REVIEW – The Southern Pie Book – With #Recipe For Peanut Butter and Jam #Pie Bars

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The Southern Pie Book

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxmoor House (September 17, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0848739639
• ISBN-13: 978-0848739638
• Cover price $22.95

Chapters include:

• From the Bottom Up
• Truly Southern
• Fresh Picked
• Whipped Together
• Rustic to Elegant
• Baked Until Bubbly
• Hot to Handle
• Pie Aplenty
• Top That
• Easy as Pie – Equipment
• Pure and Simple – Ingredients

This cookbook makes me want to eat pie, and a lot of it, and right now. Each chapter begins with an index of the recipes inside it, followed by page after page of yum. Recipes are all very easy to understand and easy to follow. Descriptions, notes, tips, techniques – they’re all there. Prep and cooking time? Present and accounted for. Photos? This cookbook runneth over with colorful, mouthwatering photos. Texture almost leaps off of the pages. Some of the recipes that I’m looking forward to trying include Amelia’s Egg Custard Pie, Spiced Pear Pie, Red Velvet Cream Pie, Lemon Icebox Pie, Dark Chocolate Cream Pie, Zebra Pie, Jim’s Graham Cracker Pie, Frozen Orange Cream Pie, Mama’s Peach Cobbler, Peach Fried Pies, and Frozen Strawberry Lemonade Pie.

This cookbook is a keeper. It would be a great addition to any kitchen, and make a great gift for anyone that enjoys baking, making pies, or even just eating pies. Once again the folks at Southern Living cookbooks have created a cookbook where there is no room for improvement. I hope they keep them coming.

Here’s a recipe from The Southern Pie Book, courtesy of the publisher.

Peanut Butter and Jam Pie Bars recipe

Courtesy Southern Living, Oxmoor House 2013.
makes 24 servings
hands-on time 15 min.
total time 1 hr., 5 min.

Homemade jam or preserves make a delicious filling for these decadent pie bars. If you don’t have any homemade jam on hand, buy your favorite—or call your grandmother or great-aunt, and see if you can raid her pantry!

INGREDIENTS

• 1⁄2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1⁄2 cup plus 1⁄3 cup butter, softened and divided
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 11⁄2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 21⁄4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 3⁄4 tsp. table salt, divided
• 2 cups of your favorite homemade jam
• 1⁄2 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat peanut butter and 1⁄3 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add granulated sugar and 1⁄2 cup brown sugar, beating well. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until blended. Combine baking powder, 11⁄4 cups flour, and 1⁄2 tsp. salt; stir into peanut butter mixture just until blended. Press mixture onto bottom of a 15-x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes; spread with jam.
2. Combine peanuts, remaining 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup flour, 1⁄2 cup butter, and 1⁄4 tsp. salt in a small bowl with a pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over jam. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until topping is lightly browned.

Tip: Served warm, these bars are a gooey, sweet, and salty treat to eat with a fork. Cooled completely, they slice cleanly and can be eaten out of hand.