Good Old Fashioned Raisin Pie

It’s just as it sounds. It’s a pie, filled with raisins, and it’s old-fashioned (meaning that it doesn’t have any fancy newfangled trendy fillings). And it really is good, in a classic “I don’t need to be dressed up with caramel or chocolate or ganache” kind of way. (Although those do sound like really good additions for next time.)

Of all the decadent desserts out there, why make a humble raisin pie (or mini little pies, as pictured)? Well, Fil (the name I affectionately call my father in law… get it? Father In Law?) is having a birthday, and as the story goes, he used to polish off the 99¢ raisin pies from the A&P grocery store that no one else would touch. (Or maybe no one else in the family ate them because Fil hoovered them down all to himself- hard to say. All I know is that the family has laughed at this for years.) So I wanted to make something that I knew he’d like, since he’d never be so bold as to request anything special.

Fil was happy with the pie, although he’s so nice that he’d say he liked it even if it tasted like crap. Served with heavenly hash ice cream (totally his idea), it made for a nice birthday evening. And it’s fun to stick really big candles in a really small pie.

Adapted from allrecipe’s recipe…

Pastry for bottom & top of pie (see “Cream Cheese Pie Crust“- you’ll need to double the recipe)

2 cups raisins

2 cups water

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice (or vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. In a medium saucepan, boil raisins and water together for 5 minutes.
3. Add sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt to raisins and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in butter, lemon juice and vanilla, and allow to cool slightly.
5. Pour raisin goo filling into pastry-lined 9-inch pie pan and cover with the top layer of pastry, sealing the edges in a decorative fashion. With a sharp knife, poke steam holes into the center of the pie crust. (If making open-face mini pies, cut circles out of rolled pastry dough using a biscuit or cookie cutter that’s bigger than the muffin cup, and gently press into regular or mini muffin tins.)
6. Bake 9-inch pie for 30 minutes (until golden brown) turning heat down to 350° halfway through, and remove from oven to cool on a rack. Serve slightly warm for best flavor. (For mini pies in mini muffin cups, bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown and filling is bubbly but set. For pies baked in regular muffin cups, bake for about 15-18 minutes. You don’t need to turn the oven down in temperature halfway through for the mini pies.)
Tips:
- Crust browning a bit too much? Cover with a bit of foil halfway through when you turn the oven temperature down.
- Mini pies: they would look so cute covered like the regular pie should be, but I didn’t have enough pastry dough left over. Next time. When pressing the pie dough into the cups, feel free to flatten the seams so that you can get more filling into the cups.
- Extra dough? Freeze it! You’ll find a reason to pull it out later and make a mini pie or something- even if you just roll it out, brush with butter, sprinkle cinnamon & brown sugar on it, cut into strips or shapes, and bake for 10 minutes. Yummy.
- Dough-free? Yes, it can be done! You can make a typical graham-cracker crust, or skip the crust altogether and just bake the raisin filling in little ramekins (or a large round casserole dish); bake for about 15 minutes and then cool slightly before serving with a great-quality vanilla ice cream. Way healthier than with a crust. :)
- Creative twists: add 1 cup of chocolate, butterscotch or cinnamon chips into the mixture right before pouring into the pie shell. Maybe toasting a cup of pecans or almonds, then chopping them up and throwing them in is up your alley? Or how about adding a cup of pitted cherries, or 2 diced apples to step # 3 above? Better yet- add the butterscotch chips, almonds, AND apple- and you’ll have a party in a pie, I tell ‘ya.
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May 12th, 2012 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: Pies