You are going to love this vintage southern classic chess pie recipe. The filling is sweet and rich, similar to a custard pie, and piled on a flakey pie crust. It’s simple to make using the pantry staples you have on hand and is ready in just one hour.
While this pie recipe is an original version, since it originated there are now variations like the chocolate chess pie, coconut chess pie, and lemon chess pie. All are super tasty, but sometimes nothing beats a classic.
I’m using a store-bought pie crust for ease, but you could use this crust from scratch recipe. It’s great when you need a dessert recipe on the fly because most of us always keep the ingredients on hand anyway.
When it comes to making easy pies, you will definitely want to check out my Chocolate Cream Pie and Lemon Meringue Pie. Two totally different flavors, but equally delicious and crowd-pleasing!
Fun Fact
Why is it called Chess Pie? There are two legends about the origins of Chess Pie:
Long ago before refrigeration, when European cooks often looked for creative ways to use up extra baking ingredients that would otherwise spoil, sometimes they would bake them into a catch-all pie. Since cooks kept these pies in a chest they came to be known as “chess pie.”
Later on in America, there once was a southern lady who made a living selling pies. While some baking ingredients were hard to come by, she made her own concoction. When people asked her what kind of pie it was, she would say “jes’ pie,” but her southern accent caused people to hear the name as “Chess Pie.” And, well, it jes’ stuck.
Old Fashioned Chess Pie Ingredients
- salted butter
- granulated sugar
- cornmeal
- all-purpose flour
- sea salt
- eggs
- whole milk
- vanilla extract
- white vinegar or lemon juice
- unbaked pie crust
- powdered sugar for dusting
How to Make Chess Pie
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, brown the butter until it turns golden in color. Remove from the heat immediately and pour into another dish so it can cool.
- Whisk together the sugar, flour, cornmeal, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and vinegar. Stir in the cooled butter.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir.
- Transfer the pie filling to the pie crust and bake for 45-50 minutes. At the 20-minute mark, cover it with aluminum foil and finish baking.
- Allow the pie to cool completely on a wire rack. Then, dust with powdered sugar, slice, then serve.
- We used white vinegar to offset the sweetness from the sugar. You can also use lemon juice instead.
- Whole milk or buttermilk can be used to make this pie.
- Use fine-grit cornmeal or it will not thicken. I like the Alber’s Yellow Cornmeal brand.
- Freeze the pies for up to one month or keep them covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Common FAQs
Some may use these terms interchangeably and while they look alike, the ingredients are different. Chess pies always contain cornmeal in the filling, while buttermilk pies do not. Buttermilk pies often use lemon zest as well.
The main difference is the white vinegar and cornmeal that is used in chess pies. The taste and looks are very similar.
MORE PIE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
Chess Pie
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter browned and cooled
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 unbaked pie crust
- Powdered sugar for dusting the top of the pie
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Brown butter in a small saucepan over medium heat – cook and swirl butter until the butter begins to turn a toasted golden brown color. Remove from heat immediately and transfer to a dish to cool.
- Whisk together the sugar, cornmeal, flour, and salt in a medium bowl.
- In another mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and vinegar. Stir the cooled butter mixture into milk/egg mixture.
- Pour wet ingredients into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and stir or whisk to combine well.
- Pour the pie filling into a 9” unbaked pie crust.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, checking the pie after 20 minutes and covering (between 20-30 minutes, when pie and crust are browned) with aluminum foil to prevent the crust and top of the pie from over-browning.
- Remove the pie from the oven when the center is just slightly jiggly.
- Allow pie to cool completely before slicing.
- Dust lightly with powdered sugar and serve.
Notes
- We used white vinegar to offset the sweetness from the sugar. You can also use lemon juice instead.
- Whole milk or buttermilk can be used to make this pie.
- Use fine-grit cornmeal or it will not thicken. I like the Alber’s Yellow Cornmeal brand.
- Freeze the pies for up to one month or keep them covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
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