Serving Up {Pie}: Decadent Triple Layer Mud Pie

While my mom's recipe for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie is a standard Thanksgiving dessert at our house, we don't generally stop with only one pie offering. In fact, prior to our move from Vegas, we had a traditional "Pie Night" a couple of days after Thanksgiving and were joined each year by another family that we loved and adored greatly. My husband and I discussed having the tradition continue last fall after our move but my heart was not ready to replace those dear friends and so we will wait until their first visit to Oregon and will then pull out the pie :)
(you know who you are and, yes, that was an invitation).

As traditional as pumpkin pie may be, our family Thanksgiving has always included this recipe for Decadent Triple Layer Mud Pie.  It is a favorite.  You can just never go wrong with chocolate!

I would like to give credit to it's source but all that I can remember is that I got the recipe out of a magazine in the waiting room to donate blood.  Weird that I remember it, but it's probably because I tore the page out of the magazine and I would totally chastise my child if they did that to a "public" magazine.  I guess the call of the recipe was just too great for me to ignore.  I have absolutely no regret :)

DECADENT TRIPLE LAYER MUD PIE      
printable version

3 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
1 OREO pie crust
½ cup chopped, toasted pecans (optional)
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size) chocolate instant pudding
8 ounce cool whip

Mix chocolate and sweetened condensed milk until well blended. Pour into crust and sprinkle with toasted pecans.
Pour milk into a large bowl. Add both packages of pudding and beat with a whisk until well blended.
Spoon 1 ½ cup of pudding over chocolate and pecans in the pie crust.
Add ½ of the cool whip to the remaining pudding; stir until well blended. Spread this over the pudding layer in the crust.
Top with the remaining cool whip, or just add a dallop of cool whip at the time of serving the pie.
Refrigerate 3 hours, or until set.

Serving Up {Pie}: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

This recipe wraps up my pumpkin extravaganza that has been going on for the past few weeks.  Hopefully you have found one or two pumpkin recipes that have sent your taste buds salivating.

This final recipe is a perfect lead in to Thanksgiving later this month.  This is the ONLY pumpkin pie that I eat.  After you taste it you will understand why.  No other pumpkin pie compares.  It is the only pumpkin pie recipe my mom ever made growing up and I had no idea that there was anything but Pumpkin Chiffon Pie until I entered the real world and realized how spoiled I had been my entire life.

My mom uses a traditional pie crust when she makes this recipe.  I'm a kid at heart and prefer it with a graham cracker crust.  Either way, you really can't go wrong.

PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE     
(recipe from Linda W.)
printable version

1 envelope Knox gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Combine the above in a saucepan and stir until well blended. Add:

3/4 cup milk
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and the gelatin is dissolved. Remove from the heat and chill until partially set.

2 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream, chilled

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating to form stiff peaks. In a separate bowl, whip the cream. Fold both the eggs whites and the cream into the cooled pumpkin mixture. Spoon into a prebaked 9-inch crust (or a graham cracker crust which is my preference) and chill until firm. Serve with additional whipped cream.