Golden Honey Pie

A uniquely addictive alternative to pumpkin and apple.

Hi Bakers!

I grew up on my grandmother’s fruit pies, but egg-set and chess pies weren’t in her repertoire. She was a wonderful cook and made everything from scratch, so it’s pretty hard to compete with her recipes. Wanting to introduce a new style of pie to our family, I was excited to create this Golden Honey Pie for the holidays this year.

That first taste of the sweet, custardy filling with flaky salt is otherworldly! If you are looking to start a new tradition this year or want to change it up from your typical pumpkin-apple-pecan trifecta, then this one is for you.

This past weekend, we celebrated our 11th Canadian Thanksgiving. I love how it sets off the long holiday season, and I was even more thankful this year for a full house of happy, healthy family.

This will shock no one but I love to feed people. It’s probably why I love this job so much. Being expats means that we are often without family nearby. But Canadian Thanksgiving is such a fun way for our American families to come visit and celebrate with us before the season gets so busy.

There’s nothing like hearing the roars of multiple generations around the dining table - playing rousing games of Uno and working on jigsaw puzzles - edges first, a Lindow family non-negotiable. I loved watching my oldest play rummy with my dad and his sister, just like I used to play with them and my grandfather when I was a child. 

For Thanksgiving, my mom and I had our dueling ovens with our respective dishes - me with the desserts and vegetables and her with the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing/dressing. There were cloth napkins, sparkling cider, and our first ever kids’ table. 

Desserts were plentiful, including this pie. It’s an easy one to make the day before - giving it plenty of time to set for easier slicing. And if you’re stuffed from turkey and want to sample everything (speaking from experience), the honey pie is perfect even the next day.

Surprise, surprise - honey pie is pretty sweet. The salty accents help with this. I swapped in brown sugar for part of the granulated and added sour cream for balance. Sour cream and honey in a pie? Trust me, it works.

Honey is the predominant flavor here. I’ve tried it with different types of honey and their nuances are reflected in the final bake. I recommend a wild flower or orange blossom honey. If you prefer something milder, then a clover honey would be a good choice.

How to Par and Blind Bake a Pie Crust

To blind bake a pie crust is to bake pie dough in a pie pan without filling. The end result is a fully baked, empty pie crust.

The pie dough is rolled out and fitted into a pie pan. It holds its shape by being lined with foil or parchment paper then filled with pie weights. The weights keep the bottom from puffing up and the sides from slumping to make way for the filling.

---

Pie Camp: Week 2 (How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust)

---

Once partially baked, the pie weights are removed and the crust is baked until done and slightly golden.

Par baked means that the crust is partially baked. It refers to the first part of baking the pie crust (up until the pie weights are removed).

Partially baked pie crust

Blind baked pie crust