Creamy Pecan Icebox Pie

This one was written in the stars. A no-bake pecan pie, born of the wandering thoughts and aimless daydreams that often come to me when I’m folding laundry – my most loathed domestic task. I once read the term, “cardio fantasties,” coined by comedian Mindy Kaling, to explain the places our thoughts go to when we’re jogging. You know what I’m talking about? The things we fantasize about to add a little excitement to the less than stimulating task at hand? I don’t think the concept has to apply solely to running – you can {insert tedious task here} and use the notion however you see fit. I myself have taken a little license with the term, and apply it to the places my mind goes when I’m engaging in my least favorite, most dreaded household chore: folding laundry. Yes, I have laundry fantasies and they often involve recipes in one way or another (shocked?). My most recent and perhaps greatest success was this absolutely wonderful creamy pecan icebox pie – a fluffy, luscious, cinnamon-whipped pecan pie that seems to have hopped right out of my laundry fantasies and into my icebox with little to no trouble whatsoever. It just worked perfectly.

This was, you see, an honest to goodness meant-to-be sort of thing.

What is an Icebox Pie?

I also only reserve use of the word “icebox” for just this sort of occasion – pie making. Or, icebox cakes. I find it cozy, the word “icebox,” and there’s something inherently nostalgic about it – it’s a Grandma word, let’s be honest, and beautifully, wonderfully so. If you’re unfamiliar with icebox pies, they really are just what they sound like – pies that you store in your icebox. But I suppose you have to know what an icebox is before you can really settle down with this whole concept. As such, I am happy to report to you that an icebox is nothing more than your dear ole’ fridge.

Ask any Southerner worth their salt what an icebox pie is, and you’re likely to be met with a smile and a knowing nod, as heaps of memories and delicious visions dance in their heads – everyone loves a good icebox pie south of the Mason Dixon. The American South, a swath of the country that typically experiences surging temps and smacks of intense humidity throughout a good chunk of the year, has long embraced icebox pies for the simple fact that you don’t have to switch on your oven to make one. They set up right in your refrigerator (i.e. your icebox) and will be ready and waiting to refresh you when you need it.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, Lauren – if icebox pies are best made when the temperatures are hot, why are you sharing this recipe right at the beginning of the cold season, in mid-November? Well, to your excellent question I say – Because the beginning of the cold season also means the beginning of the holiday season and when I think of holidays, I think of pie. And only pie. No laundry required for that, truth be told. And I’m here and ready to campaign for icebox pie’s place at our cold-weathered holiday tables.

To me, a chilled, creamy icebox pie is the perfect way to cap a heavy, hot holiday meal that is fit to burst with rich decadence from one end of the table to the other. There is actually a refreshing element to a cold pie, when served this way, and though simple and perhaps a bit less traditional, friendly icebox pies like this creamy pecan pie truly help balance the whole holiday meal equation quite nicely. Plus, you save yourself that invaluable oven space. So, there’s that. Win-win.

How Do You Make an Icebox Pie?

The basic building blocks of just about any classic icebox pie are as follows:

A crust: made from either crushed graham crackers (what we’re doing with our creamy pecan pie today) or crushed and crumbled cookies – all bound together with the great bonding agent that is butter. So much butter. I like to use salted butter, if you must know.

A mantle: that is always some creamy, dreamy concoction built on whatever the theme of the day is – peanut butter, Nutella, lemon (my favorite icebox pie ever is lemon with a saltines crust), orange cream, cream cheese, etc. Today, we’re going to toast some fresh pecans and blend them into a pecan butter. Fold in some sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese and freshly whipped cream – and you’ve got one killer icebox pie filling.

Topping: Well, for starters, I am so happy to inform you that there is nary an icebox pie in all the land that wears a fancy lattice top – at least none that I’ve ever seen. In fact, the tops of icebox pies tend to be little more than simple dustings of crushed bits of cookie or candy, snow plow piles of sweet whipped cream, or for the purist – nothing at all. Yes, I often make a peanut butter pie that needs no adornments or baubles of this and that to be the best thing ever.

Pie in its natural, naked state is already the best thing ever.

Print