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Home » Desserts

Classic Buttermilk Pie

Published: Nov 13, 2020 · Last Modified: Aug 21, 2022 by Anecia

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You'll love this quick and easy, light dessert!

Classic Buttermilk Pie is "just-the-right-amount" of sweetness and not too heavy!

Simple ingredients and a favorite among even those who "hate buttermilk!"

Buttermilk pie on pie server

If you're not a fan of buttermilk, don't worry--I kid you not, it doesn't taste like buttermilk at all! My husband asked," what kind of pie is on the counter?" and I replied, "pie--just eat it!"

He hates buttermilk, but loved this! After I told him what it was, he was so surprised! Turns out, I had to make another one later that week so I could take pictures of it...he ate the whole thing.

You'll love this recipe

  • Quick and Easy! Use a prepared roll-out refrigerated pie crust, mix together the yummy custard filling and you're done!
  • Simple ingredients - sugar, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and butter...that's it!

This classic buttermilk pie is a cousin to the chess pie. Typically, chess pies contain cornmeal and are much sweeter than buttermilk.

Here's what you'll need

You only need a few simple ingredients to make this classic buttermilk pie:

Buttermilk, sugar, vanilla, eggs, butter, salt. You can use either salted or unsalted butter, but if you use salted butter, you won't add any salt.

Ingredients for buttermilk pie
If you use salted butter, don't add salt; if you use unsalted butter, add a little salt to the mixture

How to make it

Cream together the sugar and eggs; stir in the cooled, melted butter; add buttermilk, vanilla and a pinch of salt (See the Recipe Notes about Butter.) 

Pour into a cool shell and bake @350ºF for about 45-minutes.

As it bakes, the custard will puff up and brown.

When you remove it from the oven, it will flatten out as it cools; that's exactly how it's supposed to be! This isn't a big fluffy pie; it's thin, light and creamy.

The crust

After you've rolled it into the plate, refrigerate it for about 10-minutes then immediately add the custard filling and bake. This ensures the crust doesn't get soggy.

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A slice of buttermilk pie on purple plate

If you make this recipe, please scroll down and leave a rating and comment! I love to hear from you! Thank you!

A slice of buttermilk pie on purple plate

Classic Buttermilk Pie

A Southern classic! Creamy buttermilk pie with a hint of vanilla!
5 from 20 votes
Print Text Recipe Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Southern
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Total Yield: 6 slices
Author: Anecia Hero
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Equipment

  • 9 inch pie plate

Ingredients 

  • 1 pie crust , rolled pie pastry
  • ¾ cups buttermilk , whole fat buttermilk
  • 6 tablespoons melted butter , salted (see recipe notes)
  • 3 whole eggs
  • 1½ cups sugar , granulated
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt , table salt (if you're using unsalted butter)

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF
  • Melt butter and set aside to cool
    6 tablespoons melted butter
  • Roll pie dough over pie plate; crimp edges and refrigerate for 10-minutes
    1 pie crust
  • Combine eggs and sugar in mixing bowl
    3 whole eggs, 1½ cups sugar
  • Add buttermilk, cooled melted butter and vanilla extract; combine well (Note: if you're using unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon table salt now)
    ¾ cups buttermilk, 6 tablespoons melted butter, 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Pour mixture into cool pie shell
  • Place on middle rack and bake at 350ºF for 45-50 minutes
  • Allow to cool before serving

Notes

Butter:
  • Make sure the melted butter is cool before adding it to the sugar/egg mixture, otherwise, the eggs will cook and clump
  • If you use salted butter, don't add any additional salt to the mixture
  • If you use unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon of table salt to the mixture
Crust:
  • After you roll the pastry over the pie plate, refrigerate it for 10-minutes then pour the custard in and bake
  • For best results, refrigerate pie after it's done for at least 30-minutes; then, let it come to room temperature, slice and serve

Nutrition Estimate

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 446kcalCarbohydrates: 65gProtein: 3gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 249mgPotassium: 68mgFiber: 1gSugar: 51gVitamin A: 399IUCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mg
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Donna Everette says

    November 28, 2022 at 9:21 am

    Can I use a prefrozen pie crust

    Reply
    • Anecia says

      November 28, 2022 at 10:00 am

      Yes!

      Reply
  2. Martha W says

    October 30, 2022 at 9:28 pm

    I was so excited to try this pie! I cooked a mini one, 5” and halved the recipe, but since it is a similar depth I cooked for the full amount of time. My crust was a homemade gluten free one that has worked perfectly for other pies. The top browned just like the pictures and it was still pretty jiggly so after leaving it in for 5 minutes, I took it out and figured it would set as it cooled.
    Fast forward 3.5 to 4 hours later it was totally cooled and when I went to cut into it, it was totally liquid inside.
    Any ideas where I went wrong?

    Reply
    • Anecia says

      October 31, 2022 at 12:26 pm

      You really can't "half" a pie recipe because the ingredient ratios don't translate...for instance, if you halved this recipe, you'd need one and a half eggs...that in itself could have contributed to your runny pie. Sounds to me like the oven wasn't hot enough.

      Reply
  3. Lynne Dollar says

    July 31, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    I picked up no fat buttermilk instead! Will it make a huge difference or can I add something to it?

    Reply
    • Anecia says

      July 31, 2022 at 1:31 pm

      Hmmmm...good question. You might try the recipe with no fat buttermilk and let me know or, try using 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/4 heavy cream? Let me know how it turns out! Thank you!

      Reply
      • Lynne Dollar says

        August 02, 2022 at 8:32 pm

        Thank you for the advice. I will be making this soon and I will sure let you know how it turned out.

  4. Anecia says

    August 26, 2021 at 6:41 pm

    5 stars
    This is my grandmother’s recipe. Delicious!

    Reply

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Anecia Hero, Food Blogger

About SmartyPantsKitchen

I'm Anecia, a native Texan, author, cook and photographer for SmartyPantsKitchen where I'm sharing Traditional and Contemporary Southern recipes for cooks of all levels. There's nothing fancy or gourmet about my recipes-just easy, simple, delicious and memorable! Take a tour and check out delicious recipes! 

Learn more about me →

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