In case you haven’t already met: The Crack Pie
So January was kind of a big month for me.
Construction for my new business, The Pantry, is in full swing. We’ve got all of the walls and ceiling ripped out of our space, and now begins the moment of building rather than destroying. We have a beautiful landscape plan (dreamed up by the talented crew at Fresh Digs), 3 sore backs’ worth of scavenged garden pavers, and lots of beautiful edibles in our future. We just launched our brand new website (check it out!), courtesy of the fantastic Wandering Works Design Co., as well as our first bit of press in Seattle Magazine. I am positively giddy. And if that weren’t enough, last week me and John took a trip to NYC, where we first met 8 years ago, and got ourselves engaged. Wow. Talk about a fun year ahead!
So to celebrate good times, as well as my trip to Momofuku Milk Bar on my first day as a fiancée, I give you the Crack Pie. If you haven’t heard of the Crack Pie, I am so happy to be the first to introduce you. Possibly the most famous slice of pie in Manhattan right now, it is a force to be reckoned with. It’s sweet. It’s salty. It’s oaty. Dare I say it’s over the top. It was exactly what was called for last night.
The crust. The crust is so much fun. It starts with a pretty straightforward oatmeal cookie dough. You press it into a sheet pan until it’s pretty thin. I actually found it a bit sticky to work with and ended up rolling it between parchment sheets.
You bake it until you have one gigantic golden brown oatmeal cookie.
Then you break it into crumbs and toss it with butter and brown sugar, to form an oat cookie pie dough.
That gets pressed into a pie pan, really tightly to prevent leaks.
Then the filling is poured in and the whole thing goes in the oven to set.
And Oh. My. It is insane. Kind of like pecan pie, without those pesky pecans. Wrapped in a crunchy oatmeal cookie. I will admit now that I made two. Friends came over last night and helped me devour the first pie. The second, well I’m regretting that one. It’s just too much crack for this little one. I suspect some staff at Delancey will be finishing it off if John doesn’t read this and hide it before I get there.
CRACK PIE RECIPE (Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar):
Oat Cookie Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 1/2 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
5 1/2 TBSP (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
2 TBSP sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plus 2 TBSP old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 tsp (generous) salt
– Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper; coat with nonstick spray. Combine 6 TBSP butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 2 TBSP sugar in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan; press out evenly to edges of pan. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.
– Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl; add 3 TBSP butter and 1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together. Transfer cookie crust mixture to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Using fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Place pie dish with crust on rimmed baking sheet.
Filling
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 TBSP nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 oz unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
6 1/2 TBSP heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (for dusting)
– Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and whisk until blended. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour filling into crust. Bake pie 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble). Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Continue to bake pie until filling is brown in spots and set around edges but center still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, about 10 minutes longer. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight.
– Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve cold.
I made that! 
Feel free to share it with Delancey’s favorite neighbors!! Congratulations on your engagement and the press! A great month indeed!!
Thank you Ashley! And please, swing by Delancey and grab a slice, I just need it to not be in my kitchen 🙂
With a name like crack, it has to be good. 😉 I have Ms.Tosi’s recipe for cinnamon bun pie too … there is a LOT of snow in Boston right now: there may also soon be a lot of pie eating. Thanks for posting this!
Love your new site.
We are snowed in here in Chicago, I wish I had all of these ingredients in my pantry/fridge.
Sorry gotta run out to get some whipping cream!….mmm….
Thanks from my hips!
That’s funny, the crack pie at our house is very different. I guess I need to try this one out, compare the crack qualities and all. I really like the idea of the crust!
Congrats on the engagement! So exciting. I have been dying to try crack pie, but have held off due to fear of intense sugar overdose. Love the new site, too!
Sounds good to me, lol! I guess for my kids we’ll just call it ‘oat pie’, lol! They simply love pies. And I’m pretty sure this one will be a sure hit to them. I will definitely try this. Nothing can compare to a weekend afternoon in the kitchen with your kids making pies! 🙂
so many congratulations! i cannot, CANNOT wait for the opening and to make the pantry a part of my routine. excitement doesn’t even begin to cut it.
and congratulations on your engagement as well. make many of these pies to celebrate 😉
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for forever! This looks delicious!
I had the crack pie at Momofuku during a stopover in NYC and let me tell me it is true to its name…after I finished eating it I would have sold my husband, children, close friends and anybody off the street for 10 cents just to get another piece. Thank you for the recipe and congrats on your engagement.
Hi Brandi,
Congratulations on the Pantry at Delancey. Looks like all of my favorite people will be in one fabulous space. I can’t wait to try a class.
All the best,
Brenda
Thanks for posting and inspiring me to make this for Valentine’s Day. It was so easy I couldn’t believe it could turn out so well. I can say that it was a huge hit with my husband. Less than 24 hrs. later and not a crumb left.
This looks amazing, Brandi! I am salivating as I type.. 😉 Congratulations on getting engaged, I am so envious!
I am really excited to see what you’re doing with the Pantry! It’s a really great concept; I only wish you were in SF! (Guess I’ll have to visit.) Also, many congrats on your engagement. Sounds like you’ve got an epic year ahead.
Congratulations, Brandi!
I am also recently engaged, and one of the first decisions I made was that I am without question getting my wedding cake from Momofuku. Four tiers, each with a different flavor – birthday cake, dulce de leche, pistachio, and chocolate chip cake (which has a mind-blowing passion fruit curd). They do also offer slices of crack pie as take aways.. too much?
I made this last nice and I was surprised by how easy it was. I actually had another crack pie reciupe bookmarked, but somehow the way you shot it and explained it made the recipe easier for me- I’m notmuch of a baker. I’m planning on serving it with some locally mad toasted almond icecream. Yum! Thanks!
[…] So, when Ally sent me an email simply titled, “MAKE THIS” with nothing but a link to Look I Made That’s* take on crack pie and the words “MAKE IT, FEED ME, XO” (CAPS hers not mine) I knew […]
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