This recipe for old-fashioned vinegar pie will make you feel like one of those hardy pioneer bakers who were able to make something delicious from almost nothing.
It is so good and easy to make! If you’re a fan of old-fashioned desperation pies, another favorite to try is a classic Indiana sugar cream pie.
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Watch my vinegar pie web story here.
Vinegar Pie, At a Glance
✔️Skill Level: Beginner
✔️Skills: Lining a pie tin with dough, whisking
✔️Type: Pie
✔️Number of Ingredients: 6
✔️Prep Time: 10 minutes
✔️Cook Time: 35 minutes
✔️Yield: 8 servings
Related Recipe: Pate Brisee
Jump Straight to the Recipe
Freaking awesome pie! Good thing Pioneer days included lots of hard manual labor or else everyone would have weighed 400 pounds if this was the pie of choice. Very rich, sweet and just satisfying. Going into my regular rotation of pies. Love old pie recipes and this one will be one that is turned to time and again.
Reader Scott
Pies in Time of Desperation
Sometimes, you just need something sweet. Something simple to throw together with a few pantry staples, something soul-satisfying and made with love. Sometimes you just need pie.
These days, most Americans are very fortunate to have ingredients handy to make fruit pies or chocolate pies whenever we feel like it, but back in the days before refrigeration, before huge supermarkets with all their bounty from all over the world, our pie-loving forebears had to be pretty creative in order to have pie in the dead of winter.
These pies relied on staples that were almost always available. Flour, butter from a cow, and water = pastry, and the fillings were based on other pantry stand-bys like:
- molasses (shoo fly pie)
- sorghum (sorghum pie)
- cream (sugar cream pie),
- cornmeal (chess pie and its variations like chocolate chess pie)
Eggs were almost always available because most people had chickens but if you’re out of eggs, try that sugar cream pie which is thickened entirely with flour.
And there you had it: desperation pies. A pie whenever you needed a sweet pick-me-up between the distant memory of bright crimson and golden leaves and the much longed-for buds of May.
If you know this is a pie you want to make, you can skip straight to the recipe.
But Vinegar Pie? Really?
I hear you. I mean, of all the desperation and “pioneer pies” I’ve ever heard of, old-fashioned vinegar pie seems to be the most desperate kind of pie, you know?
The pie is like an answer to a challenge.
Two pioneer women are talking about what they could make out of not-a-lot, and then one says to the other, “I bet you can’t make a pie out of nothing, Marjorie.”
Marge, always up for a challenge, pushes up her sleeves, adjusts her bonnet, tightens her apron strings, and is all, ‘Hold. My. Beer, Blanche.”
I think you’ll get over the weirdness once you realize the pie isn’t made mainly of vinegar. It’s not like a sliceable sweet and sour sauce.
The vinegar in this pie is used as a flavoring agent. Like vanilla. There’s just enough of it in the mix to bring a nice tartness to round out the sweetness.
It reads as a “lightly lemon pie,” not as a pie full of vinegar.
The rule “you catch more flies with honey (or in this case, sugar) than you do with vinegar” is still true.
Nobody is going to eat a pie that has a cup of vinegar in it, least of all me.
History of Vinegar Pie
Okay, so maybe my “hold my beer” scenario is pure fiction. But the real story? It’s just as scrappy–the story of resourceful bakers who just really wanted a pie.
Carissa from the blog Pretty Hungry dug up a fun fact: Laura Ingalls Wilder actually wrote about this pie!
Apparently, her mom made all kinds of desperation pies while they lived in that little house on the prairie (or in the big woods, or wherever they lived when Charles might have said, ‘Hey hon, make me a pie!’ in the middle of winter.)
And if you think I’m the only one who loves a vinegar pie, my one-act play over on Instagram got a ton of love—including from some very well-known bakers and cookbook authors. Turns out, I’m not alone in my admiration for this scrappy little pie.
It is my feeling that the history of vinegar pie is the same history as all the other desperation pies.
Someone, somewhere wanted pie.
And that someone decided they were going to make pie out of whatever was available.
I am not sure there was a single person that invented this pie.
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It was probably a bunch of able and creative (and desperate) home bakers who all said something along the lines of “I have eggs, sugar, and vinegar. I’mma make a pie. Hold my beer.”
And that’s it, friends. I hope you give the pie a try, and I really hope you love it.
How to Make the Most Desperate of the Desperation Pies
Growing up in the UP, Michigan. The depression and snowed in for weeks this was a favorite recipe we loved. They baked from memory. So, I’ve tried so many times to be disappointed. This was it! The brown sugar was the key. Took me back to childhood! Perfection.
Pinner PJ
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make vinegar pie.
If you’re comfortable with making pie, you can jump straight to the recipe.
- pie crust: feel free to make your own, or use frozen store-bought. I use pate brisee which is an all-butter crust.
- eggs: you can use 3 or 4. Using four eggs will give you a firmer, more easily sliceable set. If you use 3 eggs, your pie will be a bit softer and creamier. There is no wrong answer here–it all depends on your taste. But there are no substitutes here. You need the eggs.
- brown sugar: brown sugar provides sweetness and a bit of flavor from the molasses. You can use honey if you prefer, but just remember that this will add more liquid to the pie, so don’t go crazy with it. And in this case, I’d go with the four eggs.
- melted butter: adds richness, helps to carry flavor, and assists with browning. I give two amounts of butter. You can use more or less, depending upon your taste. Please note that the butter may seem to separate out of the pie and make the top look slick, but it will reabsorb as the pie cools.
- salt: brings out all the flavors and counteracts any bitterness you might get from the apple cider vinegar
- apple cider vinegar: provides the acidic flavoring of this pie so that it reads as almost a lemon pie. And yes, you could absolutely top this with meringue to make a “desperation lemon(ish) meringue pie.” Or just step into the modern world and make a lemon meringue tart.
Jenni Says: Why use apple cider vinegar? Most folks out there on the prairie made their own vinegar, and, since they were widely available (thanks, Johnny Appleseed), I expect they used apples as the base.
Procedure
- Make a pie crust (optional. You can also buy one)
- Whisk the brown sugar, eggs, salt, butter, and apple cider vinegar together.
- Pour the filling into the pie crust, and bake.
For those of you who are thinking, “It can’t be this easy,” trust me. It is that easy.
Do I Need to Blind Bake?
Jenni Says: I am pretty sure the pioneers didn’t take time to parbake or blind bake their crusts, but to ensure browning on the bottom of the pie, you may want to do that. Here’s how to blind bake a pie crust.
I hope I’ve made my case for the tastiness of this pie.
As I said in the recipe, I used brown sugar rather than white. I figure a pie “seasoned” only with a bit of salt and vinegar (chips! No, not chips) might need the additional flavor of molasses.
Anyway, I hope you give it a try and that you enjoy it very much.
As unlikely as it sounds, I think this homey pie will win you over with how easy it is to make and how easy it is to eat!
Serving Suggestions
Vinegar pie is a simple pie and can stand on its own.
If you do want to serve it with something, stick with simple garnishes. A light dusting of powdered sugar would be welcome, or consider spooning on a bit of hand-whipped cream and maybe a handful of berries.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Love Vinegar Pie? Please Rate and Review. Thank you!
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Old-Fashioned Vinegar Pie Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 crust for a single crust pie your favorite recipe or store-bought
- 3-4 large eggs at room temperature (three will give you a softer set)
- 1 cup light brown sugar* packed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt I used Morton’s (yes, that much)
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter 3/4 sticks**, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
For the Crust
- Line a 9″ pie pan (not deep dish) with your pastry. Crimp however you’d like.
- Line the crust with parchment or a large coffee filter and then fill it with beans or other weights. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F.***
- Carefully remove lining and weights and set aside. Brush crust all over with egg wash (1 egg beaten well with a pinch of salt). Prick the bottom crust well with the tip of a sharp knife, and then bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the bottom of the pie crust looks dry. If the crust bubbles up at all with air pockets, carefully press them out.**
- Remove the crust from the oven and set aside. The crust will be pale. It’s okay, it will bake some more once you put the filling in.
For the Filling
- Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt until well combined and smooth.
- Drizzle in the melted butter while whisking constantly.
- Whisk in the apple cider vinegar.
- Pour into the crust and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the pie is 165F. The filling will rise up and be nicely browned on the top. It will sink back to level as it cools.
- Remove pie from oven and cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled from the fridge. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, y’all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and hopefully also learned a thing or two.
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Thanks for spending some time with me today, friends.
And remember, you don’t have to wait until desperation sets in to make vinegar pie!
Take care, y’all!
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This was one of my daddy’s favorite pies! He asked my auntie to make one before he passed. I have been looking for a good recipe since my auntie passed as well before I could ask her for it. This was spot on! Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m so glad this version fit the bill, Mena!
Very nice and easy
Glad you enjoyed it, Nanajee!
I love this pie! My Mamaw would make a vinegar pie occasionally – she could make a pie out of anything and made a pie every morning. Some of my other favorites are oatmeal, sugar cream, green tomato, gooseberry, plum, persimmon, pawpaw, and grape. Thankfully I had her give me the “recipes” before she passed. The key was to “just hold your mouth right”.
I’m so glad you had the foresight to get your grandma’s recipes!