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!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please share this post with friends!
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 posting this.
I had a copy of it from Taste of Home Magazine (from the 1990s) but had lost it in the move.
🙂 So glad I could help!!
Just wondering, will the pie crust cook fully with all the water? I always have a problem with that. Thanks
sure does! It’s a delicious pie.
Exactly like a milk pie or “shlek pie” instead of water you use milk, pa Dutch recipe.
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!
I agree! Thanks so much for the ‘x’ aluminum foil pie crust tip! Will benefit from that forever. 🙂
Neat enough to try:}
Has anyone tried adding a little fresh lemon juice and maybe even a little lemon zest
This pie is so good! I added sugar on top and torched it like creme brûlée and it blew me away!!!!! Thank you so much!!!
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
AMISH OATMEAL PIE
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 unbaked pie shell
Preheat oven to 350º F and line a pie dish with unbaked pie crust.
In a large bowl, stir together brown sugar, oats, sugar and salt, then stir in
milk, beaten eggs, butter and vanilla extract. Continue stirring until fully
combined.
Pour mixture into pie shell, then place in oven.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until pie is cooked through.
Remove from oven and let cool 10-15 minutes, then serve with ice cream or
whipped cream.
I’m anxious to try this recipe!
I hope you get the chance to soon Jan!!
Thank you.
I made this pie for a brunch at school and added mini chocolate chips….everybody LOVED it and couldn’t believe it was oatmeal!
Have you ever tried this recipe with tea instead of water? I feel like that would be an easy way to incorporate some fun flavors.
Could this be made into a “chocolate” pie by sprinkling some cocoa/baking chocolate on top of it?
This is so not a depression recipe. That much sugar and butter was super scarce. You would not waste it on water pie. You would more likely use apples.
You know what is funny? My grandmother used to always talk about her childhood and those rare occasions when they got to have baked apples. It was one of her favorite treats but they hardly ever had them, usually only when eating at a farm where they were picking cotton, if ever. I asked her once why she hardly ever ate apples since she loved them so much and she looked at me in surprise and said “we didn’t have an apple tree!”. So for her, butter and sugar were easier to come by, apples were the rarity. Just another reminder to us that there are many facets to every gem.
I disagree that this is not a Depression Era delight. My mother grew up during the Depression and while things were scares, more often the problem was rationing. She said her Mom would set aside a portion of her sugar ration and then would have a good deal of sugar available for birthdays and holidays. My Mom said her birthday cake for years was a Cast Iron Skillet Burnt Sugar Cake. A cup of sugar was melted in a cast iron skillet over a hot flame and then a cake batter was poured on top and then into the oven. When you turned the cake over, the caramelized sugar poured over the sides of the cake like Flan. That sounds so delicious!
so true
and if you were.lucky enough to have a milk. cow..like my Grandmother
you had Cream.and she made her own butter ..the depression Era had women being very very creative with their ingredients ..everything could become.something else !!!
Rationing was during WWII, not the depression.
Hi. That oatmeal pie is often called mock pecan pie. Tastes like and looks like pecan pie but with oatmeal instead of nuts. My Family’s little one ask for it.
How can something be too sweet and too bland at the same time? Bland is when something is tasteless, but if it taste sweet or anything else in the favor section then it is not bland.
Great dessert, and cut in 8 servings it’s only 185 calories per serving. Bonus!!!
Thanks for sharing that info with us Marsha, so glad you enjoyed the pie!!
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!
I’m wondering about an old recipe my mother remembers her mother making. (My mother is 97 years old, so this was long ago!) It was a skillet dessert that her mom called “Frog Bellies.” Grandma would throw it together and cook it in a skillet. It wasn’t a cookie and it wasn’t a cake, but it was a small cake-like dessert that she spooned into a small “pile” in a skillet. I believe mom remembered that she might cook 2 or 3 at a time in the same skillet. When it cooked, it puffed up in the center like a frog’s belly. My mom said it was sweet and cake-like; they ate them warm from the skillet with no frosting or syrup or anything. I think they were about the size of a pancake, but like I said, it would puff up in the center. My mom loved to cook and she said she simply never paid any attention when her mom would make these. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? I’ve asked all my cousins who might remember their moms mentioning this and none of them had ever heard of them. Anyone?
Maybe dutch pancakes?
Scotch Pancakes, but made with buttermilk will do this!
Just down the street and sounds great to me!
To me they sound exactly like Dutch babies. Also known as a German pancake, a Dutch pancake, a big baby. It has a lot of different names but it is cake-like and it definitely puffs up in the oven and it’s delicious so it definitely could be eaten without any toppings and still be delicious. But I’ve always made them as one big pancake and a cast iron skillet and then cut it for everyone to get a piece. But, I did a little research after reading your comment and apparently they can be made small like individual pancakes. They are then called poffertjes.
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?
Just now reading this. My grandmother and mother made vinegar pies too! So good and it’s one of my sons favorite also. When I mention it to others especially younger folks they will make a face and say eww! They don’t even know.
I always find it comical when people ask CAN YOU change this or that? Change it! Have a blast! But don’t expect the same original intended recipe to be the same with coconut or almond flour when women could barely scratch together basic ingredients. It’s laughable! I hope your boujie, coconut flour, non depression era pie is delish..
YOU are my new favorite Carolyn!
Some of us can’t have flour as it makes us sick as a dog but yeah call it boujie…have fun being a jerk…
Wow! Im just looking for a water pie recipe. I came across these comments. Im probably not going to linger, or come back.
Janel I originally heard about this recipe on Paula Dean’s posts. I dont care for Paula Dean so I came looking for a “second opinion”!!
Though Im not a fan, Ms Dean said of this pie:
Consider adding lemon zest, lemon juice, almonds, almond extract, cinnamon and more suggestions.
I think as long as the chemistry is not disturbed you should get a good set on the filling. Paula Dean was worried about hers. I dont think she cheated but her first one was perfect.
The gluten in the flour absorbed the water and thats what gets the gel. You might get good results with an alternative flour, but low gluten flour usually has poor results in recipes needing those long gluten strands. Even artisan, low gluten wheat flour could be a problem.
This recipe should accommodate an alternate base nicely. I use almond flour to bake with vegetable matter added to the matrix. For example, almond flour makes kick-butt muffins with egg and mashed sweet potato. Even picky little boys eat it.
The subtle flavors of butter and vanilla wont tolerate much interference, though, so if it were me, i would add at least part of an envelope of unflavored gelatin to my almond flour recipe. It might not work!!! But then it might get spectacular results without changing the flavor.
Pay no attention to those women behind the curtain. They are jealous of your creativity.
Btw I think there are algae extracts at the health food store you can try, and make it nearly vegan. I wouldnt omit the butter!
Good on you, Carolyn. People in the depression era were not concerned with “gluten-free” or other new world concerns. Just feeding their families was the concern and I live the ingenuity they used to put these things on the table. If you want “gluten free” go to Whole Foods. They will be happy to sell you anything.
Celiac disease is real, and affects many people. The only treatment is limiting consumption of gluten.
Yes
People did not worry about such in 1930. They didnt know. And a 50 year old was an old person, folks died younger.
We know more about physiology and medicine now. I think Janel is maybe cooking for a celiac patient and was wanting good information.
I hope she has it now.
I think she was joking… 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe!
And now I am done with this snarky, entitled set of posts.
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!
My mom always called this “Poor Man’s Pie.” She would use the bits of raw pie crust not needed from whatever other kind of pie she was making, press it into a pan the best she could with such little crust 🙂 sprinkle a bit of flour, sugar, cinnamon or vanilla, sprinkle water, or milk, onto the crust, and dot it with butter. It was my favorite part of the pie making because you got to eat it immediately. I’m sure she got this from her mother who was a teen during the Great Depression. 🙂
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!
Your son is sooo lucky, Marilyn! Your enthusiasm to try new things is infectious! Thank you for leaving your lovely comment!
Best wishes,
Laura
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 loved your comment and the story you told. My grandmother always had a story for nearly every recipe!
Oh my goodness Ms, Claudine. What a wonderful post. My grandmother grew up in the Depression and I remember her saving every little left-over, no matter how tiny. I think I got that from her. At 53, I still will take the kids uneaten food off their plate for lunch before I throw it away. My granddaughters cleared their places the other night and threw their food in the trash and my heart stopped.
In the early 50’s, my dad was in the Air Force. My parents were 19 and 16. My dad’s pay was messed up so all they had for a few months was my mom’s allotment of $23 a month. The cheapest thing they could buy was tuna. They made tuna everything. And in all my years, I seldom saw them eat another tuna sandwich. lol
I love your story. It makes me remember where I came from. ♥️
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.
Oh my gosh, your story about what happened to Thomas’s is heartbreaking, and infuriating. To lose a family business that lent so much to the uniqueness of the local community is tragic. Shame on Rick’s. Glad you’ve been able to preserve some of that heritage through your copycat recipes.
I hope no one ate at Rick’s and they went out of business quickly.
I made this pie and found if you cut the butter into thinner pats it spreads more evenly over the pie. It was very good and a great conversation starter. My family loved it.
I also made it using coconut water and added shredded coconut. Very good!
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?
My mom will be 91 next month. Still drives locally and does her own shopping now that I’m sick. She said grandma (mother of 14!!!) made a similar pie to water pie but used vinegar instead. Only a couple of tablespoons. She said it tasted like lemon pie to them, which they only got at Christmas.
Vinegar pie. My older sister mentioned this to me. She said it was delicious. I found a recipe online, but have not made it yet.
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
My late mother used to make a pie that sounds similar. It was called “Poor Man’s Pie”. Is this the same pie?
It very well could be. Many of the old recipes go by different names. THey were called whatever each family named it.
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?
Gluten free probably wouldn’t work, unfortunately. It’s the gluten in the flour that allows the water in the pie to solidify and gel. The only substitute I can imagine is corn starch or arrowroot. Both items gel water beautifully, but I have no idea if they are gluten free. If you used agar or gelatin it would totally change the feeling of the pie.
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!!
Never heard of this but I have heard my Grannie say something about a milk pie. But I can’t think if we had it. She always had dessert at every afternoon meal. Will give this a try. I usually make something that know one has had for Christmas Eve. A surprise dessert.
I went into this recipe with a lot of curiosity and a bit of skepticism. The pie turned out really good. The filling kind of reminds me of a tart. I can see it being a good basis for fruit.
Thank you for giving it a try Merrie, so glad you liked it!
Can brown sugar be used to replace the white?
I tried it and added some cut up peaches. It turned out good.
what a great idea!
My parents were depression era children born in the 20s, We never made this , Im going to be 60 this year and wow its cool to hear about new recipes that were made and popular way back then , during the depression. In memory of them I will enjoy trying this. Thanks.
Hi there,
I’m so excited to try this recipe! The only hiccup is that I only have mini tart shells instead of a pie shell. I hope it works. I was hoping you would have some tips or some insight as to how to go about this. Thank you very much.
My great grandmother made a pie similar to this. She put the butter in the crust first, then the water, flour and sugar. She also sprinkled cinnamon over the top after the vanilla. She called it shoo-fly pie. We added raisins to it sometimes too, and used less sugar.
I made this pie and found if you cut the butter into thinner pats it spreads more evenly over the pie. It was very good and a great conversation starter. My family loved it.
I also made it using coconut water and added shredded coconut. Very good!
Thanks for the tips Ann!!
Thank you for posting this! I have a Church Cookbook out of Michigan depression era time, I couldn’t make the end of the recipe out. All your ingredients were the same. With the Quarantine 2020, my daughter and I have been baking/cooking different era foods. Lots of fun, we gave you a shout out on her YouTube video for the updated recipe. (DJCatnip is her name with Depression-Era pies video).
What a fun project!!! Thank you so much for the shout out and I would love to hear what some of your favorites have been!
I made this pie and found if you cut the butter into thinner pats it spreads more evenly over the pie. It was very good and a great conversation starter. My family loved it.
I also made it using coconut water and added shredded coconut. Very good!
For various reasons I do not have access to a deep dish pie crust. I do have a regular one. Has anyone tried it with such a crust? Suggestions on adjustments? Is it possible?
My only concern is that the pie filling might bubble over and make a mess of your oven. So, if I were trying it with a regular pie crust, I would definitely preheat a sheet pan or pizza pan in the oven while the oven is coming to temperature, and bake the pie on the pan in case it spills over. Good luck! The pie is very good!
What better time to try a Depression Era recipe, with finances in such peril, and grocery items hard-to-come-by!!! In all honesty, I tried this completely on a lark, just out of curiosity. It is delicious! The fact that it requires so few ingredients is an added plus, and it will be a great conversation starter if we’re ever able to have guests for dinner again! Thanks for sharing. My husband loves it, and says it tops Chocolate Cream AND Key Lime Pie!!! It’s a keeper, for sure!
Oh WOW, I am so glad it was a hit!
I make a milk pie recipe I got from my mom, she called Nanny Pie. It’s very similar but the final step is to sprinkle cinnamon on it. For those that find this a bit bland this may make all the difference.
Thanks you so much for sharing Karen!!