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Hillbilly pie with golden puffed crust and cherry filling showing through in a white baking dish
Katie

Hillbilly Pie (Poor Man's Pie)

An easy Depression-era dessert made with five pantry ingredients. Batter poured over melted butter and topped with fruit pie filling bakes into a golden crust with soft cake and bubbling fruit underneath. No stirring required.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Rest Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Southern
Calories: 355
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick
  • 1 cup self-rising flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 21 ounce can fruit pie filling cherry, apple, peach, or blueberry

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the butter in a 9x9-inch or 2-quart baking dish and set it in the oven to melt while the oven preheats. Watch it toward the end; you want it melted, not browned.
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the self-rising flour, sugar, and milk until smooth. The batter will be thin, closer to pancake batter than cake batter.
  3. Carefully remove the dish from the oven and pour the batter evenly over the melted butter. Do not stir.
  4. Spoon the fruit pie filling evenly over the batter, spreading it across the surface rather than piling it in the middle. Do not stir.
  5. Bake 45-50 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown, the edges are bubbling, and a toothpick inserted into a batter-only spot (not a fruit pocket) comes out clean.
  6. Let the pie rest 15 minutes before serving. The filling is molten straight from the oven, and the crust firms up as it cools. Serve warm, on its own or with vanilla ice cream.

Notes

Do not stir at any point. The batter is heavier than the melted butter, so it sinks at first, then rises up through the butter as the baking powder activates. The butter effectively fries the outside of the batter into a golden crust, while the heavier fruit sinks through. Stirring gives you a plain fruit cake instead of layers.
Pie filling comes in 21-ounce cans as standard. Recipes calling for a 12-ounce can are working from a typo; that size isn't commonly sold. For a lighter fruit layer, use about two-thirds of a can.
Test for doneness in a batter-only spot. A toothpick pushed through a pocket of fruit will come out wet no matter how baked the pie is.
A full 21-ounce can plus the batter fills a 9x9 dish well. In an 8x8 it will come to the rim and may bubble over, so set it on a rimmed baking sheet.
No self-rising flour? Substitute 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Don't leave out the salt.
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Reheat portions 15-20 seconds in the microwave; the crust softens but the flavor holds.