Unlike some other desserts that fluctuate in popularity with the calendar (ice cream, we’re looking at you), pie is acceptable year-round, although the specific variety can vary based on the seasonality of ingredients and relevant holidays. With that in mind, we’d like to guide you through 12 different and delicious pies – one for each month of the year.
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January: Pecan Pie
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Pecans are surprisingly resilient. If kept in a cool, dry, air-tight place (like a freezer), they can last for up to one or two years. If you like your pecans fresh, no worries! Even cracked pecans harvested in November will still be good in January.
Food Network has a fantastic recipe, and they’ll even help you make the crust.
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February: Chocolate Cream Pie
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It’s February; love is in the air and chocolate is on the store shelves in preparation for Valentine’s Day. Chop some of that leftover chocolate, throw it into a bowl with butter and vanilla, and you’re already well on your way to making a homemade chocolate cream pie. Share some with your loves, but don’t forget to refrigerate it overnight before slicing.
This version from the Brown Eyed Baker has yet to fail us.
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March: Banana Cream Pie
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Bananas don’t have a growing season, as they are produced year-round in tropical parts of the world. Since spring arrives in March, it’s a good time to start thinking about warm weather and warm weather fruits, making it the perfect opportunity for a delicious banana cream pie.
Of course we like our banana cream pie to come with a graham cracker crust, and this version from Epicurious comes out beautifully.
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April: Lemon Meringue Pie
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If "The Simpsons"has taught us anything, it’s that lemons are the most important fruit in existence. And because "The Simpsons"is my favorite show and my birthday is in April, I will hereby be accepting lemon meringue pies as gifts. Recipe attached.
You can go all out and make Chez Panisse Meyer lemon meringue pie's thanks to The New York Times.
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May: Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
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May sits firmly in the midst of both strawberry and rhubarb seasons, making it the perfect time to bake this hybrid beauty. If you’re one of those crazies who has never tried rhubarb, now is your chance. You’ll love it. Just remember, for the love of Martha Stewart, to NEVER eat the leaves. They’ll make you ill, and frankly, they don’t taste very good anyway (a friend told us).
Bon Appétit's best strawberry-rhubarb pie has an unusual dough that uses both vodka and apple cider vinegar to create a perfectly flaky crust.
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June: Peach Pie
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Peach trees start yielding fruit as early as April or May, so by June you should have plenty for the taking and the making. Fun fact: Although Georgia gets all of the attention when it comes to peaches, they almost always get out-produced by South Carolina, by two or three times the amount. California is still king, however, as the Golden State produces more than the other 49 states combined.
Fine Cooking's peach pie gets it's depth from almond extract.
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July: Cherry Pie
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Not only does the patriotic red hue of cherries make them perfect for serving on the Fourth of July, but this time of year is also the peak of cherry harvesting season. (That means there’s no excuse for using frozen or canned cherries!) The only question: do you prefer your cherries sweet or tart?
Thisrecipe from Sally's Baking Addiction is simple and easy, even with fresh cherries and a homemade crust!
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August: Key Lime Pie
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The weather is still warm in most of the country, so get your Key lime fill while you can still enjoy a slice outside. Preferably with a margarita. And for the record, the difference between Key and regular limes are that Key limes (also called Mexican or West Indian limes) are a bit more yellow, contain more seeds, are more aromatic, and have a more tart taste.
We're fans of this simple Key lime pie recipe with a light meringue topping from Food52.
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September: Blueberry Pie
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Nothing beats Maine blueberries (sorry, everyone else), which begin to be harvested each August. This makes September the perfect time to enjoy the best blueberry treat of all: blueberry pie (sorry, every other type of blueberry treat).
ThisBon Appétit recipe uses tons of fresh blueberries and includes an almond crumble toppingor you can go with abasic blueberry pie recipe from Simply Recipesthat allows for either fresh or frozen blueberries.
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October: Apple Pie
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There’s nothing like a fall trip to the apple orchard, where eager families throw down their hard-earned dollars for an opportunity to do manual labor on their days off. What better way to continue this hard work than peeling, coring, and cooking the apples inside of a pie? Oh well, at least eating it is easy (and tasty) to eat!
Check out thisclassic apple pie recipe from Fine Cooking.
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November: Pumpkin Pie
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Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is on its way, which means it’s time to break out the pumpkin pie. For this recipe, it’s perfectly acceptable to used canned pumpkin (but not pumpkin pie mix). It’s the holidays, you’ve got a lot on your plate, and we get it. Make sure you at least have time to enjoy a slice.
This gem fromAllRecipes is called the “perfect pumpkin pie,”and we couldn’t agree more.
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December: Sweet Potato Pie
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Apple, pumpkin, and pecan pies are all common during the holiday season, but there’s one seasonal pie we haven’t tackled in this list yet: sweet potato pie. It uses a lot of the usual suspect ingredients – such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract – so as long as you can buy the sweet potatoes, you’ll be in business.
We're fans of The Spruce's Mississippi sweet potato pie recipe.
Matt Sulem has been writing and editing professionally for more than a decade. He has worked for BubbleBlabber, The Sportster, and The Daily Meal, among other publications, but has called Yardbarker home since 2006. Matt’s writing combines a love for nostalgia with a passion for promulgating interesting, informative, and lesser-known facts about pop culture. And he’s always down to share a solid slow cooker, air fryer, or dessert recipe. Matt currently lives in Portland, Maine, with his wife and young son.
