Cereal Milk Is The Exact Ingredient Your Chess Pie Needs

Chess pie is a Southern staple sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. This pie is made with a thickened, custard base and is commonly flavored with lemons, though you'll also see some fun flavor variations out there — including chocolate chess pie. But one flavor variation that you may not be too familiar with is cereal milk.

Cereal milk is essentially just what it sounds like: the leftover milk from a bowl of cereal that's been steeping for a while. This process allows the cereal to imprint its unique flavor into the milk. So you'll get the sugary rush from Cap'n Crunch or the chocolatey notes from Cocoa Pebbles — all without the experience of having to eat soggy cereal.

There are two potential options for adding this unique ingredient to your chess pie. For one, you can use a cereal milk powder, which is a dry ingredient, and mix it with your thickeners, sugar, and more. However, this gives you limited options for flavoring your pie, as there are not many commercially available. The other option would be to make your own cereal milk using milk and cereal. Be sure to strain out the solid pieces so you get the perfect, creamy texture in your filling. You'll also want to be mindful of not making the filling too thin, so be sure to cut back on the other liquids in your recipe like evaporated milk.

A walk through the cereal aisle is bound to give you tons of ideas for your chess pie creation. For one, you'll want to stick to cereals that offer something in terms of flavor. So, while Corn Flakes can add a unique crunchiness to fried foods, they won't really impart anything remarkable on the flavor profile of your cereal milk. A better option would be whimsical Froot Loops or Fruity Pebbles. Not only will you be able to see the colorful flecks of the cereal within the center of your filling, but you'll also get bright, fruity undertones with every bite. You can home-in on these flavors even more by crushing up some cereal and adding it to your pie crust.

Another cereal option that is a little more sophisticated is Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It would be great for a chess pie that's flavored with other autumnal standards, like cloves and pumpkin spice. Just keep in mind that you may need to tone down any additional sugar you add to the filling to account for the fact that each cereal piece has a sugary coating on it.