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Ingredients
- Shortbread Crust Ingredients:
- 3 unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- heaping 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons rolled oats
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Sugar Pie Filling Ingredient:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 1/4 cups half and half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Preparation
Step 1
I chose to bake my sugar pie in two small cast iron skillets. The skillets make for a rustic presentation and a group of four could just dig in with forks or eat slices as shown at the top of this post.
Mix all shortbread crust ingredients by hand in a small mixing bowl until they just begin to stick together.
In a medium-sized saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.
Once butter is melted, add cornstarch, sugar, and half and half.
Stir constantly until the mixture begins to boil and becomes thick and creamy. This should take about five minutes. You'll know it's ready as there will be a dramatic shift from a soupy liquid to something porridge-like.
Remove from heat and mix in vanilla.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Distribute filling evenly over shortbread crusts in the two prepared skillets.
Sprinkle nutmeg over the filling.
Bake for 40 minutes or until tops are set. The filling will still be a little jiggly, but it won't move very much if you shake the skillet.
You can easily vary this recipe by using a traditional pie pan, larger skillet, or square baking dish. You can also replace the nutmeg with cinnamon or a mix of the two. Lastly, you may choose to use a more traditional pie crust or leave the pie crust off entirely.