OLD FASHIONED SUGAR PIE RECIPE

Old Fashioned Sugar Pie Recipe is a vintage but very popular pie with a gooey brown sugar filling and flaky crust. It’s a simple recipe, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, and milk, using pantry staples.

 

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR PIE RECIPE

I had a reader ask about an Old Fashioned Sugar Pie Recipe after I posted this Buttermilk Pie. Since I began making the brown sugar pie, it has become one of our favorites.

A lot of people confuse a Chess Pie with Sugar Pie, but they are not the same. In fact, Chess Pie, Sugar Pie, and Butter Pie are all similar. As well, the lines are blurred even more with personal modifications and bloggers’ renaming or misnaming these recipes based on SEO target keywords. 

A Sugar Pie has a single crust and is filled with a mixture of butter, brown sugar, flour, milk, eggs, and vanilla. When it bakes the filling turns into a caramel-like mixture (from the butter and brown sugar).

Sometimes the Old Fashioned Sugar Pie is referred to as ‘desperation pie’ because it could be made with ingredients that would always be on hand ‘on the farm’, butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. Similarly, the reason Buttermilk Pie, Vinegar Pie, and Chess Pie became popular.

WHERE DID SUGAR PIE ORIGINATE?

This pie is originally from France. It came to Quebec, and subsequently the rest of Canada, during colonization. Sugar Pie varieties can also be found in other western European countries, as well as throughout the mid-west in the US.

IS TART AU SUCRE THE SAME AS SUGAR PIE?

Yes! Tarte au Sucre is a French term meaning “sugar pie.”

 

Sugar Pie Recipe

I found a simple version of the recipe in one of my Grandmother’s old recipe books. Basically, there were just measurements and no good instructions. After a couple of tries, it turned out great. 

Turns out this recipe is crazy simple to make. I even modified it after initially posting this recipe to an even more simple method of mixing it. Most recipes that have been around for a long time are simple. But, they stand the test of time because they’re also good and usually economical to make.

This Sugar Pie Recipe has a gooey, sugary consistency. It’s like flan or creme brulee without the caramelized sugar on top. You could totally top this pie with meringue if you’re not meringue-opposed like I am. Instead, I prefer to serve it with whipped cream or ice cream.

 

What you’ll need to make this recipe

• Butter. Real butter, no substitution
• All-purpose flour.
• Milk.
• Eggs.
• Brown sugar.
• Pure vanilla extract.
• Pie crust. You can make pie crust. I love this Never Fail Pie Crust recipe as well as this Coconut Oil Pie Crust. Of course, you can also purchase a pie crust. This is a regular, not deep dish, pie crust. If you use a deep dish pie crust, you will need to double the filling ingredients as well as cook the pie longer. (I’m not sure about the time, you’ll need to watch and test it.) 

Old Fashioned Sugar Pie Tips

As mentioned above, I changed the method for making this pie over time. I mix all the ingredients in a bowl, pour it into the prebaked pie crust, and put it in the oven. It’s so much easier than the way I originally published the recipe.

Likewise, be patient when baking the pie. It takes a long time to bake, especially when you’re dying to taste it. This pie will still be slightly jiggly in the center when it’s done. But the edges will be set and the top will be lightly browned. And, hey, if you take it out of the oven before it’s set, serve it over ice cream as a sauce and it’s still good. #becauseIknow

I updated this post from an earlier version dated October 15, 2017. I made new photos and simplified the recipe instructions.

These were the original photos for this sugar pie. 

While you’re here, check out these recipes

1. On the Go Breakfasts
2. Chocolate Chess Pie
3. No Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie
4. Apple Chess Pie with Streusel Topping
5. Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie