Serious Eats
Happy National Pie Day
Our 15 favorite pies from all over America and countless pie recipes. This is a very important holiday.
If Serious Eats had a mascot, it might be pie. We love pie (is love a strong enough word?) and are constantly searching for the perfect slice, whether sweet or savory. In honor of National Pie Day today we've asked our columnists to share their favorite pie recipes and most memorable slices from all over America. The Serious Eats Pie Honor Roll already includes many great bakeries, diners, and roadside farms, but we made a slideshow of 15 of our favorites. Grab a fork and get lost in pie-ness.
Jessie Oleson aka Cakespy designed this amazing t-shirt for Pie Day 2010 in Seattle. If this isn't awesome, well we don't know what is.
Foolproof Pie Dough
We have to start somewhere right? Our favorite recipe is this one from Cook's Illustrated.
Mexican Apple Pie
The recipe came out of Gourmet a couple years ago and though it started as a Thanksgiving item, it's become a real addiction. It calls for a brick-like piloncillo sugar for the filling which lends a really unique, deep flavor—it's not the easiest kind of sugar to find, so I make a point of picking some up whenever I'm in Miami or with good access to Latin American ingredients!
—Nikki Goldstein
Deep Dish Apple Pie
Being a fan of the classics, I always go homemade apple. A combination of Cook's Illustrated's Foolproof Pie Dough and their Deep-Dish Apple Pie recipes have produced perfect pies every time, even with my severely lacking baking skills
—Josh Bousel
French Colonial Pie
When I was recently asked to be a judge in a pie baking contest (I know, I love my life) I tasted a pie called the French Colonial which I instantly knew was the one. It's like French Silk pie meets Bananas Foster: creamy, lightly chocolatey, with a rich, deep, almost even slightly savory flavor from the bananas flambeed in rum. Add the light crackle of the flaky crust, and you've got yourself a one-way ticket to Pleasuretown. This recipe is from the baker (who works at Seattle's Curio Confections).
—Jessie Oleson aka Cakespy
Peanut Butter S'mores Pie
This peanut butter s'mores pie is like crack! I adapted a pastry chef colleague's peanut butter mousse pie recipe, which was originally made with an Oreo cookie crust and served with whipped cream (delicious!). I switched it up to a graham cracker crust and toasted meringue to make it extra addicting. Who needs a campfire?! I'm going to pitch a tent in my pastry kitchen and make one of these right now!
—Jenny McCoy
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie is my favorite. Not only was it my nickname and not only do I eat an entire one in one day every November, but living abroad, it also has that nostalgic heritage pie necessity of reminding me of home—as should all great pies.
—Kerry Saretsky
Rabbit, Prune, and Onion Pie
My favorite pie is apple, duh. Or perhaps rabbit? Shoot. Are we allowed to do meat pies? [Ed. note: Yes, you are, Kenji.]
—J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Sicilian-Style Square Pie
Everyone else is talking about dessert pies with some savory pies thrown in. My favorite pie is—no surprise—pizza pie. Anytime I hear the word pie and someone references a fruit thing or a meat pie, I'm like, pffft.
The one pizza pie recipe I'm itching to try is this Sicilian-style square pie developed by Foolish Poolish.
—Adam Kuban
Anything With a Seriously Flaky Crust
My favorite pie is anything with a seriously flaky butter crust. Any reasonable filling is just garnish. My best tip is to use cold orange juice instead of water. The extra bit of acid retards gluten formation.
—Michael Natkin
And So Many More...
Sweet
Apple Cranberry Crisp with Pecan Topping
Cousin Eunice's Grated Carrot Pie
Caramel Cream Pie with Crispy Rice Topping
The Easiest Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie
Cherry Almond Osgood Pie
Raw Pecan Pie
Shoofly Pie
Grasshopper Pie
Simple Cherry Pie
Blueberry Pie
Coca-Cola Fried Pies
Old-Fashioned Cornflake Pie
Easy Chocolate Pie Crust
Savory
Broccoli Quiche with Gruyère and Cheddar
Leftover Turkey Pot Pie
Beef and Potato Pie
Tomato and Bacon Pie
Millet Pie with Spinach and Feta
