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Perfectly salty and sweet, this Salted Honey Pie features a creamy custard-based filling in a classic butter pie crust. It’s full of caramel-y flavor, thanks to the honey and some melted brown sugar and is by far my favorite pie of all time!
Why You’ll Love This Honey Pie Recipe
I remember the time I discovered salted honey pie like it was yesterday. When I saw a salted honey pie at the farmers market in Portland, I felt like it was calling to me. The first bite was pure bliss! I had never been so into a pie in my life. It tasted like creamy salted caramel in a perfect pastry crust. And that description doesn’t even do it justice! Of course, I had to figure out how to recreate it at home so you could try it too. Here’s a few reasons you’ll love it.
- Salty and sweet. This honey pie tastes like caramel without being overly sweet. With the flaky sea salt sprinkled on top, it’s complete and utter perfection.
- Creamy custard filling. The best part of this pie, hands down, is the rich and creamy custard filling. It’s so good!
- Easy to make. You might be surprised by how simple this pie is to make. If you’ve never made custard before, don’t worry – I walk you through the whole process step-by-step.
- Great for any occasion. Honey pie might not be a traditional holiday pie but there’s no reason it can’t find its way onto your holiday dessert table. I love to whip it up in the spring and fall too.
What You’ll Need
This delicious pie recipe is made with just a handful of simple ingredients. Scroll down down to the recipe card below for measurements.
- Pie Crust: You can certainly go for a classic store-bought pie crust, but I prefer using this buttery homemade version.
- Egg Yolks: Lightly beaten. The eggs thicken the filling and add richness. Be sure to use large eggs, not medium or extra large.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: This is an essential ingredient for any custard-based pie. The pie needs the fat in the heavy whipping cream, so do not substitute for milk or your filling won’t thicken up properly.
- Light Brown Sugar: For that amazing caramel flavor.
- Cornstarch: Sifted, to help thicken the filling.
- Salt: Regular table salt is used in the pie itself while sea salt goes on top for a good-looking garnish and extra bit of saltiness. If you aren’t into the salt, you can also just leave it off.
- Honey: See notes below.
- Vanilla Extract: To enhance the flavor of the pie.
Which Kind of Honey is Best for Honey Pie?
The best kind of honey comes from your friendly neighborhood beekeeper or your local farmer’s market, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find some good options at the grocery store. I often grab wildflower honey or even “raw honey.” Raw honey is the purest form of honey, which not only tastes better but also retains all of the vitamins and minerals that make it such a lovely natural sweetener.
How to Make Salted Honey Pie
This is one of those desserts that I wish I could give you samples of through the computer screen just to prove how awesome it is. Luckily, you can easily whip it up on your own! You can find the printable version of the instructions in the recipe card below.
- Prep. Prepare the pie crust in a deep dish pie pan. Refrigerate. Do not pre-bake it. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Add the egg yolks to a bowl and set aside.
- Make the filling. Heat the heavy cream, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt over medium heat, gently stirring constantly. Once it starts to thicken and comes to a boil, remove it from the heat.
- Add remaining ingredients. Add a little bit of the cream mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly to combine, then add a bit more. Add the remaining cream mixture and stir to combine. Add in the honey and vanilla.
- Bake. Pour the mixture into the chilled pie crust. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until it starts to bubble up and brown on top.
- Cool. Let the pie sit on the counter until it comes to room temperature then refrigerate until cold and fully firm.
- Enjoy. Sprinkle the pie with sea salt. Enjoy.
Tips for Success
This is definitely one of the world’s simplest pie recipes, but there are still a few things to watch out for.
- Combine the cream ingredients before heating. Before you heat the heavy cream, brown sugar, cornstarch and salt, be sure to combine the ingredients thoroughly. If cornstarch is exposed to heat before it’s dissolved into liquid, it will clump up. It’s helpful to sift your cornstarch into the other ingredients.
- Temper the eggs. You should never dump hot ingredients directly into beaten eggs. This causes them to scramble. Instead, temper the eggs by whisking in a little bit of the hot cream at a time.
- Cool slowly. I recommend letting this pie cool to room temperature and then refrigerating it until firm. It will continue to cook and solidify as it cools so this process helps ensure the perfect creamy smooth custard filling.
- Don’t over bake. The center of the honey pie will still be pretty jiggly when you remove it from the oven. That’s okay – it will continue to cook and set as it cools. The most important part is that it begins to bubble and brown.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve each slice of this pie with a dollop of homemade whipped cream and a drizzle of honey on top. You could even serve it with some salted caramel sauce. However, there’s something to be said about keeping it simple and sticking with just the sea salt. The choice is yours!
How to Store Leftover Pie
- Refrigerator: Leftover salted honey pie should be refrigerated well-covered or in an airtight container and enjoyed within 3-4 days. If you’d like to enjoy it at room temperature, remove it from the fridge about 30-45 minutes before you plan to serve it. I personally like it cold.
- Freezing: You can freeze this pie whole or in slices. Wrap it well and then thaw it in the fridge before serving. It may be a touch more dense, but still great.
Watch How To Make It
More Homemade Pies to Try
Print
Salted Honey Pie
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Perfectly salty and sweet, this Salted Honey Pie features a creamy custard-based filling in a classic butter pie crust. It’s full of caramel-y flavor, thanks to the honey and some melted brown sugar and is by far my favorite pie of all time!
Ingredients
- Pie crust, refrigerated or homemade
- 4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 2 1/2 cups (600ml) heavy whipping cream
- 2/3 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (45g) cornstarch, sifted
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) honey
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Flakey sea salt
Instructions
- Prepare the pie crust in a deep dish 8 inch pie pan, or a 9 inch pie pan, and set it in the fridge. Do not pre-bake it. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Add the egg yolks to a large bowl. Set aside.
- To make the filling, heat the heavy cream, brown sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan on medium heat until it comes to a rolling boil, stirring continuously. It should start to thicken.
- Once the mixture comes to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Temper the eggs by adding a little bit of the cream mixture to the eggs and whisking, then adding a little more. Add the remaining cream mixture and stir until combined and smooth.
- Add the honey and vanilla extract to the custard and stir until well combined.
- Pour the mixture into the chilled pie crust.
- Bake the pie for 40-45 minutes. It will bubble up and start to brown on top.
- Remove the pie from the oven. It will still be pretty jiggly. Set it on the counter to cool until it comes to room temperature. It will firm up as it sits.
- Refrigerate the pie until it’s cold and fully firm.
- Sprinkle the sea salt onto the pie and serve.
Notes
- Prep Time: If you plan on making a homemade pie crust, your total prep time will increase.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: The pie needs the fat in the heavy whipping cream to thicken properly, so do not substitute for milk or your filling won’t thicken up correctly.
- Storing leftovers: Leftover salted honey pie should be refrigerated well-covered or in an airtight container and enjoyed within 4-5 days. If you’d like to enjoy it at room temperature, remove it from the fridge about 30-45 minutes before you plan to serve it. I personally like it cold.
- Freezing: You can freeze this pie whole or in slices. Wrap it well and then thaw it in the fridge before serving. It may be a touch more dense, but still great.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 449
- Sugar: 29.8 g
- Sodium: 466.8 mg
- Fat: 29 g
- Carbohydrates: 45.5 g
- Protein: 3.5 g
- Cholesterol: 141 mg
I made this pie this past Easter, and it was AWESOME. Seriously, so good, I think I kind of cried. I want to make it again, but…
My roommate has the ????-gal. No mammal products, or there will be serious issues (think vegan, but bird and fish products are okay). Do you think the heavy cream can be substituted for coconut cream? I don’t know anything about ingredient interaction, but I remember this recipe being fairly complex. Thanks a ton!!!
I’m so glad to hear that! 🙂 I’m not sure about the coconut cream honestly. It’s a custard, so I would think it might change up the texture. It’d be worth a try though.
Tried this and it was delicious aside from a bit of a burned taste from the filling- I think the sugar dropped to the bottom of the pan and burned as the mixture was coming to a boil, even if I was usually mixing. Any tips to avoid this?
Hmmm, whisking it plenty should be able to keep the sugar from resting on the bottom of the pan to burn. You could try reducing the heat on your stove a bit to cook it more slowly and see if that helps.
Bringing it to a rolling boil on medium heat without burning it was a bit of a challenge for me too. Next time I’ll try it a little lower heat
You could definitely try lowering the heat a little bit. Different stoves heat at different levels. It’s possible they ours run at a little bit different temperature.
Also, is it 1/3 cup cornstarch before sifted or measure after sifted? Maybe that was the problem of too thick or I let it cook to long on stove?
Mine was a lot thicker taking off stove then your video looks, also thick like pudding when poured into crust, not thin like your video looks, pulled it out at 50 minutes was still really jiggly, more than yours looked like,did not like look your top of pie did in your video. I weighed brown sugar, what did I do wrong? Think it was to much cornstarch? Do you have a weight measurement for cornstarch? Maybe I packed in it to much. I also used a saucepan, not skillet, could that us why if thickened so much, I waited for a rolling boil but by that time it was thick like pudding, please help?
It’s really hard to say from a distance. It could be that our stoves/ovens run a little differently as far as temperature. I don’t weigh or sift my cornstarch usually. Did the texture end up turning out ok?
I never comment on recipes even when they are amazing – so that being said- I HAD to comment on how amazing this pie is! It’s not difficult at all to make, and I wasn’t sure if the honey flavor would be strong, but it literally just tastes like honey in pie form! So so sooooo good! All of my coworkers were rolling their eyes in the back of their heads and saying its the best thing I’ve ever made for them (I bring home made baked goods in once or twice a week!) and many said it’s their new favorite pie/ dessert ever! Five stars all the way!
I’m glad you all enjoyed it as much as I do! Still one of my favorite pies!
I ran across your recipe while searching for a pie to bring to our homeschool community’s “Pi” day. I’ll humbly admit that after reading your description, I wondered, “Come on. Is it really that good?” Asked and answered. Yes. Yes it is that good. Salted Honey Pie for the win! Thank you for working out the recipe and sharing it with us! This pie will happen often in my home!
May I ask, have you had any experience freezing custard pies like this?
Awesome! So glad to hear you loved it!
I haven’t frozen pies like this before, but I do think this one would probably be ok. I always recommend wrapping things well before freezing and thawing in the fridge.
My sons don’t really care for pastry crust. Would this pie work with a graham cracker crust? I’m very curious to try this pie!
It should bake just fine with a graham cracker crust.
Hello Lindsey,
Just got done making this Salted Honey Pie this evening and cannot wait to try it 😉
Does this pie need to stay refrigerated?
Yes, I refrigerate it. And I hope you enjoy it – totally one of my favorites! 🙂
I made the salted honey pie twice, the second time using a smidge less brown sugar as this pie is sweet! It is absolutely delicious and easy to put togeher. My friend had this type of pie in Quebec and wouldn’t stop talking about it so I made this version and he said it is just like the honey pie in Canada. I used the Pillsbury pie crust in the refrigerator section of the supermarket and it was perfect. I added some vanilla powder to the some whipping cream to whip up a topping–very nice and beautiful plated. Thank you!
I made this and loved it! I browned up the honey first and baked the crust for 10 minutes before adding the filling just because I was very nervous it wouldn’t cook right. I also reduced the cream by a half cup just because I didnt have enough to begin with and it was still just fine! I might try reducing the brown sugar a little but but will absolutely make again, thanks!
hi lindsay! can i sub heavy cream or half n half for the heavy whipping cream?
I haven’t tried it that way, but I’d suggest trying the heavy cream.
We made this over the weekend and it was delicious. My whole family agreed that it tastes like creme brûlée, which we all love. We’re making more for Thanksgiving. My husband works for a Senator who happens to love pie and the whole office is making different pies to bring in to celebrate his upcoming birthday. I’m thinking this is the one. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Tiffany!
I made this once and it was fabulous! Today, since I am out of heavy cream I’m thinking of trying evaporated milk instead. Has anyone tried this? BTW- I am a beekeeper so using homegrown honey makes this even better-in my opinion!
I don’t know if anyone has tried it or how it would work, but glad to hear you enjoyed the pie!
Wait, why don’t you blind bake the crust first? I want to make this just wondering if there’s a reason and if the crust crisps up underneath the filling.
Some pies blind bake the crust first, others don’t. This one doesn’t, but it does crisp up just fine.
I just found this wonderful sounding recipe today, and your delicious blog. I think I’m in heaven. This pie is definitely on the list for Thanksgiving. Thank you.
I have one question, too. This recipe is only the second I’ve see that measures brown sugar “unpacked”. I’d like to understand why it’s unpacked? I’m glad you put the weight, too, thank you.
Is there a second layer on top? Is it a glaze? Or is that just how it bakes up?
There’s no second layer on top or anything, it’s just the way the top bakes.
I made this pie for a pie contest here at my office. Guess what I’m not bringing to every carry-in we ever have? & yes, I won 1st place with it! It was truly devine. And SO simple! BTW, definitely do NOT forget to sift the cornstarch!