Momofuku Crack Pie

Sometimes you hear a lot of hype about a particular recipe. You read about it on a million blogs and cooking sites, etc. And then, finally,  you know you have top try it and see if it lives up to its name and the word on the internet. You don’t really believe it could be that wonderful. And then it is!

This is that recipe. . . . and trust me. . . it’s AMAZING!

It’s so good I just wanna roll in it! (Which is also the canine equivalent of saying, “This is AWESOME”.)

It’s so good I want to eat 4 pieces at one sitting, even though it’s so sweet I know that would create the need for an instant root canal.

Such simple ingredients. How can it possibly be so wonderful? Well, it’s kind of time consuming to make, for one thing. Plus, it will take you at least 4-6 hours before it is ready to eat. Longer to ensure it is truly set up and ready to be wrestled out of the pan. Generally speaking, though. . simple ingredients = yummy!

Momofuku Milk Bar is a bakery in New York. It’s on my list of places to visit. (Yes. . I have a food related list of vacations I’d like to take.) The menu looks delicious. They are known for this pie. They also have a cookbook which is on my must-have list. (hint, hint)

Friday night I hosted some friends at my house for our monthly book club meeting. And by book club, I mean dinner and wine club. Let’s face it. . it’s really just an excuse to get together and eat and drink and chat. Not chat about the book, of course. Ok. . .a little book chat. . .but mostly not. It’s awesome!

We make book club a potluck event. Of course. Friday night we had an awesome dinner that consisted of a beautiful green salad, a veggie tray, spanakopita, Mediterranean pasta salad, fruit salsa with cinnamon chips, lentil and cauliflower curry, crusty bread, wine, assorted cookies and this pie. Now I am hungry! It was all so good.

This recipe actually makes 2 pies. The night before book club I shared the pie love by taking it to Dad’s for a slice and then my aunt and uncle’s for slices. It was a unanimous hit.

It was all empty plates at book club, too, so I assume it was a hit that night as well.

I was thinking of variations you could make. Like a molasses cookie crust. Or adding orange zest to the filling. Or taking a slice of the pie and putting it in a blender with ice cream and making a Crack Pie Shake! Too much?

It’s simple to make. 😉 First you make the cookie for the cookie crust. After that bakes and cools you crumble it to make the cookie crust of the pie. Then you make the filling and bake the pie. After it cools a bit you have to refrigerate it for several hours to make sure it sets. It is meant to be eaten cold. If it starts to warm up too much it starts to ooze out of the crust.

Ok. . so it takes awhile, but it’s not difficult. And it is truly as addictive as crack. At least my assumption of crack addiction.

The recipe calls for dusting the top with powdered sugar when you serve it, but I assumed it would be plenty sweet without that. And it was. It’s super rich and sweet. A cup of coffee with it would be great to cut the sweet a little.

Momofuku Crack Pie

(Adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar)

Cookie for Crust

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup (2 1/2 oz) light brown sugar

3 Tbsp (1 1/4 oz) sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup flour (about 3 oz)

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup rolled oats (about 3 1/2 oz)

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer) beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Whisk in the egg until fully incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and mix in slowly until incorporated. Stir in the oats.

Spread the dough into a 9×13 baking pan and bake at 375 degrees until golden. About 20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Crust

crumble cookie for crust

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) melted

1 1/2 Tbsp (3/4 oz) Light brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Finely crumble the cookie and add the butter, sugar and salt. Mix until it’s evenly combined and sticks together a bit when you pinch a little between your fingers. Divide the crust mixture between two 10 inch pie tins and press into a thin layer on the bottom and up the sides of the pie pans. (I used 9 inch pie tins and then added 5 minutes to the  bake time.)

Set the pie crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz) sugar

3/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp (7 oz) light brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup (3/4 oz) milk powder

1 cup butter, melted (2 sticks)

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 egg yolks

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, salt and milk powder. Add the butter. Then whisk in the heavy cream and the vanilla.

Gently whisk in the egg yolks. Be careful not to whisk in too much air.

Divide the filling between the 2 prepared pie crusts.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (longer for a 9 inch pie tin). Then turn the oven down to 325 and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Pies should still be jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie). Remove pies and cool.

Refrigerate the pies until well chilled. I chilled them overnight. Serve cold. Dust with powdered sugar when serving if you like.