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A Civil War Recipe..... Oatmeal Pie


Princess came home with an assignment to to a Civil War project. There were several options but she and I always gravitate to the ones that involve cooking. So we chose to make a recipe from the Civil War time to share with her class. Can I just say how grateful I am for the internet when it comes to these school projects? We looked online and found many different recipes. I wanted one that used ingredients I already had on hand and hopefully one that would be a bit tasty.

I finally found a forum where people were sharing Civil War recipes and someone had shared one for Oatmeal Pie from Charleston, South Carolina. Apparently, during the Civil War, pecans were in short supply. So oatmeal was subbed for pecans to make a sort of mock pecan pie.

This recipe is very tasty and really easy. It does remind me of a pecan pie, but at the same time a little reminiscent of an apple crisp because of the oatmeal and the cinnamon. Very delicious! I'm hoping her class really enjoys it. She said they've mostly been bringing in Johnny cakes and hardtack so this should be a nice break from those.

Old Fashion Oatmeal Pie

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) pie crust
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup light corn syrup
1/8 to 1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal (uncooked)

Directions:

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Beat eggs until frothy. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Add eggs and mix well. Add corn syrup, melted butter and vanilla. Mix oatmeal. Pour into uncooked pie shell. Bake for 45 minutes.

Happy eating!

This is being shared at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace.
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Comments

Jennifer Thorson said…
That looks tasty, and it might be a nice alternative for folks with nut allergies.
September 27, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Robert said…
Can I just say in raising children before the internet the days of these school projects were a lot harder. A trip to the library that you did not have time for long hours looking through books and after all of that , Mom still had her list of things to do and guess what the child hadn't even started on the project just found the right thing to do for the project. Yeah those times were tough
PS.Stop by my Tennessee blog sometime GlossyMoney
October 10, 2011 at 9:04 PM
Robert said…
Yeah, the days before the internet were tough. A stop at the library that I did not have time for. Time spent looking through books again it was not on my list of items to do. After all of that time we still had to do the project and I still always had my list of things to do which I was not getting to all because we had to make an extra stop at the library.
Yeah, that was a lot harder.
Mine are mid 20's now I do not miss that about when they grew up.
Stop by my Tennessee blog sometime
GlossyMoney
October 10, 2011 at 9:07 PM
Anonymous said…
Hi, I'm a Civil war reenactor that is the camp cook too. I have checked and found that Karo Corn Syrup was introduced in 1902. I googled the corn info and corn.org has the history of corn products being used in America. I would have probably used something other than corn syrup in this recipe. Benne cookies were popular during the US Civil War. I have cooked up stews, hardtack, apples-n-onions, eggs with bacon, seasonal fruit, and bring loaves of bread.
January 18, 2015 at 3:27 PM
angelDecoded said…
I may not be a civil war reenactor but I sure do agree with the reply about the corn syrup. Maybe maple syrup or molasses(prob not, kinda bitter) would be a substitute? Not sure if this is a northern or southern recipe, the south had lots of sugar on hand and the north had more access to maple syrup.
May 25, 2016 at 7:09 PM
Unknown said…
What about molasses? Since it's a sweetener. Or maybe honey?
June 19, 2016 at 4:13 PM
Amanda from Faith, Food and Family said…
Thanks for all of your comments! I am very happy with the results of this recipe. It is so delicious! However, if any of you do try a more period accurate substitute, let me know how it turns out! :)
June 19, 2016 at 10:45 PM
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