Sweet And Salty Texas Trash Pie Recipe

Most people may raise their eyebrows when asked to eat something with the word "trash" in the name. That's understandable, but your mind will likely change once you've tried Texas trash pie. "This is the perfect pie if you love a mix of salty and sweet. It's so easy, but delicious!" says Erin Johnson, who developed this quick, easy, and playful dessert recipe. It uses simple, everyday ingredients like pretzels, chocolate chips, graham crackers, and store-bought pie crust, making it a fun project for youngsters and adults alike.

"This recipe is very adaptable — you can substitute and omit to suit what you have on hand," Johnson adds. "You could substitute butterscotch pieces for the baking truffles, any nuts for the pecans, and if you want to go really crazy you could substitute Ritz crackers for the graham crackers to make the pie even more salty and sweet." Here's how you can make a trash pie of your very own.

This is essentially a pie full of fun snacks. It requires pretzels, graham crackers, sweetened condensed milk, unsweetened coconut flakes, chopped pecans, dark chocolate chips, caramel baking truffles, salted butter, and a deep-dish pie shell from the grocery store freezer aisle. "Traditionally, this uses caramel pieces, but I find that the baking truffles have a better texture in the final product," Johnson explains. "I also opt to use unsweetened coconut because I think this recipe is very sweet, but you can use sweetened if you prefer."

Once you've preheated your oven to 350 F, the first step's easy: Just chop and/or break up your pretzels, pecans, and graham crackers until they're bite-sized and mix them up in a bowl, then stir in the coconut flakes, baking truffles (or caramels), and chocolate chips. "The pretzels should be broken into pieces but not to the point of being crushed. You don't want them to be too small," Johnson advises.

Now, it's time to get sticky. Drizzle your sweetened condensed milk over your bowl of crunchy pie filling, then melt the butter and do the same with that. Give everything a good stir, and pour the whole mixture into your prepared pie crust.

Once your Texas trash pie comes out of the oven steaming and golden brown (about 40 minutes), let it cool a bit so you don't burn your tongue, then slice it up and enjoy! Johnson recommends serving this "with whipped cream or ice cream, which makes for a lovely, light, and creamy accompaniment to this crunchy, salty treat.

This pie "keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days," according to Johnson, so if you end up with extra, that just means more pie for future you. Next time your sweet tooth is calling, it'll be easy to take out a pie crust from the freezer and turn it into something trashy in the best way.