This Retro Pie Delivers Classic Southern Flavors In Spades

Southern desserts, like sweet and sticky pecan pie, mixed berry cobbler, and Mississippi mud cake, are classics for a reason. Brimming with rich and comforting ingredients, these popular treats have a cozy quality and filling character. However, one retro pie that you may not have come across before is the sawdust pie. This curiously-named dessert, which hails from Kentucky, delivers classic Southern flavors, like pecans, brown sugar, and buttery pastry, in spades.

Sawdust pie has such an unusual moniker because of the texture of the filling (rest assured, there's no actual sawdust in there!). Made with a mixture of chopped pecans, sweetened shredded coconut, crushed graham crackers, brown sugar, and egg whites, the interior of the pie has a coarse appearance that's nubby and nutty, almost like the irregular chips of wood in a bag of sawdust. Pies with a similar flavor profile, such as pecan or chess, have a smoother, set consistency while sawdust pie is more cake-like. This is largely due to the fact that it doesn't contain whole eggs. Only egg whites are used to lightly bind the equal quantities of coconut, pecans, and crackers before the whole lot is spooned into a pie crust and baked until golden. The result is a unique American dish that's closer in texture to a macaroon (traditionally made with egg whites, coconut, and sugar) but has the caramel-y flavors of a Southern brown sugar pie.

Sawdust pie was created by Patti Tullar in the 1970s after she opened a motel with her husband in Kentucky (their hospitality venture, now known as Patti's 1800 Settlement, has since expanded to include gift shops and restaurants). Tullar's recipe, which is still on the menu at Patti's restaurant, was published in Bon Appetit magazine in 1983. That helped boost its visibility and reach. Just before serving, the pie is cut into wedges and topped with a layer of sliced bananas, whipped cream, and more bananas. The cream provides a smooth contrasting texture to the hefty filling and introduces some moisture. However, the dessert can just as easily be enjoyed unadorned. 

Having said that, you might prefer to sub the bananas for sliced pineapple to give the finished pie a piña colada vibe that has a similar flavor profile to another Southern classic: the hummingbird cake, which is also made with pineapples and pecans. Alternatively, a single generous scoop of vanilla ice cream nestled on the top will trickle down into the crevices of the warm pie, creating pools of gooey goodness. For a richer sawdust pie (that avoids the hassle of separated egg whites and finding a suitable use for the leftover yolks) crack in whole eggs. The texture of the filling will be more custardy, but equally as delicious.