Gluten Free Pepsi and Peanuts Pie

Growing up in North Carolina, I enjoyed a treat I had thought at the time was universal, but I’m learning now was quite unique: Pepsi and peanuts.

The idea was that you’d take those tall, thick glass Pepsi bottles and funnel a sleeve of salty peanuts inside it. Turn it upside-down (with your thumb over the mouth of the bottle, of course) so the peanuts went to the bottom of the bottle, then you were ready to enjoy!

And by enjoy, I mean that you would drink the Pepsi and eat the crunchy peanuts IN the Pepsi at the same time. It’s a bit hard to imagine, but trust me that it worked and the salty and sweet combination still tastes like summer to me.

I’m not alone in my nostalgia for this southern treat, although some prefer the idea of Coke and peanuts (no comment). I have the feeling you don’t want to try this with a diet soda though — just ewwww.

Apparently the practice of adding peanuts to your Pepsi (or Coke, I suppose) started in the 1920s when workers didn’t want to touch their snack of peanuts with their dirty hands, so they added the packet straight into their choice of working beverages.

Others speculate it was invented so folks could hold a cold glass of soda and the stick shift in their other hand.

Since both were sold at filling stations, it was an early form of C-store fast food for many a Southerner. Pretty brilliant, wouldn’t you say?

Fast forward (a few years) and I received an email from my parents with a recipe for Pepsi and Lance Peanuts Pie. Quite a novel idea to take this mixed beverage and turn it into a pie, but then again, (not to diminish its greatness) it sounded a lot like pecan pie, only with peanuts. What’s not to love about that?

 

I thoughtfully stored the recipe where most recipe ideas go to die — in my email box. 

But since we’ve moved northward to Maryland (no one here has been indoctrinated into Pepsi and peanuts, apparently) and my parents have now moved in with us, I have been trying to make some new recipes that might make them feel like the South isn’t so very far away.  I thought to dig this recipe out and give it a try (putting my own spin on it, of course).

I must say that the results were as delicious as I’d hoped, which is why you’re going to have to trust me on this one and make it for yourself, whether or not you’ve ever had the occasion to try Coke or Pepsi and peanuts for yourself. (Have you? I’d love to hear about it!)

The basic concept is that you reduce Pepsi down to a syrup that’s a lot like Karo and add it to peanuts, chopped or not (chop them for more of a pecan pie texture; leave them whole for the full Pepsi and peanuts effect). 

Pour this mixture into my tried and true homemade gluten free pie crust and you have yourself a dessert that’s its own conversation starter!

If you’re more a fan of the traditional, or you’re not into Pepsi or Karo or anything of the sort, I hear you. And I have a fantastic gluten free and vegan Pecan Pie recipe that uses no Karo at all — it’s like magic you can taste. 

 

Either way, you’re going to want a delicious, light and flaky gluten free pie crust to bake it in, so you’re going to want this gluten free Pie Crust Recipe and Tips. If you’d like to prepare your gluten free pie crust in advance and freeze it before making this pie, follow this recipe for freezing the pie dough ahead of time. Do not bake the pie crust before filling and baking this pie.

I hope you trust me on this one and give Pepsi and Peanuts Pie a try. Or, as my hubby has dubbed it, Pea-Con Pie. It’s remarkably similar to the pecan pie we all know and love, only it comes with some bubbly history.

You may have to trust me on this seemingly odd combination, but I really think you’ll love this sweet and salty combination, tucked into a delicious gluten free pie crust. Let me know what you think!

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