This buttermilk Chess Pie recipe is a sweet custard pie made with eggs, sugar, milk, flour, cornmeal, and citrus. It was originally made popular in the South and there are many variations of it, as its ingredients are easy to adapt to use what you have on hand.
Make batter: In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the flour and cornmeal. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. When the egg mixture is well beaten add the milk, vanilla, lemon juice and zest beat until smooth.
Assemble: Add unbaked pie crust to 9’’ pie plate and crimp the edges. Pour in pie filling.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes. Check the pie after 30 minutes and tent a piece of aluminum foil on top to keep it from getting too brown. (I spray the foil with a non-stick spray to keep it from sticking to the top of the pie.)
Allow to cool for one hour before serving.
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Notes
Make Ahead Instructions:The pie filling can be made 1-2 days in advance. Remove filling from fridge 30 minutes before baking to allow it to come to room temperature, then pour into pie shell and bake. Pie dough can be made 1-2 days in advance, stored in the fridge, or frozen for up to 3 months.Freezing Instructions: Allow baked lemon chess pie to cool completely then cover well and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge then reheat in 300 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes. Recipe Variations:
Honey Chess Pie: Substitute 1 1/4 cups honey in place of the 2 cups of granulated sugar.
Chocolate Chess Pie: The ingredients are quite different, so follow this recipe.
Cornmeal Substitute: Use ground oats or fine breadcrumbs.