Chef John's Buttermilk Pie

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Servings: 8
Yield: 8 servings

Description

Not only is this buttermilk pie easy to make and beautiful to look at, it's bursting with the bright, tangy flavors no other custard-style pie can touch.

Ingredients

1 prepared dough for 1 (9-inch) single crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Zest from 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lemon
1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2 Roll out pie dough large enough to fit pie dish with just a bit of overhang. Transfer dough to pie dish and gently fit into dish. Trim excess dough hanging over the edge. Fold about 1/2 inch of the edge of the dough to the inside edge of the pie crust to reinforce it. Crimp the edge. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork about 10 times. Place a sheet of parchment paper gently into the crust and fill with pie weights or dried beans so pie crust doesn't bubble up with you bake it.
3 Bake crust in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven; lift weights from pan with edges of parchment paper. Allow crust to cool completely.
4 Place butter in mixing bowl; add sugar. Stir together until completely combined using a spatula, 4 or 5 minutes. Add flour and salt. Mix together until combined. Stir in 3 eggs; mix until slightly blended. Then using a whisk, whisk together until mixture is fairly smooth and creamy.
5 Pour in vanilla extract. Add nutmeg, zest of lemon, lemon juice, and buttermilk. Whisk until thoroughly mixed, 2 or 3 minutes. Pour into the pie shell.
6 Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and just set, 45 to 55 minutes. Pie should have a slight wiggle, but not a soupy jiggle. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled, 1 to 2 hours.