Oatmeal Chocolate Scotchie Cookie Pie

Week Four:

I’ll admit it, this week I was stumped. I know it’s only week four and there are a million kinds of pie out there, but I had a long list of pies I was forbidden to make this week while certain persons were out of town, so I was operating under a severe handicap. They say adversity breeds genius, and while that probably isn’t the case here, at the very least it forced me to think out of the box, er, pie pan. I found a recipe for butterscotch pie, but it sounded a bit boring. I figured there had to be a way to use butterscotch in a far more interesting manner, thus I decided to try a pie based on a cookie.

Though I loathed the term when my art professors would drag it out, a happy accident occurred when I had extra cookie dough and was able to make mini oatmeal chocolate scotchie cookies with which to decorate the pie. That way every recipient gets both a piece of pie and its namesake cookie; and, unlike myself, the only dilemma they’re faced with is which to eat first.

And if you must know, yes, I did talk like Scrooge McDuck when baking the tiny scotchies. Sue me.

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE SCOTCHIE COOKIE PIE

Oatmeal Cookie Crust (with leftover for mini cookies)

2 sticks softened butter
1 cup packed brown sugar (medium packed)
a little short of ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour (King Arthur White Wheat flour preferred)
½ tsp salt

3 cups Quaker Oats

1/3 tsp baking soda
a handful of semisweet chocolate and butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat together the butter and sugars until creamy and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, and salt. Stir into the butter/sugar mixture. Then stir in the oats.

Press approx 1/2 – 2/3 of the batter into a greased 10″ pie pan in a layer about 1/4″ thick. If dough sticks to your fingers you can moisten them with water. Make sure to bring the batter up and over the sides and top of the pan as it will shrink while baking. Pierce the bottom of the crust with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

adorable tiny cookies

While the crust is chilling, add baking soda and the chips to the remaining batter. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter (about 3/4″ diameter) onto a cookie sheet. You should make about 16-18 mini cookies to decorate the pie (you can use any remaining batter for regular sized cookies if you like). Bake for 8-9 minutes. Cookies should be pale when you remove them from the oven (just barely beginning to brown). Place on a rack to cool.

Cover the chilled pie crust with foil and pie weights and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and bake for an additional 13-15 minutes until the edges of the pie crust are a light golden brown and the center is pale. Place on a rack in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Ganache Filling

12 oz heavy cream
8 oz bittersweet chocolate

Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium/low heat until steaming, but not boiling. While cream heats, chop chocolate into small pieces (fine) and place in medium heat-proof mixing bowl. When cream is steaming, pour onto the chocolate. Mix until thoroughly combined and allow to cool for a couple of hours at room temperature or about one hour in the refrigerator. You want the ganache to set up a little so it’s no longer liquid (or hot, as that will melt the peanut butter mousse), but not so set up as it would be difficult to spread in the pie crust.

Spoon the cooled ganache into the chilled pie crust and spread smooth. Return to the refrigerator to chill and set up completely before adding the butterscotch filling.

Butterscotch Filling

1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups half and half
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in milk, constantly stirring until it’s steaming.

In a separate bowl slowly pour about 1/3 of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks by whisking constantly. Whisk the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture and stir continuously. Switching to a heat proof spatula, stir in the butter and vanilla and continue to cook until mixture thickens. At first the mixture with become quite lumpy, keep stirring and eventually it will smooth out and thicken to a pudding-like consistency. Remove from heat and refrigerate for 30 minutes until cooled. Then fill the remainder of the pie shell with the butterscotch (on top of the ganache).

Chocolate Latice Decoration (Optional)

2 oz bittersweet chocolate

Melt chocolate in the microwave. Make a cone out of wax or parchment paper and snip off the pointed end leaving a small hole. Fill the cone with the melted chocolate, using your index finger to block the hole at the end. Pipe the chocolate onto the pie in whatever pattern suits you.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting

4 oz bittersweet chocolate
6 oz heavy cream

Prepare ganache in the same manner as the ganache filling. After chilling in the refrigerator for approx 45 minutes, remove and whip with a hand mixer on high for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Pipe in a thick ring around the outside of the pie.

Stick the mini cookies you made earlier on top of the ganache frosting around the outside edge of the pie to finish decorating. Return to the refrigerator to chill completely (at least 3 hours).

Slice and enjoy.