A Goodbye Pie.....A Raspberry Cream Pie at that!

I hate, HATE, hate goodbyes.  There is nothing fun about them. AT ALL.  I prefer hellos over goodbyes....don't you?

A couple of weeks ago I had to say goodbye to not one, not two, not three but FOUR people that I adore - my parents, my sister and her sweetie pie. Before I said "goodbye" I invited all of them over for some dinner and dessert.  I figured I would be better off doing the deed of saying goodbye on a full tummy.  I made a chicken casserole for dinner and then to finish off the meal I served pie.  A fabulously EASY and super YUMMY pie.  Yes, I made PW's Raspberry Cream Pie. 

It was over the top D'LISH!  Simple ingredients along with a speedy assembly make this pie a lovely dessert. You can easily make this pie even faster than PW by using a pre-made crust or you can go right ahead and follow her recipe to the "T" and make your own cookie crust.

Want the recipe? Of course you do! :-)

Raspberry Cream Pie
(recipe from The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond at the Tasty Kitchen)

Ingredients:

25 whole Oreo cookies

4 Tbsp butter, melted

1 generous cup fresh raspberries

3 Tbsp sugar

2 containers (6oz. each) raspberry yogurt

1 package (3.4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix

1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream

extra raspberries for garnishing

Directions:

1. Make crust....(or purchase a pre-made Oreo crust)....preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place cookies in a food processor and "crush" or place cookies in a Ziploc bag and smash with a rolling pin.  Stir in melted butter until well combined.  Pour crushed cookie mixture into a regular pie pan and press down all over the pan and up the sides.  Bake for 3-4 minutes - just long enough to set.  Cool crust completely after baking to set.

2. Make pie filling....pour fresh raspberries into a medium size bowl.  Smash them with a fork, then sprinkle with 3 Tbsp of sugar.  Stir smashed raspberries and sugar together and then let sit for 15 minutes.

3. In a bowl of a mixer combine raspberry yogurt with the instant vanilla pudding powder.   Beat on low for 1 minute.  Pour in heavy cream and whip on low for 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Turn mixer on medium-high speed and beat for 2 minutes, or until mixture is thick.

4. Turn off mixer, then fold in fresh raspberries until just combined.  Pour this lovely creamy raspberry mixture into COOLED pie pan and spread evenly. 

5. Place pie in freezer and freeze for 2 hours, or until very firm.  Cut into slices and garnish with fresh raspberries if you wish.  ENJOY!.....I know you will. :-)

Happy Raspberry Cream Pie Making!