Pecan Pie & Pie Crusts

Recipes are courtesy of the Royers Round Top Cafe in Round Top, Texas.

Ann's Pecan Pie
This is Ann Criswell's recipe as appeared in the 1986 "Texas the Beautiful Cookbook." Criswell was food editor for the Houston Chronicle for more than 36 years, before retiring in 1999.

Yield: One 10" pie

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup melted butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
1 (10-inch) Café piecrust
1 Tbsp. salt
1-1/2 cups pecan halves

Instructions:

Combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup, salt and vanilla in a bowl: mix well.

Beat the eggs until very light. Add to corn syrup mixture.

Pour into pie shell. Arrange the pecan halves on top.

Bake at 350°F until the filling is set and a knife inserted comes out clean.

Grandma Long's Pie Crust

We had never planned to serve pies when we took over the Round Top in 1987. A good friend in Houston, who grew up on a family-owned farm in southern Illinois, asked us if we had a good pie-crust recipe for the Café. No, was our response. She then told us of a recipe by her grandmother, Clara Long, that was simple, fast, consistent, and freezes. These four words were what made us ask about grandma - and the rest is history! This crust recipe became the foundation to the success of the Cafe's menu.

Yield: 3 single crusts

Ingredients:
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 cups Water
5 1/2 cups White Flour
2 cups less 3 Tbsp. Crisco Shortening (there is no substitute)

Instructions:

Dissolve the salt in the water and set aside.

Cut the Crisco into the flour and work the mixture thoroughly until it is crumbly. Add the salt water to the mixture and continue to work the dough until the water is absorbed.

Add several tablespoons flour and continue to work the dough until it pulls cleanly away from your hands.

Ball the dough up into three balls and put them in plastic baggies and freeze them 'til you need them.

To use the dough, set it out on the counter to thaw for 3-4 hours or set in your refrigerator overnight. The dough is rolled out the easiest when it is chilled.

For more info:
Royers Round Top Cafe
Check out the CBS News "Sunday Morning" Recipes Index for more tasty selections from our guests, contributors and Bon Appetit magazine!