This traditional Southern custard pie gets a makeover with the addition of pure maple syrup and fluffy meringue.
It's so hard to believe Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away! This year has certainly been one for the books and Thanksgiving will be no exception.
This Maple Chess Pie with Toasted Meringue is a delightfully rich custard pie that is begging to be added to your fall and holiday menus!
This pie is also gluten-free - thanks to the use of Bob's Red Mill's Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour in the pie crust - so that everyone in your family can enjoy it with no worries.
What Is Chess Pie?
Chess pie is a traditional southern dessert that features a rich custard filling made from eggs, sugar and vanilla extract.
You typically see a little cornmeal incorporated in the filling for added texture and flavor. However, to keep this recipe gluten-free, we use almond flour which has the same wonderful effect.
How To Make This Maple Chess Pie
This recipe is not difficult but does include several steps being that there are three elements to this pie - the crust, the filling and the meringue. We will break this recipe up into the three separate elements to make the process as simple as possible. Let's get to it!
For the Pie Crust
Make the pie crust dough. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie plate with butter and set aside. In a large bowl, place the flour (this is the gluten-free brand I used), xanthan gum, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine well. Add the chopped and chilled butter, and toss to coat it in the dry ingredients. Flatten each chunk of butter between your thumb and forefinger. Add the sour cream, and mix to moisten the dry ingredients with the sour cream. The dough should be shaggy and somewhat crumbly.
Knead the dough together with clean hands until it begins to come together. Add ice water by the teaspoon only if necessary for the dough to hold together. I didn't have to use any for this batch. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and press into a disk as you close the plastic wrap around the dough. It will still seem rough. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for an hour.
Smooth out the chilled dough. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Once the dough has chilled, turn it out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Make sure you have a large enough piece to roll out the dough. Sprinkle the dough lightly with more flour, and roll it out into a rectangle that is about 1 inch thick, moving the dough frequently and sprinkling it lightly with flour if it begins to stick.
Fold the dough over on itself, sprinkle the dough lightly with more flour, and roll out the dough once again into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Repeat the folding and rolling process once more, finally rolling out into a round a little less than ½ and inch thick and about 12 inches around.
Shape the dough in the pie plate. Roll the pie crust loosely onto the rolling pin and then unroll it over the prepared pie plate. Trim the roughest edges of the crust with kitchen shears. Lift up the edges of the pie crust gently to create slack in the crust, and place the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate.
Tuck the excess pie crust around the edges under itself, and crimp the edge gently all the way around the crust by pinching the dough at regular intervals with one hand, and creating a crimped impression with the forefinger of the other hand.
If you are unable to do this, you can just leave the edges as they are after folding the excess over - either way it's beautiful! Cover the pie crust with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
Parbake crust. Remove plastic wrap and pierce the bottom of the crust several times with a fork. Place a piece of parchment over the crust and cover the bottom of the crust with pie weights or dry beans. Bake the pie crust in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until the edges just start to turn golden.
For the Pie Filling
In a large bowl, combine melted butter, maple syrup, sugar, eggs, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Whisk until well combined, then add in sifted almond flour.
Pour filling into partially baked crust, and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the center of the pie is set and is a light golden brown color.
I recommend loosely covering the edges of the pie in foil for at least half of the cooking time, because the pie will be placed back in the oven once meringue is added and the edges can be become tough if overcooked.
How to Make Meringue
Remove eggs from the refrigerator and separate, as they will separate best when cold. Place egg whites in a small bowl, cover and allow them to reach room temperature so that they will whip best. Complete this step right before mixing filling to save time.
Pour eggs whites into a spotlessly-clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Whip the egg whites on medium-high until they are glossy and smooth, then add the cream of tartar and continue to mix for another minute to help the egg whites hold their form.
Slowly add the sugar to the egg whites about a tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition until the sugar is fully incorporated. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Spread meringue on top of warm pie, and place it back in the oven on the middle rack and bake for about 10 minutes, until golden.
A Few Notes for Making Maple Chess Pie with Toasted Meringue
Use pure maple syrup. You do NOT want to use artificially flavored "maple syrup" for this chess pie recipe. The bottles of “pancake syrup” at the store are often just flavored corn syrup, which will throw off the flavor and texture of this Southern pie.
Always make sure the bowl you are using to make your meringue is scrupulously clean. Wash it and then wash it again just to be certain if you have to. Any residue left inside the bowl can throw off the texture of your meringue and prevent it from whipping properly.
That's basically it! Approaching the recipe in three steps makes it much more approachable. You can always use a store bought pie crust for this recipe if you prefer. Also, if you prefer a regular gluten-containing pie, just use a regular pie crust and substitute the almond flour for cornmeal in the filling.
You Will Also Love this Peach Cheesecake Blondie Recipe!
📖 Recipe
Maple Chess Pie with Toasted Meringue
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 1½ cups all purpose gluten free flour see post above for link to recommended brand, plus more for sprinkling
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your flour blend already contains it
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter roughly chopped and chilled
- ½ cup sour cream full fat, chilled
- Ice water by the teaspoonful only as necessary*
Filling
- ½ cup butter melted
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons almond flour** sifted
Meringue
- 4 large egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ cup sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine well. Add the chopped and chilled butter, and toss to coat it in the dry ingredients. Flatten each chunk of butter between your thumb and forefinger. Add the sour cream, and mix to moisten the dry ingredients with the sour cream. The dough should be shaggy and somewhat crumbly. Knead the dough together with clean hands until it begins to come together. Add ice water by the teaspoon only if necessary for the dough to hold together. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and press into a disk as you close the plastic wrap around the dough. It will still seem rough. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch pie plate with butter and set aside.
- Once the dough has chilled, turn it out onto a lightly floured piece of unbleached parchment paper. Sprinkle the dough lightly with more flour, and roll it out into a rectangle that is about 1 inch thick, moving the dough frequently and sprinkling it lightly with flour if it begins to stick. Fold the dough over on itself, sprinkle the dough again lightly with flour, and roll out the dough once again into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Complete the folding and rolling process once more, finally rolling out the dough into an approximately 12-inch round, a little less than ½ an inch thick.
- Roll the pie crust loosely onto the rolling pin and then unroll it over the prepared pie plate. Trim the roughest edges of the crust with kitchen shears. Lift up the edges of the pie crust gently to create slack in the crust, and place the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Tuck the excess pie crust under itself, and crimp the edge gently all the way around the crust by pinching the dough at regular intervals with one hand, and creating a crimped impression with the forefinger of the other hand. If you are unable to do this, just leave the edges as they are after folding over the excess - either way it's beautiful! Cover the pie crust with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350° F while pie crust is chilling. Once pie crust is chilled, remove the plastic wrap and prick the bottom of the crust several tines with a fork. Place a piece of parchment over top of of the crust and place dried beans or pie weights over the bottom the crust. Parbake crust for 8-10 minutes, just until edges start to turn golden.
- While pie crust is par baking, combine butter, maple syrup, sugar, eggs, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk until well combined, then add in sifted almond flour and stir until incorporated.
- Pour filling into partially baked crust, and bake for an 40-45 minutes, until the center of the pie is set and is a light golden brown color. I recommend loosely covering the edges of the pie with foil for at least half of the cooking time to avoid overcooking the crust. This crust can become tough if overcooked.
- Remove eggs from the refrigerator and separate whites while cold. Place egg whites in a small bowl, cover and allow to come to room temperature. Complete this step before making pie filling to save time.
- Pour eggs whites into a spotlessly-clean bowl. Whip the egg whites until they are glossy and smooth, then add the cream of tartar to help the egg whites hold their form and mix for another minute to incorporate.
- Slowly add the sugar to the egg whites about a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition until the sugar is incorporated. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
- Spread meringue on top of warm pie filling, all the way to the crust, and use the back of a spoon to create peaks by lightly pressing spoon into meringue pulling away quickly. Place pie back in the oven on the middle rack for about 10 minutes until meringue is lightly toasted and golden around the edges.
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