Cracker Pie
Cracker Pie is a simple pie with simple ingredients and it’s easily altered to suit whatever you have on hand. I like to use a can of drained fruit cocktail but it would also be good with a can of drained pineapple. I use saltine crackers but I’ve heard of other folks using Ritz type crackers. Mama always adds a little coconut to hers and you could also add dried fruit instead of canned, without having to alter the recipe. When I got ready to make this today, I found I had everything I needed on hand, which is why old fashioned pies like this have been favorites of home cooks for as long as stoves have been in kitchens.
I’m getting ready for the folks from a food magazine to come spend the day with me tomorrow. We have a full day of photo shoots so I need to get some dishes washed and floors mopped! With that in mind, lets just dive right in!
Recipe Ingredients: A deep dish pie crust, sugar, eggs, vanilla, fruit cocktail, chopped pecans (optional), saltine crackers, and a little bit of baking powder.
Prick your crust a few times with a fork and bake it in a 325 degree oven for ten minutes, or until very lightly browned.
Crush your crackers. ( now you know how cracker pie got it’s name).
I’m crushing them for their own good 🙂
Place egg whites in a mixing bowl.
Beat this with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. You’ll know this has happened when you pull your beater up out of it and a peak of beaten egg white still sticks straight up where your beater was.
These are my stiff egg whites, with my sugar and baking powder dumped on top of them.
Mix this again with an electric mixer until the sugar is well incorporated, about one minute.
Now dump your vanilla, pecans, and cracker crumbs on top…
Then dump your well drained fruit cocktail.
Using a spatula or big spoon or whatever you grab out of the draw first, stir all of that together really well by hand.
Pour into your baked pie crust.
Bake this at 325 for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.
Why did I not take a photo of that? I have no idea. I’m just glad my head is screwed on or I’d surely leave home without it most days.
Like this.
Allow the cracker pie to cool completely before serving. This is wonderful as is or topped with whipped cream and a few chopped pecans.
Have a wonderful day and don’t forget to savor every moment of your life, just as you savor every bit of a piece of pie. That’s what it’s here for.
Ingredients
- 1 deep dish pie shell
- 16 saltine crackers crushed
- 15 ounce can fruit cocktail of your choice well drained
- 3 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts optional
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Prick bottom of pie crust several times with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes in a 325 degree oven.
- While crust is baking, place egg whites in mixing bowl and beat until still peaks form. Add sugar and baking powder and beat again until sugar is well incorporated, about one minute more.
- Using a large spoon, gently fold in nuts, drained fruit, cracker crumbs, and vanilla until it is all well combined.
- Pour into baked pie crust. Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Allow to cool completely before serving.
Nutrition
You may also like these pie recipes:
Peanut Butter Pie Recipe: Made the Old Fashioned Way
Lela’s Fried Peach Pies The Ole Fashioned Way
Water Pie; Recipe from the Great Depression
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~Benjamin Franklin
Super site !!!
Thank you Barbara!!
Oh Christy! Thank you so much for posting this recipe. What a blast from the past for me, and it brings back such good memories – especially on this Easter weekend. My Mum used to make a pie like this – using Ritz crackers, apple pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg etc.) and applesauce. She always had to bake 2 or 3 at a time because my Dad would take the ‘leftovers’ to his boys at work, and the only way there would be anything left over was if more than one pie was made. We didn’t have a lot, but there was always a way to stretch dinner to feed an unexpected guest, and Dad would regularly ask Mom to make sure there would be leftovers for him to take something to ‘his boys’ at work. Just the thought of it makes me smile and realize what a blessed childhood I had! I’ll be trying this version soon. Happy Easter to you and your family!
Use to get this pie at the Piccadilly’s cafeteria. Loved it. Didn’t have the fruit in, but love the though of adding pineapple
I hope you get a chance to try it with pineapple soon!!