This Christmas Sugar Cream Pie is a delicious creamy pie studded with holiday sprinkles for a festive touch. The classic filling is silky and rich and the no-roll crust makes it fabulous to throw together for the busy holiday season.
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I love baking pies over the holidays. Well, really anytime (birthday chocolate chip cookie pie or snickers pie anyone?). But I feel like often times pie only gets love around Thanksgiving and as much as I love a good no bake pumpkin pie, I feel like pies can be eaten at all holidays and celebrations!
This Christmas sugar cream pie is a Christmas version of the popular old-fashioned sugar cream pie, aka Hoosier pie, or desperation pie. It’s similar in texture to an old-fashioned custard pie or creme brulee (if you’ve tried one of those) but with a sweeter flavor.
It’s easy to throw together and a fun and festive alternative to just a normal sugar cream pie with its holiday sprinkle-studded custard filling!
It’s a simple twist and an easy way to dress it up for the occasion. And it’s a great alternative to a typical Christmas bundt cake or even a red velvet cake with its creamy custardy texture!
Why you’ll love this sugar cream pie
- It doesn’t mess with tradition – It only adds color to it! Tossing sprinkles into the crust and the filling takes very little extra effort to an already easy dessert recipe.
- Versatile – Use my homemade crust recipe or pick up a store-bought crust, it’s up to you. You can even switch things up and use a golden Oreo or graham cracker crust instead.
- It’s a great make-ahead pie – Since it’s chilled before serving, you can make it the day before you’re ready to serve it.
Sugar Cream Pie Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- All-purpose flour – When it comes to pie, the texture of the pie is just as important as the filling. Measuring your flour correctly is key to preventing a dense, heavily floured crust.
- Butter – You’ll need both melted butter for the crust and cubed butter for the filling. I highly recommend using a high-quality butter since the flavor of the pie crust really makes a difference in this sugar cream pie!
- Sprinkles – While you can use any holiday sprinkles, I find that the holiday jimmies (long sprinkles) tend to bleed their color into the filling less so you still get the white color just sprinkled with red and green!
- Milk – I always recommend whole milk for pretty much everything because it has all of the fat you want.
- Whipped cream – this is really good with whipped cream served on top, but this is a totally optional garnish!
How to make Christmas Sugar Cream Pie
This Christmas sugar cream pie is super easy to make! You’ll just make the pie crust dough, bake the crust, and then fill and bake again! Follow the step by step instructions along with the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for the best possible outcome!
1 – Make the Crust
Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees and spray a pie pan with non stick spray.
Next stir together the flour, salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
Add in 2/3 cup of melted butter and water. Stir until all the ingredients are fully combined and smooth.
Add in one tablespoon of your favorite holiday sprinkles. The dough will feel crumbly at this point, which is what you’re going for!
Pat the dough into the bottom of the prepared pie pan and it should all start to stick together as you pat it together.
2 – Bake the Pie Crust
Bake the pie crust in the preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes. The crust should be a light golden color.
3 – Make the Sugar Cream Pie Filling
After the crust is finished baking, prepare the oven for the pie filling by lowering the temperature to 375 degrees.
To make the pie filling, add one cup of sugar, your ground cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of cornstarch to a saucepan on the stove. Turn the heat to medium then whisk in the milk.
Continuously whisk the milk and sugar until the mixture comes to a boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer and let the mixture simmer for two minutes while still continuously whisking.
Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the vanilla and the cubed butter. (Cubing will allow the butter to melt quicker.) Then set the mixture aside to cool.
After the pan of filling has had time to cool slightly, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of your favorite holiday sprinkles. Gently fold them in once or twice.
Pour the cooled filling into the pre-baked crust and sprinkle the top of the filling with the remaining sprinkles.
4 – bake the sugar cream pie
Place the pie into oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the filling is set.
When the pie is done baking, remove it from the oven and let it cool at room temperature. Once the pie has reached room temperature, refrigerate for two hours before serving.
5 – slice and serve the christmas pie
Serve the pie chilled topped with your favorite whipped cream and more sprinkles to finish off the festive look!
Tips & tricks
Don’t rush. Making a custard isn’t hard, but it’s also not hard to mess up.As tempting as it might be to turn up the heat, don’t. It should never go above medium heat. Continue whisking while it comes to a boil and while it simmers. Then again, you’ll be whisking the butter and vanilla in! If you’ve skipped arm day at the gym, well, now you’ve made up for it.
Store any leftovers of the Christmas sugar cream pie in the fridge in an airtight container or wrapped tightly with plastic wrap for up to five days.
Recipe FAQs
Why is my sugar pie runny?
The custard should start to set even before it goes into the oven. Once it cools slightly, you’ll place it in the oven to bake and continue to set. Don’t take it out of the oven too early either. These steps should help avoid this mistake, however, don’t forget it will continue to set as it chills in the fridge.
How do you keep the bottom of a pie from getting soggy?
Blind baking the crust at a higher temperature before turning it down is an important step. You also want to allow your filling to cool slightly before adding it in. A custard filling should be thick and not runny so there shouldn’t be any extra moisture making the bottom soggy.
More Easy Pie Recipes
Pies aren’t just for Thanksgiving! Make these other delicious pie recipes to add to your Christmas desserts table!
- No bake chocolate pie – this delicious pie combines a variety of chocolates in a no-bake pie that’s as easy to make as it is delicious!
- No bake butterfinger pie recipe – Peanut butter, chocolate, and butterfinger candy bars come together to make a no-bake pie perfect for the holidays!
- Reese’s peanut butter pie – The ultimate dessert for anyone who loves Reese’s peanut butter cups!
- S’mores brownie pie – Everyone’s favorite camping treat in the form of a pie!
- Hershey’s pie – the flavors of a chocolate and almond Hershey’s bar transformed into a pie!
Christmas Sugar Cream Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ⅔ cup butter melted
- 6 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp holiday sprinkles
Pie filling
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ cornstarch
- 2 cups milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup butter cubed
- whipped cream for topping optional
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and coat a pie pan with non stick spray.
- Stir together the flour, salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.3 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp baking powder
- This Christmas Sugar Cream Pie is a delicious creamy pie studded with holiday sprinkles for a festive touch. The classic filling is silky and rich and the no-roll crust makes it fabulous to throw together for the busy holiday season.2/3 cup butter, 6 tbsp water
- Add in one tablespoon of your favorite holiday sprinkles. The dough will feel crumbly at this point, which is what you’re going for!3 tbsp holiday sprinkles
- Pat the dough into the bottom of the prepared pie pan.
- Bake the pie crust in the preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes. The crust should be a light golden color.
- Prepare the oven for the pie filling by lowering the temperature to 375 degrees.
Pie Filling
- To make the pie filling, add one cup of sugar, your ground cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of cornstarch to a saucepan on the stove. Turn the heat to medium then whisk in the milk.1 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 cornstarch
- Continuously whisk the milk and sugar until the mixture comes to a boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer and let the mixture simmer for two minutes while still continuously whisking.2 cups milk
- Continuously whisk the milk and sugar until the mixture comes to a boil. Let the mixture simmer for 2 minutes while still continuously whisking. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the vanilla and the cubed butter.
- ake the pan off the heat and whisk in the vanilla and the cubed butter. (Cubing will allow the butter to melt quicker.) Then set the mixture aside to cool.1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 cup butter
- After the pan of filling has had time to cool slightly, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of your favorite holiday sprinkles. Gently fold them in once or twice.3 tbsp holiday sprinkles
- Pour the cooled filling into the pre-baked crust and sprinkle the top of the filling with the remaining sprinkles.
- Place the pie into oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Once the pie is done baking, remove from the oven and let it cool at room temperature. Then refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
- Serve with whipped cream on top!whipped cream for topping
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