This perfect Brown Sugar Chess Pie recipe is an old fashioned custard pie flavored with molasses hinted brown sugar, cornmeal and vinegar making it the best pie to serve all fall long! If you love this custard filled pie, definitely try this Classic Chess Pie, Egg Pie, Buttermilk Pie, Maple Chess Pie , Pecan Pie and my Sweet Potato Chess Pie!
A Delicious Brown Sugar Chess Pie Recipe PERFECT For the Holidays!
Good ole fashioned chess pie is a classic, and the best part of it is the simplicity in making it.
What Is Chess Pie?
A chess pie recipe is a lovely Southern classic pie. It has a custard base with eggs that starts off as runny but ends up baking perfectly almost like a souffle.
What makes a chess pie different from other egg pies or custard pies is the additional ingredients of vinegar and cornmeal.
The origin of the name for the chess pie recipe is uncertain but it is believed that these pies contained so much sugar that it could be stored in a chest pie instead of being refrigerated.
My Big Mama made a mean chess pie, and it always causes me to wonder how such few ingredients can bake into such a perfectly chewy and delightfully sweet pastry.
I think there is a lot to be said about the dessert recipes of yesterday and yesteryear. They didn’t require a lot of ingredients or preparation because those resources didn’t exist quite frankly.
Ingredients for Chess Pie Recipe
The main ingredients for a classic chess pie are the following:
- Eggs
- Butter
- Sugar
- Cornmeal
- Vinegar
These ingredients make up what would be a classic pie.
Tip: The key for these ingredients to work wonderfully is for them to be at ROOM TEMPERATURE. Trust me, I have tried to bake a chess pie with cold eggs or colder butter and the custard didn’t set.
Perfect Crust for Pie Recipe
The pie dough for this pie crust is a homemade crust. I usually make my Perfect Pie Crust recipe because it is so simple to make and bakes up wonderfully flaky and delicious. It is an all butter crust, and it couldn’t taste more delicious.
Tip: Just remember when you are making your pie crust, make sure it is cold so it will bake up super flaky!
My big mama worked full time, made home cooked meals every single day (both breakfast, lunch and dinner) and took care of her brigade in the best way possible. And there was never a lack for dessert around her home either. I’m amazed when I think about all she accomplished while baking pies at the same time.
What I love about this pie is how it just “works”. You can throw it together quickly but it can also be quite the treat for the holidays. Thanksgiving and pies always go together, quite perfectly might I add. No one ever knows about the simplicity nor do they really care when they take a bite out of something out of this world delicious.
The hows and whats of the process in making it don’t concern people. They are only concerned about taste and memories associated with that taste. It is truly a trick of the brain that works quite well, especially on Thanksgiving when you have a ton of recipes to make for a ton of people in a limited amount of time.
Brown Sugar Chess Pie
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 prepared pie crust in pie pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat butter, both sugars, eggs, cornmeal, vanilla and vinegar together in a medium sized bowl using a hand mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer until well combined.
- If using my pie crust recipe, roll one of the disks out into the pie plate then use a fork to poke holes along the sides and bottom of the pie crust. Line the pie crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights, making sure the weights are evenly distributed around the pie dish. Pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment paper/pie weights. If you would like, you can brush some egg wash on the outside of the crust as well (just take 1 egg and whisk together with a teaspoon of water).
- Pour batter into prepared pie shell and bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Cool for at least 4 hours and serve.
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Can you use white cornmeal?
Ahhmazing! I’ve made these in the past and lets just say they were a gooey hot mess! I’m think the tip you have of the eggs and butter at room temperature are the trick. Thanks for sharing!
I am so excited to make this for my family! If I am using a frozen pie crust…should I cook the crust then add the filling then bake the pie or par-bake the shell/crust then add the filling to then finish baking. Can you tell I am someone who does not spend much time in the kitchen??!! 🙂
No need to bake it before. It will be just fine baking along with the pie.
What is the best way to store this pie?
This pie is served at room temperature but after about a day I store in the fridge but you can let it come back to room temperature for serving.
Gorgeous pie! The filling looks so gooey and delicious! Pinned!
Oh yes, I love chess pie! I made a Nutella one last year and OMG! This one’s beautiful!
Chess pie sounds amazing! Your recipe looks delicious, Im definitely pinning!
Thank you so much!
*droooool* chess pie is so insanely delicious-this recipe is making me hungry!