Cookie Pie

Earlier this week I made plans to watch a couple of shows at a friend’s house. Her girlfriend was making dinner, so I offered to bring a dish. “Veggies or desert?” I asked. “Desert!” she replied. So I was put in charge of desert.

Knowing I had some chocolate chips left over from Christmas, I decided to use them to make superbly delicious $350 cookies. Alas, I soon realized I couldn’t do that, since I’d broken the blender a few months before (made even more tragic by the fact that I dropped it on the floor right after I'd spent 20 minutes cleaning the entire thing). I resigned myself to making seriously inferior cookies using the $0 Toll House recipe.

However, as I flipped the bag over to check the ingredients list, the words “Chocolate Chip Pie” caught my eye. Hello! What’s this? A recipe for what amounts to a giant cookie? In a pie pan? Excellent!

The recipe as written (including caps, in case you failed to notice the brand name on the front of the bag, and italics, in case you thought a graham cracker crust would go well with a giant chocolate chip cookie, and measurement translations, in case you never learned how to read the markings on a stick of butter):

• 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep dish pie shell
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

PREHEAT over to 325.
BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.
BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between outside edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream.

I just got back from my friend’s, and the cookie pie was a hit. I served it warm with vanilla ice cream and French vanilla cool-whip. We’re doing the same thing next Sunday, and I’m bringing the desert again. Suggestions?