The 'Heavenly' No-Bake Holiday Pie That Isn't Pumpkin Or Pecan

It likely has nothing to do with the Bing Crosby classic, but when you see a white Christmas pie, you'll understand where the name comes from. It gets its flavor from vanilla, almond extract, coconut, and plenty of whipped cream, which makes up the bulk of the pie. Often topped with flaked coconut, a white Christmas pie visually resembles fresh snowfall.

This no-bake pie — which only requires mixing boiled and whipped ingredients — is often associated with the Amish, though its origins may lie in the Betty Crocker test kitchens of General Mills. According to the Geeky Cooker, a 1950 Betty Crocker cookbook called it a "pure white heavenly concoction."

This pie is somewhat similar to a grasshopper pie, one of the old-school desserts people ate in the 1960s. A white Christmas pie's lack of minty green color and flavor is perhaps the most obvious difference, but they share a critical similarity: both no-bake pies traditionally use whipped egg whites for added structure. However, if you're not comfortable with raw egg whites, you can either omit them or substitute them with cream cheese and additional whipped cream — fresh is best, but canned will work too.

A white Christmas pie is a delicious and simple treat on its own, but it doesn't have to be enjoyed by itself. This pie's prominent flavors of vanilla and coconut should pair beautifully with fruity white wines. German Riesling is a wine for every palate thanks to its vast range of flavor profiles, many of which trend toward fruitier tastes.

Despite the name, a white Christmas pie also doesn't have to remain all-white. One of the best toppings for holiday cream pies is chocolate shavings, which would disrupt the fresh snowfall visual but add a rich, chocolatey taste to the vanilla and coconut. Or you could keep the white visual and shave white chocolate instead.

If you decide to top your white Christmas pie with any kind of chocolate, that doesn't mean you have to shelve the wine pairing. Believe it or not, Riesling goes with almost any chocolate as well, truly making it the perfect wine for a white Christmas pie.