Water Pie is one of those magical recipes that came out of the depression era where cooks with little to nothing figured out how to make delicious dishes for those they love. This recipe was shared with me by Kay West and I published it in my third cookbook, Sweetness: Recipes to Celebrate the Warmth, Love, and Blessings of a Full Life.
This recipe belonged to Kay’s grandmother, who had eight children and made her family of ten three meals from scratch every single day. During leaner times, she developed this recipe so that her family could still enjoy dessert from time to time, no matter how hard their days were. These recipes are such a special treasure to us and I think you’ll really enjoy the simplicity of this pie. It has a creamy buttery taste, similar to a warm vanilla cookie once it’s chilled and sliced. Half the thrill will be telling your family the name and that the main ingredient is water!
You know when a recipe was created to make something out of nothing, it’s going to be simple on the ingredients. You’ll need: A deep dish pie crust*, water, sugar, flour, butter, and some vanilla.
*See tips for success at the bottom of this post.
Begin by pouring water into your deep dish crust. It doesn’t have to be hot or anything, just straight from the tap is fine.
Stir together flour and sugar.
Sprinkle this over your water. The original recipe called for doing this with a spoon so I’m showing you that way but I usually just use my hand to sprinkle it because I feel like I can get it more even that way.
This is our water with flour/sugar sprinkled over. Don’t stir.
Drizzle vanilla over this. Don’t stir.
Place pats of butter on top.
Place this in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce temp to 375 and cover the edges of the crust if need be to prevent burning. Cook for another 30 minutes once you have reduced the temp.
Pie will be very watery in the center when you remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely and then refrigerate several hours before cutting.
Enjoy this creamy buttery pie recipe that came about from good hearted cooks wanting to bake up something sweet for their loved ones during hard times!
Tips for success:
- I use a Pillsbury all vegetable frozen deep dish pie crust, unbaked, for this recipe. I suggest a store bought deep dish pie crust because homemade pie crusts in your own dish are going to vary in terms of depth and may result in the filling not getting fully done in the prescribed amount of time.
- Before you begin making this pie, tear off a piece of foil large enough to cover your pie dish. Cut an X in the center and peel back the X. This will make it quick and easy to cover your pie should the edges begin getting too dark and will keep you from losing valuable heat during the baking process.
- Pie will be bubbly and could be watery in some spots when you pull it out of the oven. It will gel fully as it cools. It is best if you allow this pie to cool completely and then cover and refrigerate until chilled before cutting.
YUM!
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Ingredients
- 1 9 inch deep dish pie crust, unbaked
- 1 1/2 cups water (that is one and a half cups)
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 5 tablespoons butter, cut into 5 pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 and set empty pie crust on a baking sheet.
- Pour 1 + 1/2 cups water into the pie crust.
- In a small bowl, stir together flour and sugar. Sprinkle evenly over water in crust. Don't stir.
- Drizzle vanilla over water in pie crust. Place pats of butter on top of this.
- Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and cover sides of crust if needed to prevent burning. Continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes.
- Pie will be watery when you pull it out of the oven but will gel as it cools. Allow to cool completely and then cover and place in the fridge until chilled before cutting.
Some other recipes you might enjoy:
- Chocolate Cobbler (doesn’t even need an egg and can accomodate many food allergies)
- Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy – and how my Granny made it
- Homemade Banana Pudding – A Southern Classic
- Waste Not, Want No French Toast – turn hamburger and hot dog buns into this delicious breakfast!
This recipe featured in Meal Plan Monday and Weekend Potluck!
Yum 
Have a recipe for oatmeal pie? I had a slice at church a couple of years ago and it’s delish!
I am almost positive I saw one of those in Grandmama’s cookbook that I inherited. I’m going to dig around and see!
This recipe looks similar to Hutterite sugar pie, I’ve also heard of something called milk pie that is supposed to be similar.
Love your old recipes. Always looking to stump my family.
Thank you for the aluminum foil tip with the “x”!! In all my 67 years, that’s a new one on me, and also the water pie! We learn something new every day!
check out almost any Amish site. I bet you find it there. I have made this. Its almost identical to pecan pie only has oatmeal on top instead of pecans. If I made it again I would be tempted to use both. Tastes like a oatmeal cookie to me! Good Luck in your search! Sheree
Holy Cow…. I just can’t wait to make this !!!
I have a few books from the depression era & some of those recipes are just amazing…. you sit there thinking — no that can’t work– and then when you make it you tell yourself — I can’t believe how good this really is !! Thank You so much for sharing this recipe
I just have such admiration for the folks who lived through that and the wisdom they gleaned as a result! Thank YOU for being here, Abby!
Since it’s made with water…no calories right ? 🙂
Sure, let’s go with that!
Calories? YES, how about that cup of sugar also flour and butter.
I make the oatmeal pie frequently, is an Amish pie and they serve it for breakfast
I am a 88 yr old depression baby of a family of 6 kids, so Mom made a feast out of nothing. She made vinegar pie which is very good, I have several cookbooks from that era and enjoy just reading them like a novel,one was printed in 1930 and is hand written.
What a wonderful treasure to have!! What are some of your favorites that you have found in the cookbooks?
can sugar sub. be used. also….. can coconut or almond flour be used instead of regular flour? then this water pie can be a low carb pie.
Wow!!! Who knew?? Yes I inherited a ton of recipes from my Grandmother, but I’ve never seen this before!!! Thank you for sharing!
It’s a unicorn, that’s for sure! I bet your Grandmother’s recipes are treasures. What a blessing!
I am a Depression-Baby of 92 years, enjoy cooking & creating new recipe’s. I’ve never heard of Water Pie, but am anxious to try it. I cook for my 65 yr. old son EVERY day — & will ask him to GUESS the KIND of Pie I’ve served him. Thanks for recipe!
I can’t even imagine the lives you’ve blessed with your cooking and your heart throughout the years. Thank you for making this world a better place by being in it!
Marilyn’s comment is amazing! I love it. God Bless you and your son, Marilyn!
My Mom used to mention a pie like this, but she never made it that I can remember. She and my Dad married during the height of the Great Depression. Boy, that took some guts to do, but they did and survived to raise 4 healthy children. I wasn’t born until after WW II, so I don’t recall the hard times, but my older brothers and sister sure remember. One thing my Mom taught me was how to take nothing and make something out of it. I mean there were times I can remember looking into the refrigerator and thinking to myself that tonight there would be nothing good to eat. But Mom always came through and managed to put a hot, filling and delicious meal out of absolutely (in my opinion) nothing. She taught me many things, to put God first, never forget to tell someone you love them when they were leaving because it could be the last time you may see them, never go to bed angry, be willing to apologize if you are wrong, I could go on and on, but one of the best thing she taught me was how to economize and make do with what was in the pantry or refrigerator. If not for that, my husband and I would have gone hungry when we were first married because he was in the Army and at that time the pay was a very small amount and only once a month.
Thank you Christy for letting me ramble and for sharing this recipe and as I have all your cookbooks, I remember reading about this recipe. Your stories are always an inspiration to me and I look forward to opening your email everyday. May God continue to bless you and your family.
Claudine in Fort Worth, TX
Claudine, your rambling is priceless wisdom and you are genius to share it. Thank you for blessing all of us. Please come back and share your heart and memories whenever you like. It is a true gift!
I wonder what would happen if you stirred cocoa powder in with the flour and sugar?
Sounds divine! If you try it, let me know!
Hi Christy: OMG water pie! I thought she was kidding however my Mississippi maternal grandmother said ‘in the old days’ she made a H2O pie. occasionally when she had one, she would beat one egg in with the water. From the late 1920s to about 1945 they were tenant farmers; that was a hard life. She managed somehow to have a sewing machine, taught herself how to sew & traded making clothes for eggs, sugar & flour. Wow how times have changed! I have all her recipes along with my Mom’s. I do so cherish those.
Thanks for your stories, humor, wisdom & sharing your recipes.
From one southern gal to another. Kate
This looks and sounds incredible. I can’t wait to try it. I’m a newbie here and found you while looking for an Alabama white sauce. I lived in Harvest for a couple of years back in the early nineties. There was a restaurant on Hwy. 72 called Thomas’ BBQ that had THE BEST white sauce…to me much better than “the infamous” in Decatur. I don’t think it’s there anymore. I have tried numerous recipes, but can’t find anything I like as much as theirs. I don’t think Thomas’ used horseradish in their white sauce, so I was excited when I ran across your recipe. Excited to grill some chicken this weekend and try yours out! And maybe have some Water Pie for desert. 🙂
OH GIRL!! I LOVE THOMAS’S! We used to live down the road from it and there was nothing at all like it. It did close, was bought out by a local chain, Rick’s. Rick’s struck a deal and on a handshake promise said they’d keep the employees, name, etc. The day after they signed they came in and fired everyone, generations of families had worked there. It was tragic. I have a few Thomas’s recipes on the site, well they are my copycats but they taste just like it! I have Smokehouse Chicken and their Mashed Potato Salad. You and me have the same taste in White Sauce so I think you’ll like it! So excited to meet another kindred spirit!
I love all the love on this site! So many people sharing family stories as well as recipes. Thank you for creating this site.
Going to try this for a luncheon my apartment building is having next week. This is a senior citizens building, so I know there will be many comments about it. I’ll let you know what I hear.
Did you make the pie yet? What did they think?
This looks delicious. Does it come out tasting sort of like a custard?
Wondering like the poster with cocoa powder if cinnamon could be added to the flour sugar mixture.
Saw this recipe and was intrigued. We tried it and it was surprisingly VERY GOOD! It was brought to work and was gone in no time. It made me think about back in that time when this was probably such a great treat for them. I really liked it! Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you for commenting after actually making the pie. Based on your experience, I’m looking forward to trying it.
I actually made it, too 😉 But I appreciate and welcome all of the comments, regardless of whether or not they’ve tried a recipe, just like your comment here. Y’all are what make this a community and a conversation and that makes it all the more worthwhile. <3
What a fun and interesting pie. I’ve never heard of it, but it looks fantastic!
I’m going to make this soon. I thought the name must have been a mistake or a joke, but after reading it I have to try it. I wonder how anyone thought of it in the first place, my other thought was why doesn’t the crust get soggy and turn to paste.
Do you know if this could be made with a gluten free pre-made crust and gluten free flour?
What amazes me about this recipe, is the ingenuity of this generation. Hardships can be blessings with creativity. Thank you for another excellent recipe!
Reminded me of a cake my Granny used to make in her little kerosene oven. She never measured anything but the cake was always perfect and she used commodity peanut butter for icing. My absolute fave was her fruit salad she only made at Christmas, 2 yellow apples, 2 red apples, 2 bananas peeled and one orange. Dice very small. Sprinkle about a cup of sugar over the fruit then add FRESH* cream to cover and keep cool til time to serve. Somehow this bowl of fruit fed 16 with left overs for me!!! *fresh from the morning milk, I use a small carton from the grocery store.
It is amazing to think of how our Grandmothers could stretch a dish or meal and always have enough!!
My sister and I made this over the weekend and couldn’t believe how good it was. And to think the main ingredient was water! Thanks Christy.
🙂 I am so glad you tried it and liked it Beth!!
Is this like a sugar cream pie, my mom and dad used to get a slice that pie at a diner in the town they grew up in when they were dating, this looks like Wicks sugar cream pie that you can buy frozen at the grocery store. I’m gonna have to try it. Looks delish!!