Desperation Pies Are the Depression-Era Desserts You Should Be Making Now

If any dessert is synonymous with American culture, it's pie. This American standard has historically been a celebration of seasonal ingredients. At the first sign of spring, we begin to covet rhubarb and strawberry pies. This craving eventually gives way to blackberry, peach, cherry, and blueberry pies in the summer months. By the time fall rolls around, the king of all American desserts — apple pie — is in full swing. And as winter closes in, we celebrate the end-of-year holidays with our supply of pumpkin, sweet potato, and pecans. But this seasonal pie schedule has just one flaw: How do you deal with off-season pie cravings?

Fortunately for us, widespread refrigeration and transportation of fresh produce means we can bake our favorite pies year-round. But this wasn't always the case. For generations Americans went to desperate measures to continue baking their favorite dessert, even when fresh produce was out of reach. These pies, known as "desperation pies," were born in the late 18th century, from more of a seasonal desperation than an economic one. However, desperation pies returned to prominence in home kitchens during times of economic scarcity, specifically during the Great Depression and World War II.

In recent years, we've seen another resurgence in the popularity of desperation pies. Some have even been solidified as regional delicacies, such as buttermilk pie in the South or sugar cream pie in Indiana. And as food costs are predicted to climb even higher this year, home cooks are returning to these affordable, pantry-staple desserts. Of course, curiosity is another driving factor behind this increased interest — how can a pie made with just water, flour, sugar, vanilla extract, and butter result in anything remotely delicious? It's called water pie, and we're into it.

What Are Desperation Pies?

Also known as "make-do" pies, desperation pies are made with simple ingredients that home cooks almost always have on hand. Accounts of the first desperation pies date back to the 1740s, when people had to cook with what was in-season wherever they lived. Resourceful cooks used pantry-staple ingredients to mimic the flavor of off-season fruits. For example, vinegar pie was developed as the desperation pie version of a lemon pie, using vinegar to replace the acidity of lemons.

Desperation pies experienced a resurgence in popularity during the Great Depression and World War II, when economic scarcity and rationing made various ingredients either too expensive or completely unavailable. Today, widespread refrigeration, produce transport, and canned pie filling reduce the need for these highly pragmatic pies, but these convenience factors most certainly haven't made them obsolete. Many desperation pies have become nostalgic, regional favorites that are just as popular during times of plenty.

So, the next time you're craving a scrumptious sweet or you need to make a dessert you hadn't planed for, just look to your pantry; you likely have all the ingredients you need to make one of these famously delicious desperation pies without making a trip to the store.

Common Types of Desperation Pie

Over centuries, Americans have developed dozens of desperation pies. Below you'll find some of the most beloved pies that have stood the test of time.

Buttermilk Pie

A great alternative to fruit pies, buttermilk pie is a sweet confection that can be made year-round using just sugar, flour, butter, eggs, and buttermilk. Southern cooks used their bounty of buttermilk to give this pie its signature tangy flavor. It remains a regional delicacy to this day, and modern cooks will often spruce it up with a little lemon and/or vanilla.

Try it: Buttermilk Pie

Chess Pies

Like buttermilk pie, chess pie is a Southern pie with a rich, custard-like filling. The two are often confused for one another, but at its most basic chess pie consists of just butter, sugar, eggs, and either cornmeal or flour. The absence of acidic buttermilk is really what differentiates the two — chess pie doesn't have the tanginess of buttermilk pie, it's just pure, simple sweetness.

Try it: Chess Pie III

Mock Apple Pie

It's apple pie without the apples. Born out of thrifty innovation, mock apple pie uses mashed up crackers in place of apples. Buttery crackers (such as Ritz) are soaked in sugar and flavored with cinnamon and lemon juice. The resulting texture is soft and tender with a warm, cinnamony flavor that resembles apple pie filling.

Try it: Mock Apple Pie

Shoofly Pie

Pennsylvania Dutch colonists created what would soon be a classic American dessert using staple ingredients of the time: molasses, flour, brown sugar, and water. It gets its name from the pools of sweet, sticky molasses that form on the surface of the pie, attracting flies.

Try it: Shoofly Pie V

Sugar Cream Pie

Named the official state pie of Indiana in 2009, sugar cream pie — also called hoosier sugar cream pie — is believed to have originated in Amish and Shaker communities. It's a simple combination of flour (or cornstarch), butter, salt, vanilla, cream, and sugar.

Try it: Sugar Cream Pie I

Vinegar Pie

When citrus fruits were out of season or too expensive, resourceful cooks turned to vinegar to recreate the tangy, acidic flavor of lemon pie. Traditionally, vinegar pie is made with apple cider vinegar, eggs, butter, sugar, and flour.

Try it: Vinegar Pie VI

Water Pie

Also known as "I need pie now, let me check the pantry," this extraordinarily frugal pie doesn't require milk or eggs, allowing folks to enjoy a sweet treat even during economic insecurity.

Try it: What Is Water Pie?

Related:

• 13 Depression-Era Desserts That Still Taste Decadent
• Our 20 Best Vintage Dessert Recipes of All Time
• Browse our entire collection of Vintage Pie Recipes.