Root Beer Pie
Root Beer Pie is a refreshing, delicious way to enjoy everyone’s favorite childhood treat in a new package. With a graham cracker crust, a pudding filling made with real root beer, and whipped cream and maraschino cherries on top, this root beer float pie is a slice of summer in every bite.
When we think of summer, we think of root beer floats. We also think of pudding pies. They’re both cold and refreshing, and they’re a great way to cool off on a hot day. We put them together to make this rich, creamy pie that’s the best of both worlds, and we think you’re going to love it.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: Everything you need to make this is either in your kitchen or your local grocery store.
- Easy: This is an almost no-bake pie, so it’s super easy to make. The only thing that requires actual cooking is the crust.
- A Taste of Childhood: The pie is made with real root beer, so every bite is full of creamy, root beer float flavor.
- Versatile: Serve this as a sweet weeknight dessert or bring it to summer potlucks and parties. Heck, you can make it in the winter, too!
🛒Ingredients
We’ve made this list to help you save time on your next trip to the grocery store. You can find the full amounts needed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Crust
- Graham cracker crumbs
- Sugar
- Unsalted butter – melted
Filling
- Root Beer
- Milk
- Instant vanilla pudding mix
- Cool Whip
Whipped Cream Decorations
- Heavy whipping cream
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Maraschino cherries
🔪 How to Make Root Beer Pie
This is a quick overview of the steps needed to make this recipe. You can find the full instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Combine all the crust ingredients in a bowl. Then, press half into the bottom of a prepared 9-inch pie pan and the other half up the sides. Bake until golden.
- Whisk the root beer. Then, whisk in the pudding until combined and let it sit until thickened.
- Spread the pudding evenly into the pie shell and freeze overnight. Transfer to the fridge and make the whipped cream when ready to serve.
- To make the whipped cream, place a large mixing bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then, beat the whipped cream ingredients in the bowl until stiff peaks form. Top the pie with whipped cream and cherries before serving.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- 9-inch pie pan
- Large piping bag with large tip
🥫 Storage
Refrigerate leftovers loosely covered for up to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze the pie or individual slices. Wrap an entire pie in a double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil and freeze for up to a month. Wrap individual slices in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
Place the pie in the refrigerator the night before serving.
Serve With
This refreshing root beer pie is the perfect ending to any classic comfort food meal. It would be perfect with a dinner like pot roast vegetable soup or honey garlic baked chicken breast with mashed potatoes.
💭 Tips
- Press the crust mixture firmly into the pan. Compaction is the secret to ensuring the crust melds together into a solid piece that won’t fall apart when cut.
- You definitely need a hand mixer for the filling and the whipped cream. You’ll need to do a lot of vigorous whipping.
- STOP beating the whipped cream as soon as stiff peaks form. Many people don’t realize that overbeating whipped cream actually takes the air out of it and causes it to collapse.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
The usual culprit is accidentally using cook-and-serve pudding instead of instant pudding. Cook-and-serve pudding MUST be boiled to thicken. Without that heat, it won’t ever be anything other than liquid. So be sure to check the label when purchasing your pudding because they’re often sold right next to each other.
We don’t recommend trying to decorate with piped Cool Whip. It’s a whipped topping designed for spreading, and it isn’t easy to ensure it retains its piped shape.
Yes, you can! Use your favorite instant pudding flavor to make variations on the root beer float theme, or use a different soda like Coca Cola for a different kind of float pie altogether.
🍽 More Recipes
If you love root beer, we think you’ll love our RumChata root beer float, slow cooker root beer pulled pork, or root beer float waffles. They all make root beer the delicious star of the show.
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Root Beer Pie
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- mixing bowls
- 9-inch pie pan
- Large piping bag with large tip
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- ¼ cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- Baking spray
Root Beer Float Pie Ingredients
- ¾ cup IBC Root Beer
- ½ cup milk
- 3.4 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix
- 8 ounces cool whip thawed
Whipped Cream
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Maraschino Cherries
Instructions
Crust Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the ingredients into a medium bowl.
- Spray the pie pan with the baking spray.
- Press half the graham cracker crust into the pie dish.
- Press the remaining crust up along the sides.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and allow to cool completely.
Pie Filling Directions
- Using a large bowl, whisk together the root beer and milk.
- Whisk together the root beer mixture with the vanilla pudding and whisk for about 2 minutes.
- Allow the pudding mixture to sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Gradually fold in the cool whip into the root beer pudding until combined.
- Scoop the mixture into the pie shell and spread evenly.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer overnight.
- When ready to serve, remove from freezer and place into the fridge.
Whipped Cream Directions
- Using a large bowl, place the bowl into the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the bowl after 10 minutes and add in the 1 1⁄2 C heavy whipping cream, powdered
- sugar, and vanilla.
- Using a hand mixer, beat the ingredients together until stiff peaks form. About 10 minutes.
- Scoop half of the whipped cream into the piping bag.
- Pipe dollops around the edge of the pie.
- Place the pie into the fridge and the whipped cream into the freezer for a hour.
- Once the whipped cream is ‘frozen’ use the small ice cream scoop and scoop mounds of
- whipped cream into the center to look the mounds of ice cream.
- Garnish with cherries and enjoy.
Disclaimer
Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
