Grandma Essie’s Oatmeal Pie

During the war and depression eras pecans, among other ingredients, were scarce, so innovation took over and Oatmeal Pie was created

Jun 24, 2025

Today, this column brings us a couple of stories from the past: One, of course, is the history, family memories, and recipe for Oatmeal Pie. But the other is the story of a friendship that developed, was put on hold for a bit, and then was rekindled several years later.

My friend Mary and I both attended Theodore Roosevelt High School…let’s just say many…years ago in Des Moines. In a class of approximately 500 students there were all kinds of friendships made, and Mary and I had one of those. But, you know, it’s finally time to graduate, we go out into the world finding our unique adventures, and contact is lost. Until. Class reunion time comes along. Happily, during our most recent class reunion Mary and I had the opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time together, getting to know each other again and discovering that we were, indeed, still friends. So now we get together frequently for coffee, pastries, and long conversations. During one of those conversations, I was telling her about this Grandma’s Recipe Box column, and Mary was reminded of some favorite family recipes from her past.

Telling me about her Grandma Essie’s Oatmeal Pie recipe, Mary said she would be sending it my way soon, and I was looking forward to receiving it. But then… Mary could not find the Oatmeal Pie recipe. She could see it in her mind’s eye, but where could it be? Determined to find the recipe that brought back so many good memories, Mary went through her recipe box, her mom’s old handwritten cookbook, and two different envelopes that over the years she had stuffed full of recipes cut from magazines and newspapers. But she had no luck. She even looked up Oatmeal Pie recipes online and found some that had the same basic ingredients, although with some slight changes and ratio shifts. But she said to herself, “That’s not mine.” And she wanted to find hers – the one that brought back her family memories.

Deciding that the next step to take in this search was contacting her sister, she asked if she happened to have the recipe. Upon their mom’s passing Mary had received her mother’s cookbook, while her sister had received the recipe box. But once again, there was no luck to be had, as the recipe was still nowhere to be found.

Not one to be deterred, Mary wasn’t about to give up. And neither was her sister. Two days after hearing from Mary, her sister, reliving some of her own memories, sent Mary a picture of a Better Homes and Gardens “After Work Cookbook” that had belonged to their mom, commenting on how often their mother had used it and that her sister still creates dishes using recipes from it. But she was sad to report the Oatmeal Pie recipe was not in that cookbook. However, sending that photo turned out to be an enormous help, as it created a lightbulb moment for Mary. AHA! Now she knew where that Oatmeal Pie recipe might be. She dug a little deeper through the cookbook collection in her house and discovered a copy of the Better Homes and Gardens “Low-Cost Cooking” cookbook.

Back in 1979, Mary was employed at Meredith Publishing Corporation and was one of the food editors who had worked on that cookbook. The rule in the company was that to submit a recipe for publication, one could use an already-known recipe but there had to be at least three major changes made to it in order for it to be considered new and unique. And - lo and behold - it all came back to Mary: She was the one who had developed the recipe for the Surprise Pie featured in that “Low-Cost Cooking” cookbook and she had based it off her mom’s Oatmeal Pie! Amazingly, (at least in my mind) she remembered what changes she had made to the original recipe and was able to revert Surprise Pie back to her family’s version of Oatmeal Pie. And so…Grandma Essie’s Oatmeal Pie recipe was finally found and has once again been brought back into the family recipe files.

Oatmeal Pie

· 1 unbaked 9” pie crust

· 3 eggs

· 2/3 cup granulated sugar (OR brown sugar – light or dark) *

· 1 cup light corn syrup (OR dark corn syrup) *

· 1/3 cup butter, melted

· ¼ teaspoon salt

· 1 cup quick-cooking oats

Beat together eggs, sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt. Stir in oats. Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until set. Let cool completely before cutting.

*One notable thing about this recipe is that it can be made with whatever ingredients one has on hand. The darker ingredients create a more molasses-like pie, but either way is fine… people used what was available to them then, and we can have fun with that now as well.

**Also, the filling for this pie is gluten-free, just be sure to use gluten-free oats. Pour it into a gluten-free pie crust and there you go.

Remembering back on conversations she’d had with her mom, Mary found out this recipe originated from Mary’s Grandma Essie, who was born in 1889, married in 1913, and was an excellent cook. Mary’s mom said the pie was popular during the war and depression eras because some cooking ingredients (such as pecans) were scarce, but there was always oatmeal to be found in the pantry. Because of this, Mary’s Grandma Essie made Oatmeal Pie instead of Pecan Pie. In Grandma Essie’s family every evening meal ended with dessert. And Mary’s mom, being one of the seven children in that family, was designated to be the Pie Day Child, as each child was assigned a specific day of the week to help make the dessert for that night.

Oatmeal Pie photo courtesy of Whe Wears Many Hats on Unsplash

Following along with family traditions, when Mary was growing up, her mom made sure there was always dessert to finish up their meals, and Oatmeal Pie was one of those desserts. Mary says that during the decade of the 1960s when she was a child, her family were big oatmeal fans and, as well as Oatmeal Pie, they always shared big pots of it for breakfast during those cold Iowa winters. Continuing with her past tradition, Mary’s mom assigned each one of the five children in Mary’s family, not a day to make the dessert, but a day to be the one who cut the desserts. The dessert-cutter had to claim the last piece served as theirs, ensuring fairness and precision in cutting. Pie-cutting lessons and life lessons all rolled into one.

Mary’s mom would have celebrated her 100^th birthday this past May, so Mary really loved the opportunity to go through her recipes and relive some of those cherished memories. One of the things Mary thought about during her search was how she had received her own first children’s version of a cookbook when she was in 4^th grade and how she also liked to make desserts. Using that little cookbook, she used to make a lot of brownies and butterscotch brownies. So now we have to wonder… will we see some of those recipes from Mary one of these days?

I asked Mary if she had made this Oatmeal Pie for her own family. She said she did when her children were growing up but has not made it since they left home to start their own families. But now she is tempted to make it for them again, thinking they would still like it. She imagines that even the grandkids may become fans, since, as a child, Mary thought this pie was delicious, preferring it to pecan pie because there were no nuts to get stuck in her teeth. Good point, Mary!

Asked about any helpful hints when making this pie, Mary stated that quick-cooking oats must be used because regular oats take too long to cook and won’t be ready as the pie bakes. She also emphasized how some ingredients can be substituted for others, depending on what is available. Mary’s family ate this pie plain, just as it was, with no embellishments added.

I did a little research on this pie and learned that it is best served refrigerated to keep its solid texture. It should be covered and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days (if it lasts that long!). And, if planning for a future meal, you can freeze Oatmeal Pie. Once the pie has cooled to room temperature and has then spent a few hours in the fridge to set up, wrap the pie tightly in plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil. It can be frozen for up to three months. When ready to eat, thaw the pie, still wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight and dig in! As for me, I think it might be good served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream topped with a drizzle of caramel (or salted caramel) sauce.

(Just a side note for Des Moines-area readers: Back in the day there was a restaurant in West Des Moines called Mondo’s, and they served Oatmeal Pie. Do you remember it?)

For me, Mary’s story sums up what this column is all about: Not only was the gift of a friendship rediscovered, but there was also the gift of a cherished family recipe found and shared with us here. If you have a recipe and story you’d like to share, we’d all love to hear about it. And, you never know, one of your recipe gems just may become a treasure for another family to share and pass down. To join in, please contact me at: ourgrandmasrecipebox@gmail.com

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