Old Fashioned Desserts for Holiday Picnic (or Whenever)

There is probably no more American holiday than Independence Day, and I can think of no better way to round out your celebration than with old fashioned desserts.

Most of these recipes feature fruit since it is in abundance in the summer, but you’ll find a couple of custard type desserts as well. I hope you’ll find something to love here!

Pies, cobblers, crisps, slumps, and more–all might have roots in other cultures, but all also relied on seasonal availability here in the good old US of A.

Old Fashioned Desserts

All these old fashioned desserts are also great either warm or at room temperature, making them perfect picnic, potluck, or cookout fare. I hope you’ll find something you’ll enjoy!

Old Fashioned Pies

You’ll find plenty of old fashioned fruit pies here: mixed fruit, apple, blueberry, peach, etc, but there are also some wonderful recipes for lovely custards and a classic Shoo Fly Pie.

Vinegar Pie Originally a pie to make when there was literally nothing else in the house, many people–myself included–like the light lemony flavor of this easy to make old fasthioned pie.

Damn Fine Cherry Pie Just like the names suggests. You really can’t go wrong here!

Peach Praline Skillet Pie Juicy peaches, flaky pastry, creamy custard and crunchy praline. Sign me up!

Old Fashioned Chocolate Chess Pie Like a gooey, rich brownie in a crust.

Perfect Peach Pie Who doesn’t love a beautiful peach pie? Simple, classic, and delicious.

Classic Shoo Fly Pie Super old-school, molasses-based with an amazing crumb topping. If you’ve never tried it, do give it a shot.

Cinnamon Sorghum Custard Pie Rich and gooey.

All-American Blueberry Pie Classic with a twist: an applique crust. Lovely.

Peach and Blackberry Pie Mixed fruit pies are some of my favorite. This peach and blackberry number is just gorgeous.

Deep Dish Cherry Pie Elegant. A true show-stopper for your picnic basket or dinner table.

Indiana Sugar Cream Pie Think of this, Indiana’s State pie, as a sliceable, nutmeg-scented, vanilla pudding in a crust. Yes.

Classic Lemon Chiffon Pie Make sure you bring this pie to your picnice in a cooler, but do bring it. Summer perfection.

Mixed Fruit Galette  Make a crust, fold it up around your choice of sweetened fruits, and bake. Done.

Grandma’s Apple Pie (Bars) All the flavor of an apple pie in an easily transportable bar form.

I also have a bonus Blueberry Pie for you from my wonderful and talented Pie Queen friend, Kate McDermott.

You can find her perfected recipe for Blueberry Pie in her comprehensive and delightful cookbook, Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Crusts, Fillings, and Life. Be sure to visit Kate at her site, Art of the Pie.

Old Fashioned Pies Need Old Fashioned Pie Plates

Here are some choices for pie plates. Note that metal pie pans will bake up the best pies as far as the crust browning, but sometimes a pretty ceramic pan is the way to go even if you end up sacrificing a bit of crunch on the bottom crust.

Old Fashioned Fruit Desserts

Lavender Mixed Berry Crisp Culinary Lavender goes beautifully with berries. You’re going to love this summery dessert.

Blackberry Cherry Sonker: a bottom crust-less juicy cobbler cousin from the foothills of North Carolina.

Blueberry Peach Pandowdy Never has such a dowdy dessert been so pretty.

Nectarine and Cherry Crumble A beautiful combination for this classic crumble.

Strawberry Peach Sonker with Milk Dip Sonkers are the specialty of Surry County, NC, and if you live outside the area, you may never have heard of them. Change that immediately, because: milk dip!

Stone Fruit and Blueberry Crisp Stone fruit and blueberries make a perfect marriage in this wonderful crisp.

Cherry Blueberry Slump When you want a cobbler but don’t want to turn on the oven, try a slump instead. It cooks right on the stove top.

Miniature Strawberry Buttermilk Buckle Old fashioned goodness. Sweet strawberries with the tang of buttermilk, and mini, so you don’t have to share.

Lazy Peach Sonker Spread a simple batter on top of juicy, spiced stewed peaches and bake it up. There’s a lazy sonker for you!

Old-Fashioned Skillet Cherry Cobbler Classic cherry cobbler. It doesn’t get much better.

Fresh Peach, Raspberry, and, Blueberry Cobbler Peaches, raspberries, and blueberries with biscuit topping. So good.

Mixed Cherry-Berry Grunt Cousin to a slump, the grunt also cooks on top of the stove for days when it’s too hot to bake.

Pineapple Summer Cake Homey and wonderful, who wouldn’t want a slice of pineapple summer cake to round off their picnic meal?

Fresh Cherry Blueberry Cobbler Cherries and blueberries, together again. This time in a delectable cobbler. There’s a reason these 2 fruits are often paired.

Nectarine Berry Cinnamon Crisps (Gluten-Free) Another stone fruit-berry combination, and this one is gluten-free. If you’re a fan of textural contrast, crisps are right up your alley.

Blueberry Coconut Crumble Bars Juicy fruity crumble might not travel so well, but these blueberry coconut crumble bars will go wherever you’re going.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake A classic summer combination, strawberries and rhubarb pair beautifully in this upside down cake.

Old-Fashioned Peach Cobbler Maybe my favorite summer fruit, it doesn’t get much more classic or tasty than this.

Dishes and Cast Iron for Making Old Fashioned Fruit Desserts

Unless you’re talking “slab pies,” most pies are baked in round dishes. When you start talking about cobblers, crisps, sonkers and such, you have a bit more leeway. And don’t discount baking your old fashioned goodness in cast iron, either!

If you have questions about this post or recipe, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can leave a comment on the post and I will get back to you within about 24 hours.

If your question is more urgent, please shoot me an email, and I will respond within 4 hours, unless I’m asleep.

NOTE: Most of my recipes are written by weight and not volume, even the liquids.

Even though I try to provide you with volume measurements as well, I encourage you to buy a kitchen scale for ease of measuring, accuracy, and consistency.

This is the scale I use, love, and recommend. If you’re unsure, please read my post about how to use a food scale.

And there you have it. Thanks to all my blogging friends for helping me put together this round up of old fashioned desserts! I hope you all enjoy them.

Take care, and have a lovely day.