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No-Bake Classic: Millionaire Pie

by Patricia Mitchell

I got my first taste of Millionaire Pie at a Wyatt's Cafeteria in Fort Worth back in the fifties. It was an instant hit with all the after-church-on-Sunday crowd, and the recipe quickly made the rounds.

For those of you with pie-baking phobia and, apparently, there are quite a few of you, Millionaire Pie is remarkably simple to make. It can be made with real whipping cream, but this recipe calls for frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, instead. Ordinarily, I prefer to cook with real dairy products, but I think this pie has a better, more uniform texture, lasts a little longer and tastes just as good with the non-dairy substitute. And, of course, it results in fewer calories and fat, but we're really not going for a low-cal dessert here, considering the other ingredients.

Unless you want your pie to have a pastry crust, you won't even have to turn on your oven. Links to several no-bake crusts are provided below.

This is a rich and delicious, though light, dessert -- perfect for summer, but I guarantee you it will be appreciated any time.

Millionaire Pie

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 8-ounce carton of whipped topping, thawed (OR 2 cups whipping cream, whipped and sweetened with 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 prepared 9-inch pastry shell

Cream together the softened cream cheese and the sugar with an electric mixer, letting the mixer run for 3 or 4 minutes on high speed.

Stir into the cream cheese mixture the crushed pineapple, coconut and pecans, and mix well.

Carefully fold in half of the whipped topping until filling is blended well. Reserve remaining half for top (see below).

Pile the filling into a baked pie shell, and chill for several hours.

Millionaire Pie can be garnished with a dollop of the reserved whipped topping when served, or you can spread the remaining half of the topping over the whole pie and finish with a sprinkling of chopped pecans. A third alternative is to fold both cups of whipped topping into the filling; this works quite well and makes for an even lighter texture, but allow more chilling time before serving if you go this route.

It's up to you but, whatever you do, I think you'll enjoy this pie in every sense of the word.

Here are the links to several pie crusts:

Baked:

• Standard Pie Pastry
• Butter Pastry

Unbaked:

• Graham Cracker Crust
• Gingersnap Crust
• Vanilla Wafer Crust

end article