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.
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
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Katie @ Blonde Ambition says
Oh my goodness all their pies look amazing! I’ll have to check them out when I’m in NYC next month too :)
I don’t blame people who accept products from companies and do reviews and what not…I would probably do it too…But I do usually read those kind of posts for what they are: a paid endorsement.
I recently realized that WordPress hosts ads on my site, and decided to sign up for their Ad program because I don’t feel like it’s right for WordPress to profit from ads that are placed next to my content, if that makes sense. Granted, I’ll only be making a few dollars a month…But hey, that’s one drink at Happy Hour, right?
fabiola@notjustbaked says
Short and sweet. Yum and I agree.
Natalija says
Great question for thought. According to dictionary.com, “authentic” is “…not false or copied; genuine; real”. I’m sure that can be interpreted different ways by different people. Each one of us is a unique individual with unique experiences. And what we bring to our own individual blogs should be that reflection and extension of those experiences. It’s our own unique voice. Sure, we can try emulating another blog’s success, but it has a chance of sounding forced and contrived. Not everyone will like what we have to say or how we choose to say it, but you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s “you”. It’s genuine and real – it is authentic.
Natalija says
P.S. Great looking pie!
Jackie @ The Beeroness says
Christina Tosi and Elizabeth Faulkner are my total Baker Girl crushes.
And I can relate to the writing aspect of blogging. It’s a hard line. I’m often criticized for being far too reserved and not opening up enough, but that is who I am, if I try to force it, that will be inauthentic. And, I’ll gab all day if we meet in real life, so people better watch out when they meet me in person, but online I’m just more reserved.
Savory Simple says
I was very reserved for the first couple of years I was blogging. Opening up publicly felt very uncomfortable to me. But I’ve taken baby steps this year with regards to speaking my mind and letting people in. I have to say it feels great and the response has been moving. But if I didn’t feel comfortable it would definitely sound forced.
Cassie says
Authenticity is the most important! This pie – amazing. I’ve made it and I think it was one of my favorite things ever. I love it!
Laura Dembowski says
I’m obsessed with Momofuku’s Crack Pie. I’ve mail ordered it twice and can’t wait to make it. I also ordered their corn powser and loved baking with it; I’m pretty sure my cookbook calls for the powder. As for blog authenticity, I think it’s super imporant to be true to yourself. Bake and share things you love, write from your heart, sharing your honest opinions even if not everyone will agree. As you know, I’m a writer, and while I wait to have a novel published or screenplay turned into a film, I need to start making money, so I’m waiting to be approved for an ad program. Putting ads on my blog won’t change anything about it other than the fact that there will be ads. I hope and think having a quality blog and making money are not mutually exclusive.
Julie @ Table for Two says
being a food blogger myself that makes money on the side on top of my regular job, i don’t think i’m inauthentic just because i make money off my blog. the blog started out as a hobby and then since it’s translated to something more, i believe that i deserve to earn money for all the hardwork i’ve put into the blog and i don’t believe i should be judged for that or say that i’m whoring out. idk, it’s a touchy subject, but blogging is my passion and whatever i say on my blog is 100% real me and i do want to make food my 100% job one day so i don’t believe that making your blog a money factor makes you inauthentic if that’s your way of life.
Savory Simple says
Thanks for the comment. It’s definitely a touchy subject and I’m always nervous about posts such as this one. Clearly I’m advertising on the site with BlogHer and sponsors so I’m hardly against making money. I hope one day I can do this full time (a combination of blogging and freelance work). It’s unfortunate when people pass judgement but as we both know, people can be… well, assholes.
Even though I get anxious before the post goes live, I kind of like addressing uncomfortable topics because I find the responses so insightful. If you read the comments, it’s something everyone has thought about whether they’re the reader or the blogger (or both). I like when people have opinions other than “this looks delicious!”
Kristen says
Such a great discussion here!
One piece of blogging I happen to love is working with brands I love. I used to have a fairly high level executive job and left all that behind to be a stay at home mom. Blogging and now freelance writing and photography have become my outlet, but working with brands is what keeps that “professional” side of my brain engaged. There are times when opportunities come along one after the other (which is great and I appreciate them) but I also feel like I have to cram too much brand content into one singular period of time. I don’t love that.
I like the balance I feel when I have posts that are 100% my own and then have a few brand posts thrown in as well. Since I only work with brands I love, it still feels authentic to me.
PS – this pie looks amazing!
Deborah says
I’m going to have to bookmark this post to go back and read what others have said – the few responses I did read are very interesting!! My take – I think we – as bloggers – are really hard on other bloggers. If people didn’t like to read, or if they were turned off because we make money, they simply will just not read. I know that by far the majority of my readers are not other bloggers. I’m very transparent about the fact that my blog is my full-time job, and I don’t think that bothers 98% of people out there reading. I would think that other bloggers would be more understanding – knowing how much time and energy it takes to write a blog – but it often seems like they are the biggest critics. But I do have to add, at the same time, some of my blogging friends are my biggest cheerleaders. Anyway – the moral of the story for me is to just do what I love, and do what I feel is authentic. I know readers would sense if you were selling out and wouldn’t read anymore. But I don’t think making money from blogging changes anything!
And this pie – I definitely need a slice or two!!
Savory Simple says
Thank you so much for the comment! What you’ve said really hits home, though I’ve never thought about it from this angle. That’s why I love having these conversations. I’m in a weird place right now where I think most of my (regular) readers are other bloggers and I’m trying to figure out how to reach more non-bloggers. I feel like non-bloggers are more likely to make the food because the rest of us are busy developing our own recipes. Bloggers are my biggest supporters but they’re also the only ones I’ve really heard opinions from regarding what we should and should not be doing. Certain things are appropriate and acceptable while others are not. And you know, that’s sad. This is a tough market to make a living in and I wish we could all just support one another. But no community is perfect.
My fingers and toes are crossed that one day I can do what I love full time, just like you. It’s a work in progress and I’m so excited about the future :)
Anna @ hiddenponies says
I’ve loved reading through all these comments, and this one really struck home – I love the support and love from fellow bloggers, but am realistic about the fact that they are unlikely to try any of my recipes when they all have minds like mine buzzing with ideas they want to create themselves :) So the question is how to reach more non-bloggers who love food…and I definitely think to do that authenticity is absolutely crucial. I often struggle with how much personal info or personal photos to post on my blog, but I feel it helps make me seem like a real person, not just a recipe machine, and I actually love writing the non-food posts too so I don’t want to give that up even if it means the audience changes.
It does seem like giveaways/sponsored posts have been exploding lately, but maybe that is just me? I’ve seen a few articles about how companies are realizing the influence of food bloggers and how nice they generally are in their reviews of just about anything they get, and it’s made me very leery of that kind of thing.
Wonderful post, I’m just catching up on your week and it was a good one!! I can say I don’t think you have to worry about authenticity – I love your blog for the recipes and the personality and the writing, and will definitely keep coming back :)
Averie says
Regarding your post at large, Jen, I am loving these deeper thoughts and discussions you’re having the past few posts. I think it’s a free country and people should be able to make a living doing whatever they want and if others dont want to read their blog, so be it. However, I refuse to read blogs anymore where I feel zero connection to the author; big, small, or otherwise. They have been purged from my Reader. It’s the author’s choice to disconnect if she wants, but it’s also my choice not to read :)
foodwanderings says
I really like this post Jen & the previous one as well. I went back and read it. I sometimes am too guilty of skimming. What I find it most difficult is finding the words to produce real writing post after post. I eventually did it in my last one. That is more me but I don’t like feeling the pressure of producing, though self imposed!
Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic says
I love this crack pie! The version in my copy of the cookbook has corn powder too (they sell it at Momofuku).
Savory Simple says
I just noticed that they sell it at the Momofuku store! I almost ordered some and then remembered I’ll be there in a few weeks. Time to stock up!
Laura says
Well we took away a slightly different impression of the EWR talk–I think–although I suspect we end at the same place. I thought he was arguing that we have a conflict because we are selling intimacy which means that we MUST be endorsing any ad on our blog. Or maybe that is what you are saying? I personally find that view to be silly. I don’t assume Oprah (who definitely sells intimacy) personally uses and advocates every commercial on during her show. Maybe I am wrong–although I cannot decide if it is naivete (sp?) or cynicism on my part. So no I could not care less if a blog is also making money. The only time I care is if the site is so cluttered I cannot find the actual content. Hopefully mine is not lol!
Carol | a cup of mascarpone says
Hi Jen! Enjoyed your post, as always! I love the momofuku crack pie – been wanting the cookbook for a long time, and just may go ahead and get it now after seeing how delicious this looks! Love the photo of you and Christina, how cool was that! Being new to blogging, I think I’m still trying to find myself. The suggestion to me from my 26 year old daughter, a teacher, was to just let it flow and be genuine. :)