Christina Tosi’s Famous Milk Bar Crack Pie!
Pi Day (3/14) is the perfect excuse to indulge in one of the most iconic desserts of all time: Milk Bar Pie (formerly Crack Pie)! This legendary creation from pastry genius Christina Tosi is rich, buttery, and downright addictive. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting this pie at a Milk Bar location, you already know—it’s worth every bite.
And lucky for me, I used to live in NYC and could get my hands on a slice whenever I wanted. Same with Magnolia Bakery’s banana pudding–how lucky was I to have access to such fantastic desserts in my neighborhood?!
But back to important matters: pie. Trust me, once you dive in, you’ll understand why this Milk Bar Pie has a reputation for being next-level delicious!
For more impressive homemade desserts that will wow literally everyone, consider trying my burnt Basque cheesecake, my irresistibly creamy peanut butter mousse cups, or this triple berry slab pie next!
What Is Milk Bar Pie?
Milk Bar Pie is the ultimate fusion of textures and flavors, featuring a buttery oat cookie crust and an irresistibly gooey, custard-like filling. The combination of sweet and salty, creamy and chewy, makes this dessert a show-stopping treat. While it requires multiple steps, the results are beyond worth it!
Quick note on the pie’s name change: Since the original publication of this post, Milk Bar has released a statement changing the name of Milk Bar Crack Pie to Milk Bar Pie.
What You’ll Need
Everything starts with baking a big, chewy oat cookie made from rolled oats, plenty of butter, and a little brown sugar for that salty-sweet vibe. Once that cookie cools, you’ll crumble it up and press it into your pie dish—instant crust!
For the filling, you’ll whisk together a bunch of egg yolks, two kinds of sugar (brown and white), plus some milk powder and a special ingredient called corn powder (yep, it’s freeze-dried corn turned into a fine dust). Melted butter, heavy cream, vanilla, and a pinch of salt round out the lineup, making a custard so gooey, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
Side note: one of the perks of having my husband work in New York City is that any time I have a craving — Doughnut Plant? Daily Provisions? Murray’s Bagels? — or am in need of a special ingredient, I politely ask (read: guilt him) to make a special trip and bring home the goods.
Step-by-Step Instructions
This recipe requires some time and patience, but following these steps will help you create the perfect pie at home. Full instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- Make the Oat Cookie: Prepare the oat cookie dough, spread it onto a baking sheet, and bake until golden brown. Let it cool.
- Prepare the Crust: Crumble the baked oat cookie into fine crumbs using a food processor. Mix with brown sugar, salt, and melted butter. Press the mixture into pie plates to form the crust.
- Prepare the Filling: Whisk together the sugars, milk powder, and corn powder. Add melted butter, heavy cream, vanilla, and egg yolks, mixing until smooth.
- Assemble the Pies: Pour the filling into the prepared crusts.
- Bake: The pies require a special baking method—starting at a high temperature, then lowering it to create that signature gooey texture.
- Cool & Freeze: Let the pies cool at room temperature, then freeze for 3 hours. Before serving, transfer them to the fridge for 1 hour.
- Slice & Enjoy! Sprinkle with powdered sugar for the final touch.
Don’t skip freezing, this is a crucial step. It helps the filling set properly and ensures that signature dense, gooey texture.
Storage & Freezing Instructions
- Make-Ahead: This pie is perfect for making ahead of time! You can bake it a day or two in advance and store it in the fridge.
- Storage: Keep leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Milk Bar Pie freezes beautifully. Wrap it tightly and store it in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge before serving.
A quick note about the crust: The homemade oat cookie crust is what sets this pie apart. While I’m often in favor of taking shortcuts where necessary, you really don’t want to use a store-bought crust for this recipe. I mean, you can, but that you’re making a totally different pie. Making the cookie crust from scratch is essential for achieving the authentic Milk Bar experience.
Learn From My Mistakes!
I’ve made this pie several times over the years and here are some of my biggest takeaways:
- Don’t rush the process. This pie takes time—give yourself at least a day to prepare it properly.
- Invest in the hard-to-find ingredients. Milk powder? Corn powder? Are they essential? In this case, yes. Thankfully, however, Milk Bar’s popularity has made it much easier to get your hands on these unique ingredients and they can be shipped directly to your door. When I first started making this a decade ago, I had to physically go to Milk Bar (the original!) to buy what I needed.
- Follow the baking instructions carefully. The temperature changes during baking are essential for achieving the right consistency.
- Get creative with serving! While the classic version is perfect on its own, try adding fresh berries or a scoop of ice cream for an extra indulgent treat.
Whether you’re celebrating Pi Day or simply craving an unforgettable dessert, Milk Bar Pie is an absolute must-try. Rich, buttery, and completely addictive, this pie is bound to become a favorite in your household. If you make this recipe, leave a review and let me know how it turned out!
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Milk Bar Pie (Formerly Crack Pie) with Oatmeal Crust
Equipment
Ingredients
For the pies (makes 2 [10-inch] pies):
- 1 recipe oat cookie recipe follows
- 15 g 1 Tbsp tightly packed light brown sugar
- 1 g ¼ tsp salt
- 55 g 4 Tbsp butter melted, or as needed
- 1 recipe crack pie® filling recipe follows
- confectioner's sugar for dusting
For the oat cookie recipe (makes about 1 quarter sheet pan):
- 115 g unsalted butter 8 Tbsp, at room temperature
- 70 g tightly packed light brown sugar ½ cup
- 40 g granulated sugar 3 Tbsp
- 1 egg yolk
- 80 g flour ½ cup
- 120 g old-fashioned rolled oats 1 ½ cups
- 0.5 g baking powder ⅛ tsp
- 0.25 g pinch baking soda
- 2 g Kosher salt ½ tsp
- pam or other nonstick cooking spray optional
For the crack pie filling (makes enough for 2 pies):
- 300 g granulated sugar 1 ½ cups
- 180 g tightly packed light brown sugar ¾ cup
- 20 g milk powder ¼ cup
- 24 g corn powder ¼ cup
- 6 g Kosher salt 1½ tsp
- 225 g unsalted butter 16 Tbsp, melted
- 160 g heavy cream ¾ cup
- 2 g pure vanilla extract ½ tsp
- 8 egg yolks**
Instructions
For the pies
- Combine the pat cookie and sugar. Preheat an oven to 350°F. Put the oat cookie, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, and ¼ tsp salt in a food processor, then pulse on and off until the cookie is broken down into the texture of wet sand.
- Make the crust. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl, add 4 Tbsp melted butter, and knead the butter and ground cookie mixture until moist enough to form into a ball. If it is not moist enough to do so, melt an additional 14 to 25g (1 to 1½ tablespoons) of butter and knead it in.
- Form the crust. Divide the oat crust evenly between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Using your fingers and the palms of your hands, press the oat cookie crust firmly into each pie pan, making sure the bottom and sides of the tin are evenly covered. Use the pie shells immediately, or wrap well in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Bake the Milk Bar pie. Put both pie shells on a sheet pan. Divide the crack pie® filling evenly between the crusts; the filling should fill them three-quarters of the way full. Bake for 15 minutes only. The pies should be golden brown on top but will still be very jiggly.
- Cool slightly, then continue baking till set. Open the oven door and reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Depending on your oven, it may take 5 minutes or longer for the oven to cool to the new temperature. Keep the pies in the oven during this process. When the oven reaches 325°F, close the door and bake the pies for 5 minutes longer. The pies should still be jiggly in the bull’s-eye center but not around the outer edges. If the filling is still too jiggly, leave the pies in the oven for an additional 5 minutes or so.
- Freeze the pies before serving. Gently take the pan of crack pies® out of the oven and transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature. (You can speed up the cooling process by carefully transferring the pies to the fridge or freezer if you’re in a hurry.) Then freeze your pies for at least 3 hours, or overnight, to condense the filling for a dense final product—freezing is the signature technique and result of a perfectly executed crack pie®.
- Dust with powdered sugar, then serve. Serve your crack pie® cold! Decorate your pie(s) with confectioners’ sugar, either passing it through a fine sieve or dispatching pinches with your fingers.
For the Oat Cookie recipe
- Cream together butter, sugar, and egg. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the 115g butter, 70g brown sugar, and 40g granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. On low speed, add the egg yolk and increase the speed to medium high and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar granules fully dissolve and the mixture is a pale white.
- Make the cookie dough. On low speed, add the 80g flour, 120g oats, ½g baking powder, ¼g baking soda, and 2g salt. Mix for 1 minute, until your dough comes together and any remnants of dry ingredients have been incorporated. The dough will be a slightly fluffy, fatty mixture in comparison to your average cookie dough. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Spread out the cookie dough. Spray a quarter sheet pan and line with parchment. Plop the cookie dough in the center of the pan and, with a spatula, spread it out until it is ¼-inch thick. The dough won’t end up covering the entire pan; this is ok.
- Bake the oat cookie crust. Bake for 15 minutes, or until it resembles an oatmeal cookie-caramelized on top and puffed slightly but set firmly. Cool completely before using. Wrapped well in plastic, the oat cookie will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 1 week.
For the Crack Pie Filling
- From Christina Tosi: "You must use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to make this filling. It only takes a minute, but it makes all the difference in the homogenization and smooth, silky final product. I repeat: a hand whisk and a bowl or a granny hand mixer will not produce the same results. Also, keep the mixer on low speed through the entire mixing process. If you try to mix the filling on higher speed, you will incorporate too much air and your pie will not be dense and gooey-the essence of crack pie®."
- Mix the dry ingredients. Combine 300g granulated sugar, 180g brown sugar, 20g milk powder, 24g corn powder, and 6g Kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until evenly blended.
- Add the wet ingredients. Add 225g melted butter and paddle for 2 to 3 minutes until all the dry ingredients are moist. Add 160g heavy cream and 2g vanilla and continue mixing on low for 2 to 3 minutes until any white streaks from the cream have completely disappeared into the mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Add egg yolks. Add 8 egg yolks, paddling them into the mixture just to combine; be careful not to aerate the mixture, but be certain the mixture is glossy and homogenous. Mix on low speed until it is. Use the filling right away, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Storage: If not serving the pies right away, wrap well in plastic wrap. In the fridge, they will keep fresh for 5 days.
- Freeze: Milk Bar Pie will keep for 1 month. Transfer the pie(s) from the freezer to the refrigerator to defrost a minimum of 1 hour before serving.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in March 2019. It has since been updated with tips and tricks to help make it easier to recreate at home.
Congrats on a long and happy marriage Ari! Plus, this pie is gorgeous and you are awesome!
You are just the best — thank you, Jenny! xo
After watching the Netflix episode on her I was dying to try her crack pie -and her miso pie too! Since I am a bit far from NYC, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. I am so glad I found your recipe! I am going to try it.
oh YAY!! The oatmeal cookie crust is unlike anything I’ve made before, it is SO buttery omg. If you can’t find some of the ingredients, know that you can buy them online from the Milk Bar store! I buy milk powder in small packages from Whole Foods for less than $1 a bag!
Question: milk powder and corn powder = powdered milk and corn starch as substitutes?
Hi Sara! Yes, powdered milk is perfect, but corn starch is not an equivalent substitute for corn powder. Milk Bar’s corn powder is essentially freeze dried corn that has been ground finely in a food processor. I have been able to purchase a container from the Milk Bar store website in the past. If you can’t find it (and seriously, it’s a unique ingredient that is hard to track down for sure) you could pulverize freeze dried corn yourself at home. I know that’s labor intensive…
After a quick search online I saw that Michelle of Brown Eyed Baker DID use corn starch in her recipe and had great results. So while I want to be clear that it’s not a perfect substitute, I think you can easily use it here and still have a stellar Milk Bar crack pie! Hope this helps!
I made it I made it! Look what I can do! Lol it turned out spot on Thank you for saving me well all of us a nice piece of change in form of dollars bills 😉
Proud of you, Brenda!! It definitely requires time and patience, but so worth it in the end! xo, Ari
Hi! So excited to try this, but quick question regarding freezing… do I freeze the pies in their pan or do I take them out and wrap them first?! Planning on making one for this weekend, and keep the other one frozen for a work bake-off next week!
Thank you!
Hi Clara! Freeze the pies in the pie dish! Hope you love them, report back! xo, Ari
can you substitute skimmed powdered milk in this recipe for crack pie?
Hi Marzia! I’m fairly certain that skimmed milk powdered milk and milk powder are the same thing (you could do a quick google search to confirm). If so, yes, you can use that! xo, Ari
This is the most convoluted set of recipe instructions that I’ve ever seen. And I am a regular baker. Why not just make it straight-forward? Awful!!
Hi Camilla, this is Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar recipe. This is not my original creation (you can check out some of my baking recipes to see how I write, if you like). This is a precise recipe and she includes very specific instructions, which come directly from the author. Hope this helps to explain any confusion and clarify. Best, Ari