Momofuku Milk Bar’s Crack Pie is one of the most delicious desserts you will ever taste. That is a scientific fact.
I met Christina Tosi earlier this year at a pastry event in DC and was totally smitten. Full blown girl crush.
She is so incredibly creative! Talk about inspiration. I wanted to hang out with her all night but also didn’t want to be a weird stalker chick.
So I let her do her job after sampling everything on the table. All of it was delicious.
Just me and my BFF Christina Tosi hanging out
I’ve been making recipes from her cookbook for quite some time and they’re all amazing. The corn cookies and the blueberries and cream cookies are to die for.
And I’m so excited that I’m finally going to visit Momokufu Milk Bar in November when Jeff and I head to NYC for 3 days.
When a friend requested that I make her Momofuku’s crack pie, I was happy to oblige. It’s ooey, gooey, sweet and exactly what I’d expect from someplace called Milk Bar.
Momofuku Milk Bar's Crack Pie
Ingredients
Oat cookie crust:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
- 5 1/2 tablespoons packed brown sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling:
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
- 6 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Confectioners' sugar for dusting
Instructions
Prepare the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with parchment paper; coat with nonstick spray. Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan; press out evenly to edges of pan. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.
- Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl; add 3 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together. Transfer cookie crust mixture to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Using fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Place pie dish with crust on rimmed baking sheet.
Prepare the filling:
- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and whisk until blended. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour filling into crust. Bake pie 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble). Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Continue to bake pie until filling is brown in spots and set around edges but center still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, about 20 minutes longer. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight.
- Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve cold.
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
I don’t think there is anything wrong with making a profit on something you love so long as you don’t lose your perspective.
This Crack Pie looks interesting, I might have to try it for Thanksgiving.
I have been reading about this pie for years and hopefully will get around to making it one day.
I am at a point now where I am making a little money from my blog. I think if you stick to the brands and products that you really love or use you can be authentic. But I also love to try new brands and products and have the opportunity for that now. The problem I think starts when a blogger is just accepting any brand or product for the money. As a food and family blogger I steer clear of sponsored posts for things I would not normally buy or use. I hope that that shows through in my writing.
I am with you on the fact that I have always thought that the luckiest people are those who get to do something they love for a living. I personally don’t mind a blogger making money from their blog. I read blogs which engage me, the pictures and the cooking style are parts of it but the blogs I follow and try my best not to miss a post are those in which I feel like I connect with the author. The ones with a unique voice, the ones that make me think or make me feel that I am not alone in this or that experience. There are blogs that are almost like a cook book or a magazine, sure there are great recipes and stunning pictures but they are empty emotionally and mentally if you know what I mean
Yum!!! I adore this pie, it is so delicious! This looks great, Jen!
This conversation is like opening a can of worms! I am very thankful for these conversations … I always learn something. Personally, I believe that we must decide whether or not to share our personal life or receive product or get paid. We will never please everyone … no matter how hard we try. I started blogging 18 months ago and “assumed” that I could earn a little money and have fun … so far I’ve had fun. I am not a writer, I’m a talker, technology challenged, not a great photographer, forget to leave comments on other blogs, never have enough time to blog as often as I would like … I continue to blog because I enjoy it. Maybe someday I will make money (when I figure out how) and if that doesn’t meet approval … I’m sorry.
The pie … I have had the recipe in my “to try” stack for a long time … you made me want to “try” it NOW!
I think it’s important to do what makes you happy. If you want to make money on your blog, then go for it. If people don’t want to read any more, then so be it. I’m a bit worried though that there seem to be hundreds of new people out there every day trying to do it. I hope it works out for you.
I’m really dying to make this recipe! I want to know what the hype is all about!!!
As a professional artist and floral designer I can say that I absolutely LOVE my career path. When I first began this journey I heard all of these same arguments about art and selling out….blah blah blah. I had just made up my mind that I was going to go for it no matter what when I ran across this poem. It is part of my being now, I know it by heart and I will never forget it.
God help you if you are a Phoenix
And dare to rise up from the ash
for a thousand eyes will smoulder with jealousy
while you are just flying past.
Do what you love. Do what is right for you. Ignore those who would drag you down because they don’t have the courage to follow your path. BTW, just found your blog tonight via Pinterest and I love it! :)
I think a blogger loses authenticity when the brand (sponsor) isn’t a good fit for the blogger’s brand. Or even branding category. I don’t read a DIY blog for recommendations for a new car. And if I read a fashion blog because she is great at putting together outfits from Target and Kohl’s’, I don’t appreciate when all of a sudden she is pitching designer duds. I also see that creativity goes out the window with some sponsored posts. I think the way to be authentic is to be true to your own brand and turn down offers/sponsors that aren’t a good fit. Blogging is work and a blogger should make money but the blogger should be true to her self and her readers. Then authenticity isn’t an issue.
My boyfriend just got me this cookbook, and I am so excited to start baking from it! (And to visit Milk Bar next time I’m in the city.) Might just have to start with the crack pie!
Yum – this pie is so appropriately named! :)
I tried making this over the weekend and it was a total failure-I’m not sure what went wrong :( The filling, literally tasted like straight up butter with a hint of sweetness at the end. Any tips? Here’s my blog post: http://heatskitchen.blogspot.com/2014/12/crack-pie.html
Well for starters, you definitely shouldn’t credit me in your blog post, you should credit Christina Tosi and Momofuku Milk Bar. It’s their recipe :)
I skimmed your recipe and instructions and see that you’re calling it “adapted.” Can you describe specifically what changes you made to adapt it? That would help give me an idea of what the issue might be. I make Momofuku’s exact version all the time without any issues.
Updated the blog post-thanks for pointing it out. I think I did follow it pretty much, just made my own brown sugar
When you say it tasted like straight butter, does that mean it wasn’t sweet? If that’s the case I’m guessing the layers separated. In this scenario alll of the sugar would have sunk to the bottom and you would have a buttery custard layer on top that was missing the sweetness. I’ve run into that issue with buttermilk pie in the past and this pie has several similarities.
I never figured out why the buttermilk pie was separating but I’m guessing it had something to do with either the oven temperature being off or the eggs being over or under beaten. I would look into this. Google might be able to provide more detailed information. Sorry it didn’t work out for you!
Hi! I just made put the pie in the oven. Unfortunately I got distracted while mixing the filling and just realized that I used the egg whites too . Im not sure what to expect now. Hopefully it won’t turn out to bad.
What happens if you skip the powdered milk in the filling?
I have no idea, unfortunately. I always follow the recipe as written. Sorry I can’t be more helpful! I’d imagine it will impact the structure, texture, and flavor of the pie.
It smells great…unfortunately it boiled all over the oven. It is probably bc of high altitude bc that’s what happens to some recipes where I live, but the ingredients and consistency of the batter seemed fine for altitude. Have you ever encountered anyone adapting the recipe for high altitude?