These Momofuku Milk Bar Pie Bars are buttery and sweet and crunchy and chewy and well, outstanding. Famous as a pie, I decided to make them as bars and they were a huge hit!
Have you heard about the Crack Pie from Christina Tosi's bakery, the Momofuku Milk Bar in New York, City? I sure have...I've heard it mentioned over and over so many times that of course it's the first thing I had to make when a friend gifted me with a copy of the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook.
But I'll be honest; I really struggled with calling something named after an addictive substance like crack with such a destructive nature. So even though I had already published this post, I revised it on Saturday the 5th of October because I was tickled when I heard from Amy Sherman that Christina herself had felt the same. The pie has been renamed simply Milk Bar Pie. That was a gift!
Not being from NYC, I'm familiar with Christina from her work with Gordon Ramsey on the MasterChef series where she was the first woman judge. Known for her pastry and sweets, I expect to enjoy several of the recipes from this book. For this one I took only one liberty and decided to make Milk Bar Pie Bars!
So how did they turn out? Well, the taste is hard to describe; guess that officially makes them indescribable? Buttery and sweet, with a crumbled oat crust and a sweet buttery filling, it's a caramelized wonder. The crust is actually derived from a large 13X9″ oatmeal cookie that is baked in a pan and then crumbled into a smaller pan before the filling is added.
If you are familiar with Gooey Butter Cake, the topping for Milk Bar Pie Bars is similar but in this instance, it almost melds with that crust and becomes one.
I had a friend who had some of the pie mention 'granola' like but that never struck me...but then when I make granola I always put fruit and nuts in it so I didn't have the same reference. Just trust me, it's rich and wonderful with coffee so you would be excused for stealing a bar for breakfast too.
One thing for certain; I cannot imagine eating a entire pie slice of a Milk Bar Pie; one bar was enough for me. I'm so glad I tried this method; my friends totally devoured them. Funny, I did have someone on Facebook mention that she had heard that Christina's pie was really sweet. I was pretty much, 'Well, yeah, I mean it is dessert!'
It is indulgent but oh so good...indulge yourself!
