This cinnamon buttermilk pie is an adaptation of Filipino egg pie.
Pumpkin pie. Pecan pie. Sweet potato pie. I’m sure those would be included in the top answers for Thanksgiving pies on an episode of Family Feud.
However, in my personal ranking system, custard pie would be number one.
Custard pie was something we always had during the holidays. If you search for “Filipino egg pie,” you’ll get an idea of the kind of custard pies I loved as a kid.
I grew up eating many, many (probably way too many) slices of egg custard pie. It’s traditionally made with evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, and sometimes a little calamansi juice/zest to brighten it up.
To make this pie more suited for traditional Thanksgiving flavors, I swapped in cinnamon for calamansi and buttermilk for evaporated milk. The resulting cinnamon buttermilk pie is magical.
Cinnamon Buttermilk Pie
I love the sugary crust that forms at the surface of the pie. It protects and encases the silky, creamy pie filling.
The tangy buttermilk ensures that this pie isn’t too sweet. The burst of cinnamon with each bite screams autumn and sweaters and warm mugs of tea.
I like to serve this pie with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of nutmeg-cinnamon sugar. It may not be exactly like the egg custard pies I ate as a kid, but it’s just as delicious and comforting.
Desserts don’t need to be complicated to be delicious or unforgettable. This cinnamon buttermilk pie proves that.
The filling can’t be any easier to make. You simply whisk all the ingredients together and pour it into the pie shell. Yes, it’s THAT easy.
The hardest part about pie making isn’t making the dough from scratch, it’s waiting for the darn pie to cool.
Practice patience and allow the pie to cool to room temperature to ensure nice clean slices.
Once the pie has cooled, go ahead and eat as many slices as you want!
Cinnamon Buttermilk Pie
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pie Dough:
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 8 Tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, chilled
- 2-3 Tablespoon water, ice cold
- 1 large egg yolk
Instructions
- Prepare pie dough.
- Roll dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll to about 10-inches in diameter and about 1/4-inch in thickness. Place pie plate upside down over the rolled dough to make sure it is the correct size.
- Transfer dough to pie plate and firmly press into the bottom and sides of plate. Trim excess dough leaving about 1/2-inch overhang all around. Fold overhang into the pie and flute the edges with a fork, or crimp with your fingers. Cover pie dough with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator while you prepare filling.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, yolk and brown sugar until smooth. Add buttermilk, melted butter, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk until combined. Pour mixture into prepared pie shell.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes until center of pie is set and no longer jiggly. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature on wire rack. Alternatively, store pie in fridge to cool faster. Serve with whipped cream.
Pie Dough:
- Pulse together flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Add cold butter a couple cubes at a time with the food processor running. Stop the machine once mixture is crumbly and like coarse sand in texture.
- Add 2 tablespoons of water and yolk. Pulse for a couple seconds until dough begins to come together. If dough is too dry, add another tablespoon of water. Remove dough from machine and finish kneading on a lightly floured surface.
- Flatten dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes.
That is one beautiful pie girl!
Thank you Jocelyn!
Yes, yes, YES! A thousand times yes to this pie!
Yay!!! I was afraid people would be afraid of the buttermilk! :)
Your pie dough looks PERFECT. I literally scrolled down to see if you used a store-bought crust because it looked THAT perfect. I’ve never had a pie like this, but I’d like a slice, please:)
Thanks for reminding me about the pie shell! I totally forgot to upload that photo. One slice?! I’m giving you two ;)
Oh yes, oh yes. Teach me your pie crust skills, yours looks like perfection!
I know I would love this pie! I like the sound of your pie crust recipe too so am pinning for later. It looks like perfection.
What a neat idea! I <3 cinnamon and simple pies- I'd love to try this one!
Hello. I know this post is a bit old, but I found it looking for
cinnamon pie. I made it tonight, and after the agonizing cooling period, just inhaled a slice. It tasted great- but I’m not sure if it came out correctly. Two quite distinct layers formed during baking- an eggy bottom one, and cinnamonny on top. It’s hard to tell if yours are like that from the photos. Thanks!
Hi Meghan! Thanks for trying out the recipe. yes, the layers do separate a little during baking.
I believe this is the recipe I have been searching for, for over 30 years! A pie shop in Indiana (no longer in business), served this and I’d never forgotten how good it was. I have searched through literally hundreds of recipe books and talked to hundreds of pie makers, without success. I intend to make this the first chance I get to see if my search has finally come to an end. Thank you!
I hope this is the one you’ve been searching for!
After seeing your stunningly beautiful pie on this blog, I have been wanting to try this recipe out for a while! Mine turned out alright in the end, the flavour was nice although the texture is quite different from yours and I had a few problems along the way. I’d love to do a little troubleshooting to figure out how to get mine to turn out more like yours next time. I’m a very experienced baker and I followed the directions exactly as written. All seemed to go perfectly, until when the pie was baking all of the fat/butter rose to the top and formed a large deep pool at the top centre of the pie. By the time it was finished baking, the huge pool of melted butter on top was very worrisome. As it cooled, the pie re-absorbed most of the butter. After cooling, it cut beautifully and the custard was set perfectly. however the top of mine was soft/slightly soggy (I’m guessing from the pooling butter) instead of crackly like yours. I didn’t have any problems with the custard splitting into two layers as mentioned in a previous review, however the interior custard seemed wetter on mine than in your photos (mine had a similar consistency to pumpkin pie). I’d love to be able to achieve the same texture as your pie next time regarding the crackly top- any tips? Also, what kind of buttermilk do you normally use- the cultured kind they sell at the supermarket or the type you make yourself by mixing milk with lemon juice/vinegar? I used the cultured kind from the supermarket, in case that makes a difference. Thanks very much and I hope to try this recipe again!