Creamy Bean Pie Recipe

What do carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie have in common? They're all desserts featuring vegetables! And thanks to recipe developer and private practice registered dietician Kristen Carli, another (slightly less familiar) treat is about to join your veggie-filled sweet recipe repertoire — and that delight is bean pie.

Based off of the name, you might be a tad skeptical of bean pie and think, "A pie that's made with beans ... to have for dessert?" But, you really shouldn't be. "The name 'bean pie' might make this sound unappetizing," Carli says, who nevertheless assures, "It's incredibly delicious! Have you ever tried sweet flavors of hummus? This is very similar to that."

For a little background info, bean pie was birthed in the 1930s. According to The Seattle Times, Elijah Muhammad, who founded the Nation of Islam movement, inspired this bean pie to come to fruition. The group had food restrictions, which included not eating pork, starches, and other foods. Navy beans were not within the restrictions, however, and that's how this delicious bean pie recipe began (via The Seattle Times).

With a texture and spice profile similar to that of pumpkin pie, it's an inexpensive, incredibly easy dessert to whip up that's just as tasty served hot or cold. "I would top this pie with a dollop of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon," Carli suggests, and we're already eager to dig in. But before that, let's get into how you can make this pie at home.

To make this bean pie, you will, of course, need beans! Any small white bean will do. Carli uses creamy cannellini beans in this recipe, but many iterations of the recipe also call for navy beans. To the beans, you will add butter, sugar, creamy evaporated milk, and vanilla. A touch of flour and four eggs helps this custard set up so nicely, while cinnamon and nutmeg add a gentle kick and notes of warm baking spice. 

The only other items you will need include two store-bought deep-dish pie crusts for the base. Then, you're ready to start baking.

To make this bean pie, first preheat the oven to 450 F. While it heats up, you can begin making the filling.

To do so, first empty both cans of beans into the food processor, and pulse until somewhat processed. Don't worry if the mixture isn't super-smooth yet — the beans will be processed once more with the other ingredients before being transferred into the pie crusts and baked. This is just to help them get a little bit creamy so that they will blend more easily into the other filling ingredients.

Speaking of which, it's time to combine the other ingredients for the bean pie filling. Begin by adding the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer, and, using the paddle attachment, mix until combined. Add the evaporated milk and, once again, mix until incorporated. Do the same with the eggs and vanilla, finishing by adding the all-purpose flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

Once all of the other ingredients are nicely combined, add the pre-processed cannellini beans to the stand mixer, and mix once more until combined.

The bean pie filling is likely looking a bit lumpy at this point, but do not fear! Now is the time to transfer the mixture into a large food processor, or, working in batches, transfer it to a smaller processor, and process until smooth.

When all of the filling has been processed and is nice and silky, press the pie crusts into pie pans, and pour the filling into them. Transfer the pies onto baking sheets, and bake at 450 F for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to 350 F and bake for 35 minutes more. The pies should emerge set and golden brown on top.