Do you ever go online to look something up, and there’s an interesting link that takes you to another site, then to another, and on and on and on, until you realize that you have fallen into a rabbit hole? It happens to me…all…the…time!
I don’t even remember what I had initially started looking for, but I ran across this:
One of the earliest surviving print references to Kool-Aid pie appeared in a 1974 edition of the Chicago Defender. Food editor Florence Somerville briefly mentioned the no-bake treat in a column covering dishes suitable for summertime: “For a dessert, you can’t much get cooler than a Kool-Aid pie,” she wrote. Somerville’s recipe called for evaporated milk, sugar and Kool-Aid, “pile(d) in a prepared pie crust.”
Kool-Aid Pie…1974… Whaaat? Whoa, back up…I need to check this out. Never in my life have I heard of Kool-Aid Pie, and I wanted to know more! After further research, I discovered this is basically a version of an Icebox Pie, which was introduced in the 1930’s and became extremely popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It must be delicious to stand the test of time!
I found several recipes that called for either evaporated milk or sweetened condensed.
And then I heard about a cheesecake-style Kool-Aid Pie recipe! It also started with a graham cracker crust, and was filled with a luscious creamy pastel-colored concoction. I just had to try it!
It was everything I imagined it to be!
No-Bake Kool-Aid Pie
Note: this pie filling is on the tangy side. After mixing up the filling, be sure to taste it, in case you want to mix in another 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar before filling the pie crust.
Ingredients:
- 1 packet (0.15 oz) any flavor Kool-Aid
- 2 (8 oz) package Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 cups Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed (Note: an 8 oz tub is 3 cups)
- 1 graham cracker pie crust
Directions:
In medium bowl with a mixer on low speed, mix Kool-Aid with sugar and softened cream cheese until well blended.
On low speed, blend in 2 cups whipped topping just until fully blended. Avoid over beating so that the whipped topping doesn’t break down.
I may or may not have licked the beaters.
Fill graham cracker crust. As you can see, it’s already pretty thick.
Refrigerate 1 -2 hours until firm. Can be refrigerated up to 24 hours before serving.
Optional: Top the chilled pie with the remaining Cool-Whip or fresh fruit.
Cut the calories & fat
If you want to save some calories and fat content, substitute Neufchatel Cheese and Lite Cool Whip whipped topping.
Haphazard Homemaker 
That looks amazing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I loved it and it was so easy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Worth a try so will do it. Thank you Robin for reading my blogs.i try always to please the reader with amazing information as food for the brain. I too love cooking food in my kitchens here at home.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t believe I’m saying this but that actually looks and sounds delicious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is definitely delicious and rich. Not something I would want to serve too often, in spite of the simplicity of the recipe.:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is pretty interesting, and it won’t heat up the house. I haven’t had Kool-Aid in a while, but when I was a kid, it was the drink of choice. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for visiting. Kool-Aid was our main choice too. Back then, soda was only allowed once a week as a treat. I loved it, Hubby not so much. It’s pretty rich. Delcious, but rich.
LikeLike
My aunt used to make this when I was a teen. She used the recipe that called for sweeten condensed milk and topped it with a whipped topping mix that was popular before cool whip that you whipped up with milk. This was a recipe that got shared often in the women’s page of local newspapers. I wish now I had some of the Jello recipes that was shared then. Food seems to go through cycles that is fashionable.
I hate click baiting also. Thanks for sharing your research and recipe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for stopping by and commenting! Was the boxed topping Dream Whip? I just found it at Walmart last month and it tastes pretty much like Cool Whip.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes it was Dream Whip. I was tired last night and could not remember the name. I don’t use it very often.
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
I got lost in the 7up jelly and coffee jelly cubes rabbit hole on pinterest. There were so many random jelly recipes and I almost got sucked through to an alternative reality for eternity.
Now I want to make koolaid pie🤗🤩
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well….I saved you from following into the Kool-Aid Pie rabbit hole! 😀 7-Up jelly? Did you share a post on that? Or do I too have to follow that trail….
LikeLike
You’ll have to fall into that pinterest rabbit hole yourself. And it might have been mountain dew?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! I was a teenager in the 70’s & I never heard of Kool Aid pie! Maybe the Tom Wolfe book, Electric Kool Aid….but we made something like that using the frozen lemonade concentrate! Your Kool Aid pie actually looks quite dreamy!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, it is! I am trying to refrain from eating too much. Ill have to see if I can find one with the lemonade concentrate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This looks scrumptious!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was amazing! Super rich though.
LikeLike
Pinned. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
Did I do something wrong? Added sugar & cool whip, it tastes sour to me & my daughter, what could have happened? I used watermelon koolaid.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kim, I am so sorry you and your daughter were disappointed. You probably didn’t do anything wrong. It’s definitely on the tangy side because of the kool-aid. If you make it again, add a full cup of sugar, then taste the filling before adding it to the pie crust in case you need to add a little more sugar.
I haven’t tried the watermelon flavored kool-aid, I bet it was amazing. I’ll make a note on the recipe. Thank you 🙂
LikeLike