Momofuku Milk Bar Crack Pie Recipe
I’ve never tried crack before, but after having this pie, I don’t feel I ever need to.
Feelings of euphoria? Check.
Supreme confidence? I can eat a whole pie! Check.
Paranoia? Somebody’s been eating MY pie! Check.
Loss of appetite? After eating a whole pie? Check.
A craving for more? Check.
Oh boy, is there a craving for more. Seriously, this pie is insanely addictive. An oatmeal cookie crust and a sweet, gooey, butterscotch-y filling combine to create a delicious bubbling mess of salty-sweet goodness. When it cools, you’ll have to fight for your share. Or you can grab the pie plate, turn your back and crouch in the corner, stuffing your face like a feral cat. A feral cat that uses a fork, of course.
Don’t worry, that didn’t happen. I thought about it though. Damn those feelings of paranoia, they make you want the pie all for yourself!
The smell of the pie baking is pleasantly sweet, but it doesn’t drive you into a frenzy the way that first bite will. You’ll never forget that first bite: it’s euphoric. You’ll feel like your hands can’t put pie into your mouth fast enough. After the first few mindless, breathless moments of all-consuming-pie-eating, I regretted halving the recipe to make just one pie.
Don’t make my mistake: make two pies. You’ll eat both of them. Or, you’ll have a guaranteed way to make some new friends if you somehow manage to resist the second pie. It’s a very irresistible pie; I consumed half of one myself.
Hours later with Crack Pie just a fuzzy memory, I was feeling slow, lethargic, and depressed. It was a gorgeous day outside, but the sunshine did nothing to cheer me up. I didn’t get it, but then, in a flash of brilliance, I realized: I was coming down from my crack pie high. Be warned, Crack Pie causes withdrawal symptoms.
I’ve now made Crack Pie three times, in three different incarnations: Crack Tart, Crack Pie Pops, and good old fashioned Crack Pie. I didn’t get any photos of the good old fashioned pie, we devoured it before photos could be taken.
Mike: Did you know Crack Pie is $44 a bite?
Me: No it isn’t! Did you know some guy ordered one online and dropped on the ground in his lobby and then ate it?
Mike: What?
Me: He dropped it so he called his roommate to bring two forks down and they ate it off the floor. $44 a bite?
Mike: $44 a PIE, not a bite.
Me: Oh.
For all of you who don’t live in NYC and don’t want to buy a $44 pie, here’s the Crack Pie recipe from the LA Times. The recipe makes two 10 inch pies.
Crack Pie Recipe
Oatmeal Cookie for Crust
Ingredients
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup rolled oats
Directions
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Cream the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until fully combined. Stir in the oats.
6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.
Crust
Ingredients
Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.
Filling
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon milk powder
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
2 prepared crusts
Powdered sugar to garnish
Directions
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.
3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.
4. Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells.
5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.
6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. Serve cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Note: I liked it best at room temperature.
Subscribe via RSS
Follow me on Twitter
We cooked per instructions with 4 extra minutes on one pie because we are high altitude and it was undercooked. The crust is delicious but it needed to cook longer. There is a recipe at epicurious.com (just search “crack pie”) from Tosi herself. This recipe is for one 9″ pie in a glass dish and it says to bake 30 minutes at 350 then reduce temperature to 325 and bake for another 20 minutes. Otherwise the recipe is the same, just scaled for one pie. Going to give it another shot with this new recipe tomorrow with hopefully better results.
From someone who lives around the corner from Momofuku: this pie is supposed to be moist and will appear undercooked… cooking it till it’s dry is like ruining a good steak.
Love the crack pops. Since you said they are fragile, I’m thinking of making them as mini-muffins without the sticks for a tea buffet. Can you tell me how long you baked the crust in the mini muffin pan ( before adding the filling)? I could not find this info in the comments posted. Thanks in advance, Gloria
So glad to find a recipe for two pies. I have made the Bon Appetit version and loved it. I am making a few (probably 6!) to bring for a dessert table to feed 70 or so people. Hope they all turn out!
Just made this last night and it turned out amazing! I also cannot get milk powder where I live so I substituted it with powder coffee creamer and it worked fine. So delicious and gooey. Definitely going to make this again in the nearby future. Thanks for the recipe!
did you use a tart shell for your final product?
Is “milk powder” the same thing as powdered milk that you can buy anywhere or is there something special about it?
Same thing.
ok, i just baked two (i forgot to scale down until it was two late) and put one in for a bit longer than the other. I had no milk powder so i used 1/3 the amount of condensed milk and so far so good. They’re cooling and gooey – if they don’t set then i’m going to eat them anyway!
Thanks for this recipe. so so wrong but so right.
scuse the typos in my last comment, i had to find a use for the left over egg whites so i may have had a few whiskey sours…
I like your style, Mess!
Using tres leches with eggs as a filling will be nearly the same, but not as rich and sweet. Mix together four eggs with a can of evaporated milk, a can of sweetened condensed milk, and a cup of whole milk.
I screwed this recipe up somehow. I need to go back and try it again.
My pies “boiled over” and the filling ended up on the bottom of my oven. BIG MESS. What did I do wrong?
Put the pies on a cookie sheet then put it in the oven. If it boils over the cookie sheet will catch it. Much less mess. =)
That actually sounds exactly like a Friends episode where Rachel and Chandler dropped a cheesecake in the hallway and sat on the floor with two forks eating it.
i’m making them right now… i have no milk powder but i
‘m really afraid to make them with the added liquid of just using straight up milk!! i think that may be why Moto’s pies boiled over,and what about the oven temp discrepancy between this site and ‘the LA times link provided above?? its like 25 degrees, which is pretty significant i’d think…. anywho, i’m gonna make one with 1/4 cup of ground oats in place of the 1/3 cup of milk powder (decreased amount since oats swell more than milk powder) i’ll let you know whats up…
Hello,
I’m wanting to make this for a bake-off at work and am using an 11″ pie dish. I’m very new to baking so any tips on how and what to vary would be much appreciated!
At the risk of being crucified, if I make this recipe with non-dairy products (margarine for butter, creamer for heavy cream) will it differ hugely?
how do you make the pops? :O
Oh my gosh! If they are fragile dip them in melting chocolate. That would probably be ultra sinful! Mangia!
Referring to the ‘crack pops’… dip them to keep them together. Yummy!
Recipe in Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook includes extra touch of corn powder, made from simply grinding some dehydrated corn in your food pro.