Is it a cookie? Is it a pie? It's both!

Last week, I made a pie with a hazelnut crumb topping, and it was so tasty that I was inspired to make some sort of Nutella-inspired pie.  But all the recipes I was finding were for icebox pies or cream pies (neither of which I especially like), or they called for lots of ingredients that I didn't feel like buying.  Then I ran across this recipe, which the blog author writes came from a baking experiment gone wrong.

One of my favorite recipes that I make in the fall is a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie that feels like a muffin--I call them mookies or muffkies.  Therefore, since these are a combo of pie and cookies, I hereby deem these "pookies."  Maybe that's a terrible name.  Suggestions?

The author makes her little cookies with cream cheese, strawberry jam, and Nutella.  I decided to leave out the cream cheese, and in the spirit of gilding the lily, I decided to drizzle some melted chocolate (I didn't have dark, so I mixed milk and baking chocolate) on top.  

This is what I wound up with:

Verdict: Good!  Next time, I'll try 'em with the cream cheese, and I might add more strawberry jam because you can hardly taste it. Instead of Nutella, I wound up using Whole Foods way-too-expensive ($8.49 a jar "on sale" from $9.99, but I was desperate) knock-off organic whatever whatever brand, and I think it held up in the oven better than Nutella would have.  It also has less sugar, so it kept the filling from being too sweet.

In the spirit of experimentation, I tried a batch with Speculoos Cookie spread (if you haven't tried this yet, go out and buy a jar immediately).  Since the first batch burned slightly, I turned down the temperature to 340 instead of 350 and baked them for a wee bit longer--about 27 minutes.  I melted some more cookie spread and drizzled it on top, along with a couple puffs of cinnamon sugar.

I'm excited about this recipe because it showcases the pie crust, whereas for most pies, the crust is kind of an accessory.  Plus, it doesn't involve fussing with the pastry dough in order to create an attractive fluted edge, so the pastry dough has a better chance of staying flaky and holding together.  I was pretty damn proud of this batch--it takes a lot of patience to make a decent crust, and patience is something I absolutely lack. Lots of refrigeration, and a lot less water than you'd think...you just have to work to disperse it through the pastry, but you have to do so without overworking the gluten in the flour.  I also refuse to use shortening because yuck.  The ingredients on a can of Crisco are horrifying.

The other fun thing is that this recipe can be played with.  I'd like to try something with raspberry, and potentially a peanut butter version.

Additionally, pies are a bitch and a half to transport by bike.  These, on the other hand, just need to be fully dried/cooled and tossed in a box.  My goal in life, if all else fails, is to open up a bike/bake shop and call it the Bikery...we'd specialize in portable baked goods.  Or fancy devices that would make portable baked goods portable on a bike (I have an idea for a rack-mounted rectangular pie pan that suspends the pie on springs).  It's probably a niche market, but whatever.

Anyway, thanks From the Little Yellow Kitchen for the inspiration!