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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Sweet water pie, also known as water pie and hard times pie, came out of the Great Depression. Dessert was definitely a luxury during such hard times and home cooks often had to make do with what they had on hand.

In this case, water pie uses just a few very basic ingredients to make a sweet, gelatin-like dessert. You can use a pre-made crust or make your own. Your pie will still be watery when you remove it from the oven, but as it cools, the starch will start to solidify. It will take on a gelatin-like consistency.

This simple dessert is surprisingly tasty! It has a light, sweet taste and reminds me of an apple pie without the apples.

Here’s how to make water pie, an easy and simple sweet dessert.

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Ingredients:

1 (9-inch) pie crust, unbaked
1½ cups water
4 Tbsp flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 Tbsp butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit.

Place your empty, unbaked pie crust on a cooking sheet. I used a pre-made pie crust, but you can make a homemade crust if you prefer.

Pour 1 ½ cups of water into your crust.

Next, mix your flour and sugar together in a small bowl.

Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the water in the crust but don’t stir it.

Gently drizzle the vanilla extract over the water.

Place small pats of butter on top of the water.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes. If the crust is getting too brown, you can cover the sides with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning. I didn’t cover my crust, it looked just fine.

Carefully remove the pie from the oven. My pie was boiling when I removed it.

Let the pie cool completely, then chill in the refrigerator.

Serve chilled!

Don’t be afraid to add a little cinnamon and nutmeg to your water pie. And for a little extra flavor, top it off with a bit of whipped cream.

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Sweet Water Pie

Sweet water pie, also known as water pie and hard times pie, came out of the Great Depression. In this case, water pie uses just a few very basic ingredients to make a sweet, gelatin-like dessert. You can use a pre-made crust or make your own. Your pie will still be watery after you remove it from the oven, but as it cools, the starch will start to solidify. It will take on a gelatin-like consistency.

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Equipment

1 9-inch pie pan
1 cookie sheet

Ingredients

1 9-inch pie crust (unbaked)
1 1/2 cups water
4 tbsp flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsps vanilla extract
5 tbsps butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
Place your empty, unbaked pie crust on acooking sheet. I used a pre-made pie crust, but you can make a homemade crust if you prefer.
Pour 1 ½ cups of water into your crust.
Next, mix your flour and sugar together in a small bowl.
Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the water in the crust but don’t stir it.
Gently drizzle the vanilla extract over the water.
Place small pats of butter on top of the water.
Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes. If the crust is getting too brown, you can cover the sides with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning. I didn’t cover my crust, it looked just fine.
Carefully remove the pie from the oven. My pie was boiling when I removed it.
Let the pie cool completely, then chill in the refrigerator.
Serve chilled!