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A creamy, custard-style pie studded with tender bread-and-butter pickles, sweetened with brown sugar, and kissed with warm spices. Utah's best-kept secret tastes like skepticism turning into seconds.
Every state has a pie that makes outsiders raise an eyebrow. Utah has pickle pie. Before you dismiss it, understand its origins: pioneer women crossing the Great Basin with limited supplies and unlimited ingenuity. They preserved everything. Cucumbers became pickles. Pickle brine became too valuable to discard. Someone, probably tired and hungry and determined to make something sweet from what remained, stirred that brine into a custard filling. The result was strange, then surprising, then beloved.
The pie survives because it works. Bread-and-butter pickles, with their brown sugar and warm spices, already live halfway between vegetable and confection. Suspended in a silky custard, baked until just set, they transform into something that tastes like curiosity rewarded. The tang cuts the sweetness. The texture plays soft against tender. Your first bite confuses you. Your second convinces you.
I first encountered this pie at a roadside stand outside Provo, served by a woman whose grandmother had carried the recipe across the plains. She watched my face as I took the first forkful, waiting for the reaction she'd seen a thousand times: confusion, then pleasure, then the request for another slice. This is that recipe, refined through dozens of batches in my own kitchen, honest to its humble origins.
Quantity
1 1/4 cups (160g)
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
1/2 cup (1 stick/113g)
cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Quantity
4 to 6 tablespoons
Quantity
1 cup
drained and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
Quantity
1/4 cup
Quantity
3
at room temperature
Quantity
1/2 cup (100g)
packed
Quantity
1/4 cup (50g)
Quantity
1 cup
Quantity
4 tablespoons (57g)
melted and cooled slightly
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
Quantity
1/8 teaspoon
Quantity
pinch
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-purpose flour | 1 1/4 cups (160g) |
| fine sea salt (for crust) | 1/2 teaspoon |
| granulated sugar (for crust) | 1 tablespoon |
| cold unsalted butter (for crust)cut into 1/2-inch cubes | 1/2 cup (1 stick/113g) |
| ice water | 4 to 6 tablespoons |
| bread-and-butter picklesdrained and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces | 1 cup |
| bread-and-butter pickle brine | 1/4 cup |
| large eggsat room temperature | 3 |
| light brown sugarpacked | 1/2 cup (100g) |
| granulated sugar (for filling) | 1/4 cup (50g) |
| heavy cream | 1 cup |
| unsalted butter (for filling)melted and cooled slightly | 4 tablespoons (57g) |
| pure vanilla extract | 1 teaspoon |
| ground cinnamon | 1/4 teaspoon |
| freshly grated nutmeg | 1/8 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt (for filling) | pinch |
| lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional) | for serving |
Whisk flour, salt, and one tablespoon sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold butter cubes and work them into the flour using your fingertips or a pastry blender, pressing and smearing until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-sized butter pieces remaining. These larger bits create the flaky layers you want. Drizzle four tablespoons of ice water over the mixture and stir with a fork until the dough just begins to clump. Squeeze a handful: if it holds together, you have enough water. If it crumbles, add more water one tablespoon at a time.
Turn the shaggy dough onto a clean surface and press it together into a disk about one inch thick. Don't knead it. The less you handle pie dough, the more tender the result. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight. The gluten needs time to relax and the butter to firm up again.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a circle roughly twelve inches across and an eighth-inch thick. Roll from center outward, rotating the dough a quarter turn after each pass to maintain an even circle. Transfer to a nine-inch pie plate by rolling it loosely around your pin, then unrolling it over the dish. Ease the dough into the corners without stretching. Trim the overhang to one inch, then fold the edge under itself and crimp decoratively. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
Drain the pickles thoroughly, reserving a quarter cup of the brine. Spread the drained pickles on paper towels and blot them dry. Excess moisture makes soggy pie. Chop them into pieces no larger than a quarter inch. Too large and they sink; too small and they disappear. You want distinct pockets of pickle throughout the custard.
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Add both sugars and whisk vigorously until the mixture lightens slightly, about one minute. Pour in the heavy cream, melted butter, vanilla, reserved pickle brine, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk until completely combined. The brine gives the custard its signature tang. Taste it now: you should detect sweetness, a subtle bite, and the warmth of spice.
Scatter the chopped pickles evenly across the bottom of the chilled pie crust. Pour the custard mixture slowly over the pickles. Some will float, some will settle. This is correct. The filling should come within a half inch of the crimped edge.
Bake on the center rack for fifty to fifty-five minutes. The pie is done when the edges are puffed and set but the center still wobbles slightly, like gelatin, when you gently shake the pan. A knife inserted two inches from the edge should come out clean. The center will continue to set as it cools. An overbaked custard pie weeps and turns rubbery. When in doubt, pull it early.
Transfer to a wire rack and let cool at room temperature for at least three hours. The custard needs this time to set fully. Rushing it means runny slices. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled, with a modest dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream. Let the pie speak for itself. Watch your guests' faces as they take their first bite. The confusion. The surprise. The reach for a second forkful.
1 serving (about 140g)
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