Fourth of July Pie

Fourth of July Pie is everything you want in a summer pie: easy, ice cold and loaded with a toasted nut and coconut topping with some chocolatey deliciousness thrown in for good measure.  No bake, easy to make ahead and the recipe makes two pies so it will easily feed a crowd — but this pie will seriously be gone in seconds!

Fourth of July Pie (originally known as Sizemore Pie) is the ultimate heirloom recipe — handed down and shared over several generations.  My Uncle Kent got it from his sister after she received a copy of it with her electric bill.  Side note — I’m imagining that this was some sort of customer relations move:  like “Hot about your electric bill?  Cool off with a slice of this delicious pie!” Honestly, more companies should adopt this practice now that I think about it.  Not a bad move at all. But unlike some heirloom dessert recipes I’ve come across, this one is easy as … well pie.  Yep, I went there. And it’s a no-bake winner, so you won’t have to heat up your kitchen.

This recipe is allll of the things: chocolate, coconut, nutty.  Don’t let any of these ingredients in this scare you off from trying it — my sister is a lifelong dedicated nut and coconut hater in all desserts and we were both vying for the last piece of this pie.  These pies will keep in the freezer for up to two months so since this is my go-to summer dessert idea, I like to just make a few and have them ready to roll to a get together.  No pre-party defrosting is needed either!

Where to Find Your Ingredients

A few ingredient notes here:  I had to google from the baking aisle at Walmart where to find the darn coconut because I kept missing it.  I’ll save you a google: it’s typically right by or under the chocolate chips in the baking aisle.  Then for nuts I went with a “Sundae Packs” of nuts that were a chopped nut mix (exactly the amount needed for the recipe) for $1.68 that I found at end of the ice cream freezer aisle.  If you can’t find that nut mixer, pecans or walnuts work just great (and if you’re like me and always waste half a bag, my coworker Linda let me know nuts are freezable if you’re worried about wasting some.)

Recipe Step-by-Step

So I love that this is a delicious summer pie that looks and feels summery with no baking required. Honestly, no special culinary skills required at all and this is perfect for kitchen beginners or just people who like delicious pie.

Mix your butter, nuts and coconut in a pan and put it on medium high heat to get it toasty.  For whatever reason I chose the World’s Tiniest Pan to try to accomplish this which was not a good time.  Don’t be like me — choose an appropriately sized pan.  My topping took about 10 minutes and really toasted up fast at the end.  So feel free to move on to other prep, but keep an eye on it and stir it occasionally until it’s the golden brown you want.  I have definitely got distracted and it really goes from 0 to 60 on toastiness.

Next up, place your softened cream cheese in a bowl.  I gave my cream cheese a few whirls with the mixer before adding the rest of the ingredients for the pie filling.  Since they’re all the same color, I thought it would be hard to differentiate between the ingredients and I knew the cream cheese would be the problem child in getting evenly mixed up. No one wants a hunk of cream cheese ruining a smooth no-bake pie. 

Add your sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip to the bowl and mix everything on low until creamy.  Pour into your prepared graham cracker crusts. Feel free to go homemade on the pie crusts, but I love that Keebler crusts are in prepared foil pans, ready to top with a lid and roll out with and they store great right in those same pans. So prepare, freeze, tote, and serve all in one dish. Yes, please!

Let your coconut/nut mixture cool a bit so it doesn’t make your M&M’s melty and weird.  While that’s happening, grab your M&M’s.  I popped mine in a Ziploc bag and just hit them with a hammer until they were crushed to my liking.  If you have a food processor, you could give them a whirl in there too, but if you don’t, the ol’ hammer and bag method is timeless.

Top that Pie!

I poured the cooled coconut/nut mixture into the bag with my M&M’s and mixed it all up by giving it a few shakes right in the bag. This helps make sure your mixture is cool too.  Then just sprinkle on your pie(s). 

Can I Make This Ahead of Time?

Yes! These pies are ready to serve at about 24-hour mark in the freezer but you can make them ahead up to two months too.  I’ve never tested past the two month mark because honestly Fourth of July pie sounds good all summer long too but this is absolutely a really make-ahead friendly summer dessert recipe.

Does the Pie Need to Thaw Before Serving?

Nope! Take them out of the freezer right when you’re ready to serve — no need to plan ahead, which is totally right up my alley.  I was nervous about this step because I envisioned it being a similar experience to sawing through a DQ ice cream cake if anyone else has been in the hot seat like that before. So I was worried it did need time to defrost, but it cut absolutely perfectly right out of the freezer with just a standard butter knife.  No arm strain involved! 

Will this Feed a Crowd?

So the recipe automatically makes two pies, which is a huge win! Depending on how you cut your slices (I am a generous slicer) you could get 12-16 slices out of the two pies. But since they’re make ahead, the pressure is off and you could get a freezer stock ready and just grab as many pies as you need. Since you don’t need to defrost before you serve, you can decide in the moment if you’re feeding your family at a picnic, or a whole barbecue crowd and grab accordingly!

What can I serve this with?

If you want to make Sizemore Pie your main dish, I’m certainly not here to judge 🙂  But if you’re looking for some dishes to round things out a bit, Sizemore Pie would pair great with Bacon, Egg & Cheese Deviled Eggs and some Easy Nachos on the Grill with some Wine Slushies thrown in for good measure.  Or use those other dishes to distract your guests from the pie so you can have more of it — it’s seriously that good! Enjoy!

P.S. Check out the other blogs I’m linking up with at Fiesta Friday with Zoale.com and Life Diet Health