Butterscotch Pie with Pretzel Crust

The experimental component of the Week 15 Pie (Week 15! Already!) is in the crust. I’m curious about making crusts that capitalize on other ingredients or pastries – pretzels, shortbread, granola, with herbs…

This is my first attempt at making a pretzel-based crust. Next time, I think I’d toast the pretzel crumbs on the stove first, and I’d increase the amount of butter to 8 Tbsp. (1 stick). Otherwise, it’s a good start!

For the filling, I used this recipe from Chowhound. It’s a good one – I especially liked the smooth texture of the custard, but I do think that my pie would have benefited from a deeper browning of the brown sugar-butter mixture.

Butterscotch Pie with Pretzel Crust – made 12/26/15

For the crust:
1 ½ c. pretzel crumbs (made from hard pretzels, like Snyder’s, ground fine in a food processor)
6-8 Tbsp. butter (I recommend trying 8)
1/3 c. sugar

For the filling, see Chowhound’s recipe, but skip the crust steps.

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Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Combine all crust ingredients with a fork or in a food processor. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a pie pan using greased fingers or a flat-bottomed glass.  (You will probably have more crumb mixture than you need, so discard any amount you feel is excess–for me, it was a little over 1/2 a cup.) Prebake the crust for 10 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown and smell toasty. Set aside.

Prepare the filling as instructed at the link above. Pour the filling into the crust, and allow to fully cool before serving.