I wanted to share a post with you about a great little Amish bakery for those of you in the Hardin County, Ohio area.  Mary Slabaugh creates confection from pies to doughnuts to cakes and cookies that has earned her a loyal following.  And after tasting some of her legendary baked goods, I know why. Hardin County is about an hour north-northeast of Dayton. The largely rural county has seen its Amish population over the past decade so that you have a mish-mash of very conservative Amish and more progressive New Orders all living in the area.  Anyone who is seeking a taste of Amish country without maybe some of the over-the-top tourist trappings of Holmes County (I love Holmes County, by the way, so I'm not bashing it), could have fun checking out Hardin County.  The local Chamber of Commerce/Tourism bureau publishes a handy map highlighting Amish businesses, check it out here.
Meanwhile, back to Mary's Bakery. To join me on a video tour of this wonderful bakery, click here. One of Mary's most popular pies is her decadent pecan pie, which I'll share the recipe for below:
Mary's Pecan Pie
Makes 2 pies
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
6 eggs (unbeaten)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-½ cups corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
½ cup warm water
2 unbaked 8-inch pie crusts
3 cups pecans, divided
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, vanilla, corn syrup, melted butter and warm water and mix well. Layer bottom of two unbaked pie crusts with 1-½ cups of pecans each. Pour filling mixture over the top of the pecans. Bake for 35 minutes. Do not overbake.
Elaine
Kevin,
Here is an FYI. I don't know when you were at Mary's bakery last, but I have been there 3 times. I live in Dayton & it is quite a ways for me to go there. The first time I was there was about 3-4 yrs. ago. It was after I read about it in Ohio magazine. At that time the place was fairly well stocked & in neat order. Both times I have been there since there was almost no inventory & the place was piled up with junk. I would never recommend someone to make trip there of any distance because you don't know what to expect. There is, of course, no way to contact them ahead of time. The 1st time I was there I bought a loaf of white bread that was the best homemade bread I have ever eaten. It was pretty fresh & I asked them what day they bake the bread so I could come back sometime to buy it on actual baking day. They told me Thursdays. So I made my 2nd trip all the way up there on a Thurs. & they had no bread at all. They seemed uncertain to know a specific schedule. The last time was just last Fall & it was in the worst shape yet. Almost nothing fresh to sell that day- just a few cookies & canned goods. I was there late morning. And it was very messy inside.