My Famous Homemade Buttermilk Pie Recipe

Every year, I bring out my favorite homemade buttermilk pie recipe for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some years, I’ve had to make more than a couple, as a matter of fact. I’ve shared my recipe with everyone I know, pretty much. So, now I’ll share my homemade buttermilk pie recipe with you! It’s one of my very favorite recipes.

The original Buttermilk Pie recipe appeared in our local newspaper one year, a long, long time ago. My mother cut it out and showed it to me.

The truth is, we had never heard of buttermilk pie. But this buttermilk pie recipe sounded so good I had to whip up a couple of those odd sounding “buttermilk” pies.

I mean what kind of name is that? I thought for sure buttermilk pie would be sour.

What Is Buttermilk Pie?

After a little research, I learned that Buttermilk pie is a popular Southern dessert pie, similar to chess pie. How about that? I live in far South Texas and had never heard of it.

So here’s the scoop on Buttermilk Pie, directly from Wikipedia, no less. Couldn’t have explained it better myself.

Buttermilk pie is a custard-like pie. Traditional of the United Kingdom, it almost unknown today but is now a traditional pie of the southern United States and is well known in Texas. It is similar to, and sometimes confused with, chess pie but it does not include cornmeal. The basic filling consists of a mixture of sugar, butter, eggs, buttermilk and wheat flour. Variations on the recipe may include flavorings such as vanilla or lemon zest. Wikipedia

Southern pies are a little taste of heaven, but surely you already knew that right? Buttermilk Pie, Chess Pie, Pecan Pie – all wonderful examples of rich Southern cooking – dessert style.

Buttermilk Pie Becomes A Family Favorite

The first time I baked one of these buttermilk pies, I took one over to Mom and I kept one here at home. We were all blown away by how delicious this pie is. The rest, as we say, was history.

Soon after, it was my turn to have the whole family over for Thanksgiving dinner. I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough desserts for everyone with pecan pies and pumpkin pies and my Glorified Rice, so I made 2 buttermilk pies as well.

The buttermilk pies vanished before all the others and everyone was asking for my recipe.

The following year, and for many years after ~ I’ve been asked to make my buttermilk pies (along with the pecan and pumpkin pies). They’re always gone first and sometimes, I have to make a couple more.

Before I retired, my Buttermilk Pies were always requested for holiday office parties – even after I passed the recipe around in Christmas cards one year!

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Homemade Buttermilk Pie Recipe

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Course Dessert

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 4-5 tbsp flour rounded
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 9" deep dish pie shell (or two regular)

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Cream the sugar and butter together.
• Add the flour and eggs and beat well.
• Add the buttermilk and vanilla; mix well
• Pour into pie shell/s.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until tests done. Top should be slightly crusty and brown.

Tupperware Large 12″ Round Pie Taker Container, Holiday Red Seal

Once you make this homemade buttermilk pie recipe for your friends and family, you’ll be asked to bring it to celebrations, office parties, and other events. I used to love taking pies to work for my co-workers, for special luncheons, birthdays or just anytime. With one of these handy pie carriers, it’ll be easy for you too. Won’t that be fun? Sure it will, because YOU know how easy it is to make Buttermilk Pie! Maybe you’ll need a couple of pie carriers then!

Homemade Buttermilk Pie Baking Tips

I find that the filling makes enough for two of the regular 9″ pie shells if you buy them frozen (I do sometimes; it’s faster).

If I use the deep dish version of the frozen pie shells, I can get it all into one shell.

If you find this buttermilk pie a bit on the sweet side; reduce vanilla first and see how you like it. Then, try reducing the sugar. It should be more rich than sweet.

I find that vanilla sometimes makes something sweet taste much sweeter, so I cut the vanilla in half to dial down that sweetness.

The Lost Art of Pie Making Made Easy

If you like Southern pies, there’s nothing like a whole cookbook for your pie baking fun.

Baking pies always seemed so complicated to me when I was growing up. But once I got started, I LOVE baking pies. Well, cakes too but we’re talking about pies here!

I’m partial to Southern Living recipes because they just seem more authentic to me.

Just remember, southern cooking is NOT for the calorie conscious. It can be very rich and with desserts, VERY sweet and rich.

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How To Make Classic Southern Buttermilk Pie | Southern Living

My Early Buttermilk Pie Recipe Experiments

We truly enjoyed the buttermilk pie as it turned out from the original recipe, but it seemed a bit “gooey,” to me so if you know me by now, you know I had to tweak the recipe! I do so love to play with my food.

I experimented with this buttermilk pie recipe over several pie baking sessions, not to mention the pie eating sessions.

Over a couple of years, I eventually developed my own version of that original Buttermilk Pie recipe. Funny, nobody minded “disposing” of those early experiments, though.

The buttermilk pie recipe you see here is on the sweet side. We like having it with our after dinner coffee. You can take the sugar back to 1 1/2 cups to dial down the sweetness if you like.

I think the flour keeps it from being gooey. My preference for consistency is more like a custard and maybe a little ‘drier’ than that. You’ll see what I mean when you try it. You can adjust the consistency by changing the amount of flour.

In the South, we like our pies and our tea….sweet. How About You?

Photo Credits: Buttermilk Pie by ralph and jenny on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0; Buttermilk Chess Pie by kimberlykv on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0; Buttermilk Pie with Pecan Brittle at Dyron’s Lowcountry by ralph and jenny on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0; (CC BY-ND 2.0); Indiana Buttermilk Pie I Joseph DeBortoli on Flickr, Commons 2.0