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Try our Amaretto Cream Pie with a luscious, custardy amaretto filling poured into a baked almond cookie crust.
Way back in 2011 I posted a pie recipe each week for the entire year. I developed an Amaretto Cream Pie recipe for the ‘year of the pie’ extravaganza and shared it as No. 2 in the lineup. My original recipe was a good attempt to recreate a very special pie we used to enjoy at the Mt. Vernon Restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Even though I’ve always been a baker, with pies as my signature specialty, I never missed a chance to buy a whole restaurant-made Amaretto Cream Pie from the Mt. Vernon for special occasions, like my own birthday!
Since then, I’ve tweaked and tested different versions of this pie trying to come up with the winning combination that made the (now closed) Mt. Vernon Amaretto Cream Pie famous.
Unfortunately, the Mt. Vernon restaurant closed after 63 wonderful years leaving a void for those of us who loved their pies, chicken livers and other homestyle favorites. If you’re like me and wish they’d shared their super-secret recipe with the world after they closed, then you’ve come to the right place. I don’t have the actual recipe (does anybody?) but I think you’ll find this Amaretto Cream Pie a delicious copycat. I’ve made many, many versions of this pie with rich custard fillings and various amounts of amaretto, and even tried a baked version similar to my Key Lime pie. All in all, this is the best Amaretto Cream Pie Recipe to date and worthy of being shared once again!
The distinctive sweet amaretto flavor is subtle, but not hidden, and not at all boozy.
Amaretto liqueur is a sweet Italian creation made from almonds, and sometimes peach or apricot stones. You can enjoy amaretto as part of a mixed drink, in coffee, with cream over ice, or simply poured into a glass. I like to serve it chilled, straight up, with an almond flavored dessert like this Amaretto Cream Pie. Try a little amaretto drizzled over vanilla ice cream; what a treat! If you like to experiment, you can even make your own amaretto at home using THIS easy recipe. Personally I’m partial to the Disaronno brand of amaretto liqueur. Their website has plenty of cocktail recipes too, check it out!
If you prefer a non-alcoholic dessert, try using amaretto extract.
Amaretto Extract is going to be hard to find in your neighborhood grocery store. Don’t waste your time trying to hunt it down when we have Amazon to the rescue! If you want to use extract instead of amaretto liqueur, check out the links at the bottom of this post to purchase from Amazon.
Our Amaretto Cream Pie recipe starts with a crust made with store-bought cookies, sliced almonds and melted butter.
The first Amaretto Cream Pie I posted had a standard pastry crust. To be a good copycat of the famous mystery pie, I knew I’d have to come up with a cookie crust that could rival the one made by the Mt. Vernon Restaurant. After testing several store-bought cookie brands, we finally settled on this recipe made with Nabisco’s Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies, sliced almonds and melted butter. The crust ingredients are pulsed in a food processor then pressed into a pie plate. The simple mixture is refrigerated until set, then baked for 10 minutes.
After many, many experiments and taste testings, I think this Amaretto Cream Pie is an absolute winner! It may not be an exact match, but for those of us that still remember and crave that iconic creamy treat, this will do nicely.
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Amaretto Cream Pie
Ingredients
For the shortbread-almond crust:
- 5 ounces shortbread cookies (20 - Lorna Doone cookies)
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the amaretto filling:
- 3 large egg yolks
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 ¾ cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup amaretto liqueur
For the topping:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- ½ cup sliced almonds for garnish
Instructions
To prepare the crust:
- Heat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the cookies until crumbly. Add the almond and pulse 4-5 times in quick bursts. Add the melted butter and pulse just until combined.
- Firmly press the crumb mixture into bottom and up the sides of 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 to 30 minutes. Bake until lightly browned and set, about 10 minutes. Cool while preparing the filling.
To prepare the filling:
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks until blended. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan combine the sugar, salt, cornstarch and flour. Whisk in the milk.
- Cook the milk mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens and starts to boil. (This may take about 15 minutes) Boil for one minute, stirring constantly then remove from the heat (leave the stove-top turned on).
- While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle half the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Add the blended egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot custard. Return to the heat and boil 2 minutes more, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Reduce the heat if needed.
- Remove from the heat and blend in the butter, vanilla extract and Amaretto. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Cool to room temperature then refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
To prepare the topping:
- In a large cold mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the cream on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat on high until firm peaks form. Dollop the whipped cream on top of the pie filling. Garnish with sliced almonds.
Recipe Notes
- To help achieve lofty, fluffy whipped cream, chill your bowl and beaters in the freezer before mixing.
- Keep pie refrigerated.
Nutrition
For a non-alcoholic recipe try Amaretto Extract
Here are a couple of well-reviewed brands of amaretto extract that can be used in this pie. I would start with 2 teaspoons but check the labels and see what each company recommends as a replacement for amaretto liqueur. Click on the photos for more information or to purchase from Amazon.
Saving Room for Dessert is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program ~ I earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you, which I use to pay for web hosting and services for this blog.
Here are a few more of our favorite pie recipes you might enjoy:
Double Chocolate Cream Pie – with a sweet, rich silky filling and an easy to make cookie crumb crust, this pie is completely moan-worthy! Click HERE to get the recipe.
Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie – Dating back to the 1800’s – this simple pie is still popular and delicious! Click HERE to get the recipe.
Originally posted January 2011, updated August 2019
Bib
This looks spot on. Can’t wait to try. Was looking online to see if Mr Vernon recipe was around. Great call on the crust!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Bib! I hope you enjoy it. I always loved their Amaretto Pie ❤️
Julie G
Delicious! We really loved this pie. I didn’t have shortbread cookies on hand but instead had some amaretti cookies and used those. It worked out great.
The filling was easy and set beautifully. Each slice was perfect. Amaretto is my favorite so I knew this one was a good choice for me.
The flavor was spot on…not too sweet, delicious almond essence. Slight almond crunch in the crust…so good. Whipped cream topping brought it all together. I add 1 Tblsp instant vanilla pudding to the heavy cream and it stabilizes it.
You always have great recipes, Tricia. So glad I tried this one!
alicia lee
I read through the comments and did not see this question addressed: for the topping, it says vanilla or almond extract. What are the benefits of using one over the other? Also, could you use your amaretto liqueur instead of extract?
Tricia Buice
Hi Alicia. If you love the flavor of almond extract I recommend using it instead of vanilla. I haven’t tested the pie topping using liqueur so I’m not sure. If you don’t have almond extract on hand, just go with vanilla. It’s all good! Hope you enjoy this pie. We LOVE it!
alicia lee
Thanks so much! I’m looking forward to trying it out. Springing it in the fam for thanksgiving without pre-testing. Wish me luck.
Tricia Buice
I hope it all turns out perfectly Alicia!
Karen Roberts
I also miss the Mr Vernon restaurant😢
I followed your recipe to the T all except I did not have whole milk all I had was 2%.
The pie has great flavor and was close but the custard part of the pie was not creamy it was almost jelly like firm. Any idea what I might have done wrong? Also I used almond extract instead of the almond Liquor.
This was my “birthday cake” every year while MtVernon was opened. I need this pie!!!
Thank you!
Karen
Tricia Buice
Hi Karen. The liqueur helps the filling to be a little thinner, so I’m sure by omitting it you completely changed the consistency and flavor of the pie. Almond extract is one of my favorite flavors but it’s not the same as real amaretto. Hope you’ll pick up a bottle and try again! Happy birthday!!!!
Jennie
I am making this Amaretto cream pie and the double chocolate cream pie to take to a dinner party. It will need to travel about 30 minutes before I can refrigerate it. I have made these before and received rave reviews but I’ve never tried to travel with this type of pie. I will use cold packs in transporting.
My questions are:
*will I need to use a stabilized whipped cream and if so, do you have this recipe and *would I need to just wait and add the whipped topping on individual slices at serving time. Thank you you for assisting me with this. I want guests to experience the finest in cream pies and yours are just that!
Tricia Buice
Oh wow Jennie! Thank you so much for the kind words. Thirty minutes is a bit long with soft homemade whipped cream. Perhaps you can add 1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin to help stabilize the mixture. Dissolve the gelatin in 1 tablespoon of water then add to your regular whipped cream recipe. Another less homemade option is to use Extra-Creamy Cool Whip which is very stable. I would go the unflavored gelatin route and eliminate any unnecessary stress! Thanks again for trying our pies and for the terrific question. Enjoy!
Kristen Ewer
Hello! Just made this, it is delicious. However, my custard is runny! I followed the recipe exactly since I’ve never made a custard like this before, and it seemed to go really well on the stove and once poured in the crust. Overnight in the fridge and the next day around lunch time was very loose when cut. Where did I go wrong? I am at ~7000 feet elevation, does that have anything to do with it? Thank you in advance for the help and tasty tasty recipe 🙂
Tricia Buice
Hi Kristen. Sorry it didn’t set up correctly for you but so glad you enjoyed the flavor. If you plan to make it again, just make sure you are measuring everything correctly. A little extra milk or another splash of amaretto may thin the filling. With 1/3 cup of cornstarch, it really should set up firmly. Try cooking it an extra minute or two and take care when measuring ingredients. Hopefully it will work out next time. Such a delicious pie!
Jeanne
I don’t know if you’ll see this Kristen. I just read an article about high altitude cooking and thought of your comment. As I’m sure you already know, your boiling point is 14 degrees F lower than ours at sea level. So your custard will begin to boil sooner (and at a lower temp) than ours would. The article went on to mention that for a custard to form, the proteins start to bond at around 120 degrees F. After around 180 degrees F, the proteins will overcook and release their liquids and get runny again. My guess is that you’re most likely not getting over 120 degrees because your mixture boils before you get to that point. It’s possible you might be overcooking but it doesn’t feel like it. Either way, I bet if you use a thermometer, the pie will solidify. Hope this solves your problem. Best of luck! The pie is yummy.
Charis Cochran
This was so amazing to find this recipe for amaretto pie. My husband lost his mother the day before Christmas 2019 and one of his favorite things was her amaretto pies he was searching on the internet for one and yours was first to pop up as he read the article on the pie he started to cry when I asked him what was wrong he told me you’re not going to believe this. The pie they are talking about in the article at Mt Vernon restaurant was my mother’s she was the cook there. So it warms our heart to know that people loved them as much as we did she would have been proud to know. May God bless you and your family and thank you for helping her pie live on.
Tricia Buice
Hi Charis. This comment brought tears to my eyes! I truly appreciate you taking the time to let us hear from you. Food memories are the best and your mother-in-law’s Amaretto pie was a memory that has stuck with me for decades. Please tell your husband we are very sorry to hear that she passed. Keep the precious memories close to your heart. Blessing to you and your family.
Julie Long
This review got me ! I was looking for an amaretto pie to make for a contest ($1000 prize for 1st place😯) I’ll let you know how it goes the contest is today 11/19/23.
Tricia Buice
Good luck Julie!
Elizabeth
We loved mt. Vernon!! And the pie was our absolute favorite!!! Do you think this recipe is close to the pie they made at Mt. Vernon?
Tricia Buice
Hi Elizabeth. I’ve worked for years to perfect this recipe and believe it is very close to the original. Hope you’ll give it a try.