My earliest Thanksgiving memories involve food, not eating it but making it. As the oldest child, I was recruited early to assist the kitchen. I’d help peel potatoes and carrots, dice onions and whip cream. But every year I would look forward to making the pie. It was and is my favorite part of Thanksgiving.

Mom would make a butterscotch pie from the Talk About Good! Junior League of Layfayette cookbook every year. Each recipe in this large volume had the contributing author printed underneath. I always thought it was fascinating that all these women submitted their recipes and actually got printed. It seemed glamorous to me.

It’s not a difficult pie to make but it does take constant attention while cooking. At first I was just asked to be the stirrer, likely because it’s a tedious task when you’re managing multiple sides, the turkey and children underfoot. But each year I’d get to do a little bit more until one year I was told, “make the butterscotch pie”. What?! I remember being so nervous and excited. I measured oh, so carefully. I read the instructions over and over again. I obsessed over every lump and bubble. I stirred diligently like my very essence depended on it. It was a success. The filling was smooth and delicious, and I took so much pride in that first “all my own” butterscotch pie that I volunteered to do it the next year and every year after. It was my mom’s pie. And it became my pie.

Over the years I would make mistakes, usually getting distracted as I was sometimes cooking the entire meal myself and didn’t have a young apprentice yet to hand off the stirring to. Now, I make them in bulk most years to deliver to those who have become fans of this not-typical-Thanksgiving pie. And I have modified the recipe significantly from the original. My mother had always turned up her nose at the margarine in the recipe, using butter instead. And if she ever used the butter flavoring it was long before I was assisting. Today it’s in a gluten-free pie crust and I use gluten free flour to make the roux. I still haven’t tried to make it dairy-free or vegan yet, but I want to someday.

Thank you Mary Wright of Layfayette for submitting your Butterscotch Pie recipe. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving in my family without it.

gluten-free thanksgiving pie recipe — Gluten-free Butterscotch Pie

Gluten-Free Butterscotch Pie

adapted from Talk About Good! Cookbook of the Junior League of Layfayette, original submission by Mary Wright

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3 cup gluten-free one-to-one blend (I use Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 baking flour)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 prebaked gluten-free pastry shell

Tips:

Stirring constantly is key to smooth pie filling. Make sure to pre-measure and ready ingredients ahead of cooking time.

Feel free to make your own gluten-free pie crust, but I often use a frozen crust for convenience and time saving!

Don’t skip adding a little of the butterscotch batter to the egg yolks to acclimate temperature. I’ve rushed this step before and ended up with bits of scrambled egg yolk in my batter. It’s worth the extra step.

Instructions:

Prepare pastry shell and cool. Melt margarine and stir in gluten-free flour. Blend until a smooth paste is formed. Add sugars and stir slowly until they melt completely. Add milk, 1/2 cup at a time, bring to a bubble after each addition. Cook until slightly thickened. Add 1-2 spoonfuls of butterscotch batter to beaten egg yolks to acclimate the egg yolks to higher temperature. Blend well. Add egg yolk mixture to butterscotch batter and cook to desired thickness. Remove from heat, add vanilla and salt. Cool. Top with whipped cream or Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

gluten-free pie recipe adaptation — The original Mary Wright submitted recipe.

Butterscotch Pie Step 1

Melt your butter or butter-substitute, mix in your gluten-free all-purpose flour and stir until you get these bubbles.

You have a roux!

See how easy that was? You have a roux. Keep stirring.

Melt those sugars

Stirring is the game for this pie. Keep stirring and melt all the sugars until smooth.

Melted sugars

You’re ready to start adding your milk now.

Add milk.

Add milk and keep stirring. You want just a few bubbles to form, but keep stirring so the bottom of the pan doesn’t start burning.

Thicken it up!

Keep stirring, paying special attention that the bottom doesn’t burn. As it thickens you’ll see the color change and get lighter.

Ready for eggs

Once you’ve reached this phase turn off the heat for a minute while you prepare the yolks.

Time for yolks.

Your filling will be hot, so I like to add just a little to the egg yolks at a time…maybe a spoonful and stir quickly so your yolks don’t cook. You don’t want pieces of scrambled egg in your pie.