I tear recipes out of my magazines and file them away to try someday. Sometimes a recipe sticks in your head, even if you filed it years ago and haven’t looked at it since. I haven’t made a pie in ages and I thought with Thanksgiving approaching, it would be a great time to test out a new pie recipe. My mind went to a photo that was etched in my brain…a gooey tart with a crackly crust…I dug through my file and found it! Mmm…I know why I was attracted to this recipe in the first place, brown sugar + butter! With this duo, you just can’t go wrong!
Chess Tart from Martha Stewart Living
The chess pie originated in the south and is a sweet custard pie that tastes, to me, like caramelized butter & sugar. As it bakes, it forms a thin crust on top that is simply irresistible. There are plenty of recipes out there in cookbooks and online. I eventually settled on four that looked interesting and I chose what I liked about each one. The original magazine clipping I had saved was from Martha Stewart Living. This recipe called for brown sugar which the others had not. I love the extra molasses flavor you get from brown sugar, so that was a must. A recipe from Deep South Dish uses buttermilk, which I thought would help to balance the sweetness. All of the recipes call for cornmeal. I chose to follow a Serious Eats recipe and go with their 2 tablespoons of cornmeal. Most chess pie recipes call for vinegar like the one I found on allrecipes.com. I decided to try 1 tablespoon like that recipe stated.
I had beginners luck with this first chess pie and it turned out beautifully! I decided to get a little creative and try two more versions that were swirling around in my head. One was a maple chess pie and the other was a maple pumpkin chess pie. After hours of baking and tweaking on Sunday, I decided, with disappointment, that the two variations just didn’t stand up to the first. The maple version turned out too pale and hardly had any maple flavor. The pumpkin version tasted good, but was missing the yummy crust on top that a chess pie should have. So this morning I jumped back in and tested some mini-chess pies using my first recipe for the filling and they turned out so cute! So big or small, I hope you’ll love these chess pies as much as we have!
Chess Pies: Blind Bake the Crust
I chose to use refrigerated crust to save some time. Feel free to use your favorite homemade recipe if you prefer. Blind baking in this recipe helps to keep the crust from ending up soggy in the end.
If you’d like to make your own crust – I have easy recipes for both a single and double crust!
And a “How to Make a Pie Crust in your stand mixer VIDEO!
Big Pie: Line your pie plate (9-inch) with dough. Fold and crimp the edges. Freeze for 30 minutes. Line with parchment or foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. I used lentils. The parchment and the weights or beans help to prevent the crust from sliding down into the bottom of the pie plate. Bake at 450 on a low rack in your oven for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack and cool completely.
Mini-Pies: Grease your mini-muffin tin. Cut rounds of dough with 2 1/2 inch round biscuit cutter. Press into cups of pan. Prick the bottom with a fork (dock the crust.) Freeze for 30 minutes. Bake at 450 on a low rack in your oven for about 7-9 minutes.
Chess Pies: The Filling
This is a really simple pie filling. Just whisk your eggs. Whisk in your sugar. Mix in your wet ingredients and then your dry. Pour into your prepared mini-pie shells or large pie shell. I had a little filling left when I made the minis. I poured it into a small buttered baking dish and made a little crustless tart – mmm!
A little dollop of whipped cream? Don’t mind if I do!
THANK YOU FOR SPENDING SOME TIME IN THE CLOUD WITH ME! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE RECIPES AND HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING! TINA ( :
Oh, exited to make this! Is there a way to incoroprate pumpkin for the holidays?
Hi Karen!
Thanks for stopping by!
I just reread my notes – looks like I tried adding pumpkin. I noted it had a great taste, but did not have that crackly crust form on the top.
Happy Pie Baking!
Tina ( :
Dang dude, where do you come up with all these great recipes? I love all your recipes and made most and love them all. Keep them coming!!!!!!!!!!!
So happy you are enjoying my recipes!! YAY! Thanks for letting me know!
Hi! Your recipe looks amazing and I’m looking forward to trying it out this weekend! One question, would it be possible to do these in regular-size muffin tins rather that mini? If so, how long would I bake the crust? Thank you!
Hi Shelby – Thanks for reaching out! I think they’ll work great in regular muffin tins – probably just a minute or two more for pre-baking the crust.
Wanted to make the mini pies but my mini pie tin only makes 24, so I reduced the recipe by 1/3, omitting the extra yolk. I’ve never seen or heard of finely ground cornmeal so I used the regular stuff.
Had to use a 3 inch biscuit cutter for the pie crusts as 2.5 was too small to go all the way up the sides of the tins.
Only about a teaspoon of filling fits into each mini pie, so I still have enough filling for about 48 more pies but no more crust. Is the recipe supposed to say mini muffin tins? Because if so the amount of filling is way too much and needs to be reduced. Otherwise if I’m supposed to be using a regular size muffin tin (which seems more appropriate for the amount of filling I have) the recipe needs to be updated up reflect that.
Once finished the pies tasted very nice, but had a slightly grainy texture from the cornmeal – maybe I was meant to use cornstarch? Also wished they were able to fit more filling since they were more than half crust. Sadly I think I’ll have to toss the rest of the filing since I just have nothing to bake it in right now. If I ever bother making this again I think I’ll use regular sized muffin tins and corn starch.
Hi Jordan – Thanks for reaching out! I specify mini muffin tins – but they are not always standard, so amounts may vary a bit. If your pan only has 24 mini cups, you can make 2 batches or use 2 pans. I had a little leftover and baked it in buttered ramekins (as recipe said – but you could bake in any oven safe dish) You could totally try a regular muffin pan for larger cups, but you’d have to adjust bake time. In my research all chess pies call for corn meal. It’s important to use finely ground as the mini cups are small and don’t bake for as long as a large pie. (giving the cornmeal time to soften) Hope that helps! Take care!