Raisin Pie!

Raisin Pie?  Yes, Raisin Pie.

(Don't look too hard at the lattice on top of the pie.  It was my first time trying a lattice top crust, and it's harder than it looks!)

Yesterday was Dakota's birthday, and have I mentioned before that he doesn't like cake?  Well, he doesn't.  He's not much of a sweets eater, and birthday cakes fall into that "sweets" category.  So when I asked him this year what he'd like for his birthday, he suggested a raisin pie might be good to try.

Hmmm... I'm not so much a raisin lover, and I didn't even know you could make a pie from raisins.  But it is possible, and more importantly, it even tastes good!  :D

The recipe was very easy.  The part that took the longest was making the crust from scratch.  But if you buy a ready-made crust, you can make this pie in a matter of minutes!

Here's the recipe...

Raisin Pie

2 (9 inch) pie shell

2 cups water

2 cups raisins

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (225 degrees C). In a large saucepan, combine water, sugar, flour, salt, vanilla, butter, cinnamon, lemon juice and zest. Mix well, then stir in raisins. Get the mixture simmering, and then turn heat to medium-low for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Pour raisin mixture into pastry-lined pie pan. Cover with second pastry. Seal edges and cut steam vents in top. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes.

This pie turned out better than I expected and everyone liked it.  Give it a try and see what you think!