Brennan’s Cookie Pie

This cookie pie recipe is rich, sweet and full of chocolate. It’s the perfect pie to mass produce during the holidays because you can bake two at one time.


When my husband and I moved in together, he brought along his mother’s Babylon Yacht Club Cookbook. I had no idea why he brought the little blue book with him, but I figured he had a special attachment to it.

A few months later, as I was trying to find a new dessert to make for the holidays, Brennan handed the little cookbook to me. Much to my surprise, it was opened to page 110, and he excitedly asked me to make Mrs. McDermott’s Derbytown Pie. Apparently, this cookie pie was a favorite dessert of his and he hadn’t had it in years. The recipe was pretty straightforward, so I happily obliged.

Over the years, I’ve tweaked this recipe so much that it’s now evolved into our own secret family recipe. With the addition of a chocolate ganache-like topping, this pie has become one of my most requested desserts! (My family is so in love with this cookie pie that they pay homage to my husband for bringing into their lives and refer to it as Brennan’s Cookie Pie.)

It is rich and sweet and full of chocolate, which is why I only make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas! This is the perfect pie to mass produce during the holidays because you can bake two pies* in the oven at the same time. (And believe me, you’ll want to keep one for yourself!)

I highly recommend giving this recipe a try, especially if you have a wicked sweet tooth like mine!

Brennan’s Cookie Pie

INGREDIENTS:

*    1/2 cup sweet butter
*    2 extra large eggs, slightly beaten
*    1 cup sugar
*    2 teaspoons vanilla
*    1/2 cup flour
*    2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
*    1 tablespoon flour
*    1 (9 inch) pie crust (not deep dish)

DIRECTIONS:

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.

2.) Melt butter, cool to room temperature.

3.) When butter is cooled, stir in eggs, sugar and vanilla.

4.) Sift in flour and mix well.

5.) In a separate bowl, toss 1 cup of chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold chocolate chips into pie mixture; stir well.

6.) Pour mixture into pie crust and bake 40 minutes at 350ºF. Remove pie from oven and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, or overnight.

7.) Add 1 cup of chocolate chips to a Ziploc bag. Melt the chips in the microwave for 1 minute. Important: Only heat chocolate in 20 second intervals, or else the chocolate will burn. You must also squeeze the bag every 20 seconds to distribute the melting chips, or else the bag will burn.

8.) When chocolate has melted, you have two options. You can snip off a teeny tiny corner of the Ziploc bag and “pipe” decorative zigzags on top of the pie, or you can just cover the pie entirely in chocolate. If you opt for the latter idea, as seen in these pictures, swirl the chocolate into a “shrinking” circle for a pretty presentation. (Note: If you need more chocolate, just repeat this step. But be careful, the chocolate starts to set quickly.)

9.) Serve cold, or heat for 15-20 seconds and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Baker’s Side Notes:

This pie is very easy to adapt based upon how big of a choc-a-holic you are!. Personally, I like to make mine with an Oreo cookie crust, but Brennan likes his with a regular pastry shell.

You can also make different versions of this pie – over the years, we’ve tried:
*    1 cup of diced walnuts + 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips;
*    1/2 cup of peanut butter chips + 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips;
*    1/2 cup of white chocolate chips + 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

*We’ve found that when baking two pies at once, it is necessary to increase the cooking time by 5-10 minutes. The cookie pies should be set in the middle before removing them from the oven (i.e. if it’s still squishy when touched, leave it in for a few more minutes.)

Happy Reading!
Denine

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