Vintage Deep South Peanut Pie Ad (Creepy)

I stumbled across the vintage deep south peanut pie recipe/advertisement for Karo syrup on boing boing, and it was too creepy not to post.

"Here's a dessert to make even your deepest-dyed Yankee start complimenting you with a Southern accent. It's right from Dixie... and down thataway (where peanut pie was born!)..."

Not sure if that "down thataway" is a reference to what's behind that chippendale baby's hat, but that would make it even more disturbing. I did make a North Carolina peanut pie once-- a nice sweet/savory combination. But might be scared to try the recipe in this ad, for fear of conjuring that naked "deep south" pie imp in my kitchen...

North Carolina Peanut Pie

I had some peanuts left over from a camping trip, and got to thinkin'...peanut pie?! A quick google search produced this recipe, from Scratch Bakery in next-door Durham. I didn't have Lyle's Golden Syrup, so I substituted molasses and corn syrup, but here's the recipe...

North Carolina Peanut Pie

Ingredients:
Nothing-in-the-House crust recipe (at right)
1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 large eggs
1/2 cup golden syrup (such as Lyle's)
1/2 cup sorghum syrup or 1/2 cup golden syrup (such as Lyle's) mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped salted North Carolina peanuts or coarsely chopped salted cocktail peanuts

Make crust.Wrap in plastic; chill at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter pie dish. Fold edges under and crimp decoratively. Freeze crust 15 minutes. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until crust is set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Continue to bake until edges begin to color, piercing with fork if crust bubbles, about 13 minutes. Cool crust on rack while making filling. Maintain oven temperature.

Whisk brown sugar, flour, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, cinnamon, and cayenne in medium bowl. Whisk eggs in another medium bowl to blend. Add golden syrup, sorghum, melted butter, and vanilla to eggs and whisk to blend. Add brown sugar mixture and whisk until smooth. Mix in peanuts. Pour filling into cooled crust.

Bake pie 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; continue to bake until crust is golden and filling is set (center of filling may move slightly when pie dish is gently shaken), covering crust edges with foil if browning too quickly, about 40 minutes. Cool pie on rack. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cut pie into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream.

I brought this to share with the Grad. Student Section of my Foodways class in the UNC Folklore Dept. Note the Amish double-decker pie carrying basket, given to me by my parents for Christmas!

This got my friend Lora and I wondering... Is there a pie for every state?!