Virginia Peanut Pie Recipe

Makes One 10-inch pie

Food & Wine released its list of “The Best Pie in Every State” just before Thanksgiving 2021, and when I saw our new pie representing the Commonwealth of Virginia, I knew better than to quickly post the accolades on social media. My exhausted team would have walked out as they anticipated a new crush of pie orders.

I’ll let Food & Wine describe the pie I had introduced just a few months earlier: “Dating back to colonial times and still a staple in the small towns throughout the Old Dominion, the peanut pie is about as uniquely local as you can get around here, dessert-wise. Too bad, then, that many people find the classic recipe to be a stodgy affair — one possible reason you don’t see it on every dessert menu in the region, something that for a long time bugged baker Brian Noyes, whose cult favorite Red Truck Bakery in Marshall is widely regarded as one of the best in the state. Starting out with the best Virginia peanuts, the Red Truck version gives the old girl a beautiful upgrade, incorporating crumbles of chocolate cake, coconut, and a bit of hot honey, which balances nicely with locally produced hickory syrup. You’ve never had a pie quite like this.”

We use big fat Virginia peanuts from the Marks family of Southampton County, the heart of Virginia peanut country. The hot honey adds a bit of zing to the filling, and I like how the hickory syrup plays with the peanuts. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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Ingredients

• Unbleached all-purpose flour, for dusting
• ½ recipe (1 disk) Classic Piecrust (page 169), or 1 store-bought crust
• ¾ cup (packed) crumbled chocolate cake, homemade (such as leftover Triple-Chocolate Cake on page 189) or store-bought
• 3 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• ¾ cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ cup sorghum syrup or dark corn syrup
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• ¼ cup hickory syrup, preferably Falling Bark Farm Hickory Syrup, or maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons hot honey
• 2 tablespoons apple cider or apple juice
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped, plus
• ½ cup whole peanuts
• Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or Chantilly cream (page 181, Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook), for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll out the piecrust dough into a 13-inch round. Fold the dough over your rolling pin and gently transfer it to a 10-inch pie plate; don’t stretch the dough when fitting it in. Trim and crimp the edges.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

3. Spread the cake crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pie dough.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the melted butter, brown sugar, orange zest, salt, sorghum syrup, light corn syrup, hickory syrup, hot honey, cider, and vanilla, whisking until smooth and thickened. Stir in the coconut and the chopped peanuts, then pour the mixture evenly over the cake crumbs. (A few crumbs may float up; that’s okay.) Scatter the whole peanuts evenly across the top of the pie.

5. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating the baking sheet from front to back halfway through, until the crust is golden brown and the filling has puffed and set.