The Deen Brothers Cookbook and Chocolate Chip Pie

Back in April I was lucky enough to watch Jamie and Bobby Deen film an episode of their new show - Southern Fried Road Trip.  It was really fun to see how the show was filmed and then to watch the finished product.  Both Jamie and Bobby were very nice and really professional.  When I was first married and teaching myself to cook Paula Deen was one of the cooks I really turned to quite a bit.  Her show was relatively new and she had just released a couple of books so I really learned a lot from her.  She talked about Jamie and Bobby all the time and they were on the show periodically so I always felt like I kind of knew them and meeting them was really fun. So when I stumbled across The Deen Bros. Cookbook  at the library a short time later I couldn't resist picking it up.


Chocolate Chip Pie
2 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Whipped Cream:
2 pints (4 cups) heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two 9 inch pie plates; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated.  Beat in vanilla.  Add flour mixture, a little at a time and mix until fully combined.  Fold in the 3 cups of chocolate chips and, if desired, the walnuts.  Divide the dough between the prepared pie plates and smooth the tops with a spatula.

Bake about 30 minutes or until pies are golden and slightly firm to the touch but still soft.  If the pies begin to darken too much before they are baked through, cover with foil and continue baking.  Let pies cool completely on a wire rack.

While the pies cool, whip the cream until soft peaks form (tips curl).  Add the confectioners ' sugar and whip until just combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Refrigerate whipped cream until ready to use.  Spread the whipped cream over the pie and serve.

My Changes and Modifications: Since I really didn't need 2 pies I halved the recipe.  For the eggs I used 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk and that seemed to work really well.  I added about 1/2 teaspoon vanilla to the whipped cream.  I recommend making the whipped cream ahead of time as the chocolate chips soften a little and the chocolate flavor permeates through the cream a little bit better as time goes on.  Also, I baked this only about 26 minutes and I probably could've gone with a minute less.  My oven runs a bit hot but you may want to keep an eye on it in the last 10 minutes.

Results: Yum!  The pie is delicious and the whipped cream is just about good enough to be eaten completely on it's own.  The pie would be awesome as a base for vanilla ice cream and some chocolate and caramel sauce if you want to be really indulgent.

The book itself is pretty fun as it's essentially a road trip book.  They talk about different restaurants and the people that run them as well as the recipes that the restaurant is known for then give their own interpretation of that particular recipe.  Since it's an older cookbook you can get it pretty cheaply on Amazon and I definitely plan on ordering a copy!

I'm linking up with Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads