Mother's Day Pie

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! 

I never see a coconut cream pie without thinking of you! 

So today I baked one, from scratch,  then enjoyed a big, gooey, still warm, delicious piece just minutes ago.  It was worth every calorie and every memory!  Wish you were here to share it with me.

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Last week, Anna over at Thimbleanna blogged about making Snickerdoodles.  The very same day, I had made Oatmeal Crispies and baked a portion of the dough and froze the rest.  Anna and I have something in common.  When a recipe calls for butter, we use half butter and half Crisco.  I think the cookies turn out with  just the right crispie-ness this way.  Anna had experimented with the difference in using the Silpat or parchment paper so today when I was ready to bake the remaining dough I took the Silpat vs Parchment Paper challenge!   Who would have thought it would make a difference?  Granted, only a slight one, but the cookies on the left were baked on parchment paper and the ones on the right on the Silpat.  I don't think there's any difference in taste, but the parchment paper ones seemed to be a little crispier.  I still like the Silpat though, especially for sugar cookies but the parchment paper cookies look a little more "homemade" and in my book, that's a good thing!  So now Anna and I have something else in common.  (Thanks Anna, for the cookie blog inspiration!) 

Here's Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Cookie recipe with my variations.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup Crisco (butter flavor preferred)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 whole eggs

1 teas. vanilla

1  cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teas. salt

1 teas. baking soda

3 cups quick oats

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

(B's favorite option - 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips)

Cream sugars with butter and shortening, add eggs and vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients and add gradually to creamed mixture.  Add oats and pecans.  Place dough on waxed paper and roll into log.  Refrigerate or freeze then slice (1/2 - 3/4") and bake.  350 for 11 minutes.  Cool on pan slightly before moving to cooking rack.  Enjoy!

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This is not my Mother's Day present.   It is D's birthday, Father's Day, Christmas and Valentines day gift all rolled together in one.  It should be able to do magic to just about any piece of wood!  I'll post more about it when he gets it set up.  For now, all you need to know is that no middle aged men (it took four of them!) were injured in the moving or installation of this machine!  Thank goodness!  (edit - I guess there was one minor injury and blood was lost, but he survived! They just didn't tell me!)