The smoothest, creamiest custard pie with only 5 ingredients and an unbelievable flavor.

I call this my “Pillsbury Bake-Off Reject Pie”. During my break from blogging, I entered the Pillsbury Bake-Off with this delicious pie using Pillsbury’s premade pie crust. Obviously I didn’t win. I’m actually pretty sure I forgot to write in the instructions to remove the soggy cereal from the warm milk once it was done steeping. Can you just imagine soggy cereal milk pie? Yikes…we’re just going to say that’s the reason I didn’t win…

Despite not being the winner, the feedback from my friends and family on this pie was overwhelming positive. The filling tastes just like the milk left behind from a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It’s subtle, not overwhelmingly sweet, yet unique. You can play up the fun cereal aspect by decorating with cereal pieces as I did or just leave people guessing as to how you achieved that unique flavor yourself.

The best part? It’s unbelievably easy. I chose to use my own pie crust, but you could absolutely use a pre-made crust. I posted a pie crust recipe with my Simply the Best Strawberry Pie . I used the same technique but made some alterations to the recipe. I found a slightly thicker crust was better for the custard filling. Brushing the crust with an egg white wash is a must - it seals the dough to prevent the custard from leaking through. Also, I highly recommend leaving the crust in the fridge for at least a couple hours before baking. I had close to no shrinkage once I made this change.

Cereal Milk Custard Pie

The smoothiest, creamiest custard pie with only 5 ingredients and an unbelievable flavor

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

9 inch deep dish pie crust (recipe below or use pre-made)
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 large eggs, whisked + 1 egg white, for egg wash
2 heaping cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal

Instructions:

First you are going to blindbake the crust (partially baking prior to filling). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper over the pie crust and fill with pie weights. This will prevent the crust from shrinking. Bake for approximately 12 minutes - the top of the crust should be lightly brown. While baking, prepare the egg white wash. Whisk together the egg white and 1 tablepoon water. Remove the crust from the oven and remove the parchment and weights. Brush all over the crust with the egg wash. This will seal the crust and prevent the custard from leaking through. Place the crust back into the oven and bake until the bottom just begins to turn lightly brown - approximately 5 -7 minutes.
Remove the crust from the oven and set aside. Lower the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees
Whisk together the can of sweetened condensed milk and whole milk in a small saucepan. Heat over medium low heat until it is hot and begins to steam. Be sure not to allow it to boil or it will quickly rise out of the pan!
Once hot, remove from the heat, stir in the cereal and cover the pot. Allow to steep for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes, strain the the liquid into a large bowl, discarding the cereal. Allow the liquid to cool for a few minutes before adding the eggs so not to cook the eggs. Once slightly cooled, whisk in the eggs
Pour the filling into the crust and cover the crust edges with either foil or a crust shield to prevent over browning
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes. The filling should be set except for the center which should still wobble. It will continue to bake once removed from the oven
Allow to cool completely at room temperature then transfer to the fridge for 3 - 4 hours to set

Print this Recipe

Pie Crust

No fuss 9 inch deep dish pie crust

Makes: 1 crust

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (187.5 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar (optional)
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into cubes
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
5 - 6 tablespoons ice water
pie weights, parchment paper

Instructions:

Whisk together the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl
Cut the shortening into the flour mixture using forks or a pastry cutter
Cut the butter into the flour using the same technique. You want pea sized pieces of butter remaining
Using a fork (using a fork instead of a spoon helps prevent over mixing), mix in the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. Only mix a couple times between each tablespoon - it is important not to overwork the dough. Stop adding water when you can pick up some dough and it will hold together when pressed in your hand. For me it is usually around 5 1/2 tablespoons. It should be moist but not wet, some areas will be drier than others since it was not over mixed and it will be in clumps - not one cohesive pile of dough
Spread out a large piece of parchment paper and transfer the dough to the parchment. Once again the dough will not be together at this point. Using the edges of the parchment fold each side of the dough towards to center and press down (watch the video featured on my Strawberry Pie page to see this technique). If there are still dry bits of dough falling off the sides (which there probably will be), spray the dry parts with a spray bottle filled with ice water and continue to fold until there is a cohesive ball of dough
Shape the dough into a flat, round disc, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for an hour
Remove the dough from the fridge when done chilling and take out a new large piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle flour over the parchment paper and on a rolling pin
Place the rolling pin in the center of the disc and gently roll up towards the top edge - 12:00 if you consider the dough a clock. Lift the rolling pin to bring back to the center - do not roll towards you. Moving clockwise roll towards the 1:00 - 2:00 edge of the dough - continue this process all around the dough until you come back to the top of the clock. Repeat this process until you have a large 12 inch circle
Carefully transfer the crust to the pie plate and press down on the bottom edges so the crust conforms to the pan. Do not stretch the dough. Trim any excess dough from the top of the crust and fold the dough under along the entire circle
Place a piece of parchment over the pie crust and place in the fridge for 2 - 3 hours before baking
Follow the instructions above to blindbake the crust or follow the recipe for the pie you will be making