

    June 3, 2015 at 17:20

    Very funny. 😛

  4. Colette Joseph says

    June 3, 2015 at 17:21

    Not literally 12 times. Exaggerated a bit for the sake of humor, but I do appreciate your caring about my well-being. xo

  5. Cocoa and Lavender says

    June 4, 2015 at 02:33

    I, too, refer to my cooking magazines and books as food porn! And I, too, can get into a lot of shopping trouble in the middle of the night! (Although, luckily, I never need the bathroom – one aspect of aging that has ignored me for the time being!) This pie looks so seriously good! Can't wait to try it! xo, D

  6. Janine Waite says

    June 16, 2015 at 05:25

    Ah, I felt like I was right there with you on the weekend! You're so sweet to make me a birthday wreath!!! You're the best! Ah, I can smell that amazing pie although over here!

  7. My Persian Feast says

    June 21, 2015 at 10:11

    Looks Delish! Yum!

  8. Fariba Nafissi says

    June 30, 2015 at 23:04

    Funny to read your post right after hearing that they recently use Botox for overworking bladders…you might want to look into it. Not sure where they inject it to? I know it does miracles for my migraines and wrinkles of course 😉 xoxo

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Welcome to Coco in the Kitchen! I am a proud Wife and Mommy cooking up some delicious meals and treats for my family. Follow along and collect some great dishes inspired by my Armenian roots and chocolate cravings! Get to know me more...

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