I am not my dog’s favorite person at the moment.
K.C., despite being 15 years old, still has a great set of teeth, and her all-time favorite food to snack on is carrots.
I know, it’s a little strange. We joke that she would walk right past a steak if she eyed a plate of carrots. She’s always been that way.
So when I pulled a bag out of the fridge this week, she immediately became my best friend in the kitchen. Unfortunately for her, she only received one, little slice, as the rest needed to go into this week’s recipe.
Fittingly, the recipe is a little strange, too, because it’s a pie. With carrots. Who knew?
This recipe comes from the blog “Everyday Pie + Pastry” by Kelli Avila. You can find the original post at https://everydaypie.com/honey-carrot-pie/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.
Honey Carrot Pie
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
- 8 ounces shortbread cookies
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Filling Ingredients
- 16 ounces carrots peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with the rack in the middle.
- For the crust, add the cookies to a food processor or blender and process until they are fine crumbs. Add in the melted butter, brown sugar and salt, and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Put the crust mixture into a nine-inch pie plate, and press it evenly and firmly up the sides and along the bottom.
- Set the pie plate aside.
- For the filling, steam or boil the carrots until they are fork tender (you want these fully cooked through). Drain them well, and after cleaning out your food processor/blender cup, add them, along with the honey, sugar, water, vanilla and salt, and process until the mixture is totally smooth.
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs and cream together, and then add that to the processor/blender, and process until everything is well combined.
- Pour the carrot mixture into the crust, and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the filling is set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the pie cool completely, and then refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight before slicing and serving. Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container.
This was really good. I kept expecting it to taste like pumpkin pie, and truth be told, I almost put some cinnamon in the mix, but I decided to just let the flavors speak for themselves. I was glad I did. I think the pumpkin pie spices would have covered the light sweetness of the honey, paired with a very pleasant carrot-y flavor.
Combined with the shortbread cookies in the crust, it was just a really enjoyable slice of pie.
Joey and I both tried to figure out exactly how to describe the flavor profile, and we landed on it really just tasting like fall.
I haven’t decided yet if I will make this one again when Thanksgiving rolls around, just to give my family something interesting to try, but I have decided that the next time I make it, I’ll be sure to buy an extra bag of carrots.
I just can’t stand dealing with that judgmental, sad schnauzer face again.
This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 24, 2024.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
