During the pandemic, many nostalgic recipes were revived as home cooks looked for budget-friendly recipes to try. We first started seeing Depression-era water pie on TikTok and we were instantly intrigued. A pie made with water? How could that work? Our Test Kitchen tested (and loved!) the the classic water pie recipe. It bakes into a buttery, custard-like dessert that's flavored with vanilla. Here's how to make water pie including the proper way to serve it.
What Is Water Pie?
During the Great Depression, many common baking ingredients, like milk and eggs, were in short supply and water pie was born out of necessity. Ingenious home cooks created this budget-friendly pie recipe using the pantry staples they had on hand. The custard-like filling is made mostly of water along with flour, sugar, vanilla, and butter. Rather than thickening the custard with eggs, this recipe uses the starch in flour. It comes together almost magically as it bakes. Our recipe testers found the finished water pie was less creamy than a traditional custard pie but still had the same sweetness and buttery flavor.
Water Pie Ingredients
Raid your pantry and fridge for the ingredients to make water pie. Chances are, you've got nearly everything you'll need to make this inexpensive dessert.
- Pastry Crust: You'll need one unbaked pie shell for this recipe. We're including our homemade pastry for a single crust pie but you could easily use a purchased pie crust instead.
- Sugar: White granulated sugar is all you'll need to make water pie.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the thickener in the pie filling. Be sure to stir it well so there are no lumps in the finished dessert.
- Water: It may seem strange, but you'll pour the water, vanilla, and vinegar mixture right into your unbaked crust. Trust the process, it comes together as it bakes.
- Vanilla: Two teaspoons of vanilla extract provide most of the flavor here.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: You'll be surprised how a small amount of vinegar rounds out the flavors in the filling.
- Butter: To help balance the sweetness of the filling, our Test Kitchen recommends using salted butter in this water pie recipe.
How to Make Water Pie
This pie is very easy to assemble—in fact, it's one of the easiest pie recipes our Test Kitchen has tried.
Add the wet ingredients to the shell and sprinkle with the flour mixture. Dot on the butter slices and place in the oven. Bake for an hour, covering the crust edges halfway through. When you take the pie out, don't be alarmed if it's jiggly in the center. It will continue to set up as it cools. It will need at least 8 hours of chill time in the fridge before serving.
How to Serve Water Pie
This pie is best served chilled or at room temperature. In fact, we don't recommend heating it up at all. The filling will lose its texture when warmed. Our recipe testers liked it best when it was brought to room temperature before serving, about an hour from taking it out of the fridge.
How to Store Water Pie
Cover and store the pie in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Ingredients
Pastry for Single Pie Crust
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1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1/4 cup shortening
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2 tablespoons butter
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1/4 to 1/3 cup ice water
Filling
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1 cup sugar
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1/4 cup all purpose flour
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1/4 teaspoon salt
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1 1/2 cups water
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2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
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6 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into 12 thin slices
Directions
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In a large bowl stir together 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender cut in 1/4 cup shortening and 2 tablespoons butter until pea size. Sprinkle 1/4 to 1/3 cup ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, over part of the flour mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened flour mixture to side of bowl. Repeat moistening flour, gradually adding ice water until flour mixture begins to come together. Gather flour mixture, kneading gently until it holds together. Shape into a ball; flatten slightly.
Test Kitchen Tip: You can use a purchased pastry (1 refrigerated unbaked piecrust or 1/2 of a 14.1-ounce package) in place of preparing the single crust pastry.
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On a lightly floured surface roll pastry into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Trim and flute edge. (Or if using purchased pastry, let pie crust stand according to package directions; unroll. Place in a 9-inch pie plate. Flute edge as desired.) Preheat oven to 375°F.
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In a medium bowl stir together sugar, flour, and salt: set aside.
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In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup combine water, vanilla, and vinegar. Carefully pour water mixture into unbaked pie crust.
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Sprinkle sugar mixture over water mixture in crust. Place butter pieces on top.
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Bake for 30 minutes. Cover edge of pie with foil to prevent overbrowning. Bake for 30 minutes more. (The filling will be bubbly at this point, but not completely set.) Remove pie from oven.
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Cool on a wire rack at room temperature for 1 hour. Loosely cover pie and refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving. (Filling will set up upon standing.). Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
| 345 | Calories |
| 18g | Fat |
| 43g | Carbs |
| 3g | Protein |
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings Per Recipe 8 | |
| Calories 344.8 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 18.1g | 23% |
| Saturated Fat 9.9g | 50% |
| Cholesterol 34.1mg | 11% |
| Sodium 292.6mg | 13% |
| Total Carbohydrate 43g | 16% |
| Dietary Fiber 0.6g | 2% |
| Total Sugars 25.2g | |
| Protein 2.5g | 5% |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Vitamin C 0mg | 0% |
| Calcium 9.1mg | 1% |
| Iron 1.1mg | 6% |
| Potassium 31.3mg | 1% |
| Fatty acids, total trans 0.5g | |
| Vitamin D 0IU | |
| Alanine 0.1g | |
| Arginine 0.1g | |
| Ash 1g | |
| Aspartic acid 0.1g | |
| Caffeine 0mg | |
| Carotene, alpha 0mcg | |
| Choline, total 6.7mg | |
| Copper, Cu 0mg | |
| Cystine 0.1g | |
| Energy 1442.1kJ | |
| Fluoride, F 39mcg | |
| Folate, total 43.3mcg | |
| Glutamic acid 0.8g | |
| Glycine 0.1g | |
| Histidine 0.1g | |
| Isoleucine 0.1g | |
| Leucine 0.2g | |
| Lysine 0.1g | |
| Methionine 0g | |
| Magnesium, Mg 6.2mg | |
| Manganese, Mn 0.2mg | |
| Niacin 1.4mg | |
| Phosphorus, P 28.9mg | |
| Pantothenic acid 0.1mg | |
| Phenylalanine 0.1g | |
| Phytosterols 0.8mg | |
| Proline 0.3g | |
| Retinol 95.2mcg | |
| Selenium, Se 8.2mcg | |
| Serine 0.1g | |
| Theobromine 0mg | |
| Threonine 0.1g | |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.4mg | |
| Tryptophan 0g | |
| Tyrosine 0.1g | |
| Valine 0.1g | |
| Vitamin A, IU 354.7IU | |
| Vitamin A, RAE 97.1mcg | |
| Vitamin B-12 0mcg | |
| Vitamin B-6 0mg | |
| Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 2.4mcg | |
| Water 60.6g | |
| Zinc, Zn 0.2mg | |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
