Buttermilk Chess Pie
Updated July 10, 2024
- Total Time
- 4 hour 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 35 minutes, plus as least 3 hours' cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:One (9-inch) deep-dish pie (6 to 8 servings)
- ½cup/4 ounces/113 grams unsalted butter
- 1vanilla bean
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- 3cups/600 grams granulated sugar
- ½cup/64 grams all-purpose flour
- 1teaspoon coarse kosher salt, like Morton’s
- 6large eggs
- 1½ cups/360 milliliters whole cultured buttermilk
- 1(9-inch) deep-dish pie crust, frozen (preferably homemade, see Tip)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
625 calories; 23 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 99 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 78 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 477 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees with a rack in the center. Prepare pie filling: In a small pan over low heat, melt the butter. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise in half and scrape the seeds into the melted butter, along with the spent pod, and whisk. (This will help ensure the beans are evenly dispersed throughout the pie.) Set aside to cool.
- Step 2
In a large bowl, rub lemon zest into the sugar and then whisk in the flour and salt until well combined.
- Step 3
In another large bowl, whisk eggs and buttermilk together until well combined. (One minute should be ample, as you don’t want to aerate the eggs too much.)
- Step 4
Add the dry ingredients to eggs and buttermilk. Whisk by hand until fully incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Step 5
Remove and discard the vanilla pod from the slightly cooled butter mixture and slowly whisk the butter mixture into the batter. Add the lemon juice and whisk one final time.
- Step 6
Place the frozen pie shell on a sheet pan, pour in the filling (it should reach just under the crimped edge) and place in the oven on the center rack, turning the oven down to 350 degrees once you close the door.
- Step 7
Bake for 35 minutes. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees and continue baking until the pie is medium brown on top and the filling is set but still slightly jiggly, an additional 45 to 50 minutes.
- Step 8
Let cool at room temperature for at least 3 hours to allow to fully set, and serve at room temperature or cold. The pie is best served the day it’s made, but you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Tip
- If making your own 9-inch pie crust from scratch, you might want to double the recipe to ensure that you have enough dough to fit into a deep-dish pie pan. It is recommended to make your own pie dough.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Hazel Henry
I haven't made it yet; but the article that accompanies this recipe is so lovingly written. Many years ago, when we lived in Mississippi, the wife of my husband's coworker enchanted my husband with a slice of buttermilk chess pie. He declared it was the best thing he had ever tasted. I was standing right there. He was never the same. I had to relocate him to Texas to break that spell. I will be trying to put a spell on him and others come Saturday. Thanks for the inspiration.
Joan
Where do you find whole buttermilk? I have tried 4 stores and they only carry low fat.
Jackie
"Place the frozen pie shell on a sheet pan" = without a pie pan? or into a pie pan and then on a sheet pan? Sorry if this is a dumb question
Kelly
For those of us who don't mess around with vanilla beans [sorry: my reality], what might be the right amount of extract to add to the buttermilk/egg mixture?
Mimi
I found whole buttermilk at Whole Foods!
J Kat
The pie shell would presumably have been rolled out, fitted into the pie pan, then frozen. When you are ready to bake, take the entire frozen thing (crust in its pan) and put it on the sheet pan.
Anthony
For the small audience out there who make their own, whole milk kefir is a great 1 to 1 substitute for whole buttermilk. Serious Eats did a comparison.
ALB
Never mind that the modern product called whole milk buttermilk is what is needed for this recipe. The commenter stating that whole milk buttermilk in effect is not really buttermilk is correct. Actual buttermilk is the byproduct of the milk that is churned to make butter, with fat removed and only a few tiny flecks of butter left. The butter and buttermilk were left at room temperature approximately overnight to become ‘cultured’ or soured. Buttermilk you pick up in the store now is not that.
Bethany Pheneger
I'm just going to use vanilla. Someone will still eat it!
Martin
Whole, as in ‘full-fat’, buttermilk seems like something that doesn’t exist as authentic buttermilk is the by-product of removing fat (butter) from whole milk. I am not from the Us though, interested in learning what is understood to be whole buttermilk.
Julia
RE: Buttermilk. The key word is cultured. To full fat milk is added a bacterial culture that thickens and sours it, like other soured dairy products, e.g, yogurt, sour cream, etc. In New England, Kate’s whole cultured buttermilk is widely available. By the way, if you have the bacterial culture, it is very easy to turn your whole milk into buttermilk, but doing so will lengthen the prep time of the recipe.
Bethany Pheneger
It's other name is sugar pie!
the cooking chemist
Nope - that is sour milk. It will work, but the taste is not the same, at all.
susanb
You can make whole buttermilk by starting with whole milk and adding lemon juice or vinegar. Google for the correct proportions.
Joey Potter
I grew up on this pie…a south Alabama farm boy. Add blackberries on the top as garnish and you have a slice of heaven…js
JK
3 cups of sugar, one and a half cups of buttermilk and a half a cup of flour with some lemon and vanilla. I thought the pie was sickening.
SBrown
In Memphis, the only whole milk buttermilk I can find is a brand called Marburger. Walmart carries it so I assume it’s a national brand. Everything else has thickeners and is not suitable for cooking as it changes the intended texture of any recipe.
Trent England
Made it exactly as directed; too much lemon. Feels incongruous with its nature. Will make it again with 10% as much lemon, if at all
Vince Baccari
This was the worst pie I have ever had. Not bad tasting, but the sugar fell to the bottom of the pie and is very grainy. Very unpleasant texture. I have made chess pies before and this never happened. The larger layer above the sugar level is great, it is exactly like a custard. If anyone has a clue as to why this happened please let me know.
Cathy C.
Baked this yesterday per all of the instructions. The filling turned out great, however, the bottom crust was near raw and soggy. Next time I will definitely blind bake the crust before I make the filling.
Mimi
Made this. Great crust but the filling was sooo sweet!
Jane Eyrehead
This looks very like a recipe I make, and it’s delicious. The only change is I separate the eggs, whip the whites, and fold them into the filling. Then bake it. Just divine.
colleen
I discovered the finest whole buttermilk at DeCicco’s in Ardsley. The brand is Five Acre Farms. FiveAcreFarms.com The distributor is in Brooklyn. It’s a game changer!
Irene Y.
In North Carolina, Walmart and Food Lion both carry whole milk buttermilk. Whole Foods too. I buy it regularly to make farmers cheese.
Amy
Dare I suggest it, but Pillsbury has frozen deep dish pie crusts already in a pan. I have used them with success for quiche and other pies. Their directions are to place on a heated cookie sheet (put sheet in oven when preheating), fill, and bake. It's not homemade, but very easy to use.
dominic
Is the pastry case prebaked, i.e. without the filling?
beth
Sera, then don’t make/eat dessert. Why are you bothering to comment on this recipe and being the sugar police? It’s a dessert recipe!
Lanam
All buttermilk is low fat by definition (it’s the leftover milk after making butter), so don’t worry about finding “whole” buttermilk. Use whatever buttermilk is available.
Larry L
Beautiful as is, but the signature flavor of this pie as I enjoyed it growing up was mace. Add 1/4 teaspoon to the filling mix and taste; you may want a little more. I’ve taken the same idea to make a buttermilk pie ice cream with the same flavors - guests raved. Especially good topped with cherries, which could be thinned-out cherry preserves or any similar thing you have on hand.
michael
Growing up in Virginia, my two favorite homemade pies were "buttermilk pie" and "lemon chess" pie - both chess pie. As made in my family, the were definitely not deep dish pies; the custard layer was rather thin, in fact. I checked my mom's recipes and they were based on 2 or 3 eggs (with corresponding less of other ingredients). I think you could achieve something similar using this recipe to fill two regular pie shells. With such a rich filling less might be more.
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