We Grudgingly Accept the Savory Crinkle Pie TikTok Trend Is a Very Good Idea—Here's How to Make an Easy, Cheesy One for Fall

I’ll admit, I don’t spend a ton of time on TikTok, but I do know that there’s a seemingly infinite amount of food and cooking videos to scroll through. Even though I attempt to limit social media use, it seems I can’t escape the algorithm, and one recipe trend that has stuck around for the last couple of years is the crinkle pie—also sometimes known as crinkle cake—and its predecessor, ruffled milk cake. But unlike many questionable social media trends, this is one I actually love, in both its sweet and savory incarnations.

The video that started the viral crinkle trend a couple years ago is attributed to TikTok creator @RamenaSaidWow. Her recipe and subsequent copycat recipes (both sweet and savory versions) cleverly fold sheets of store-bought phyllo dough together like an accordion, then douse them with butter, sugar syrup (for the sweet versions), and a simple custard. It’s an easy to prepare sweet or savory pie that can be customized in myriad ways.

But this concept of crinkled phyllo drenched in a custard and baked is nothing new. You can trace the roots of this dish to other phyllo-focused baked recipes found throughout the Mediterranean and Balkan regions, such as the Greek dessert galaktoboureko (ruffled milk pie) and savory vegetable-focused phyllo dishes like Greek spanikopita and hortapita and Armenian borek; there’s also sweet souffra and savory gibanica. All feature phyllo dough that’s scrunched up, layered or pressed into a pan, and covered in a creamy custard and/or filled with vegetables before baking. 

For our take on the crinkle pie, we chose to go the savory route and asked our test kitchen colleague Nicole Hopper to create a version of the dish that's ideal for fall. Through rounds of testing, Hopper perfected a recipe for a satisfying crinkle pie inspired by the flavors found in many savory Mediterranean phyllo dishes. Her version features hearty fall and winter vegetables such as butternut squash, shallots, and kale seasoned with garlic, thyme, and aleppo pepper, then covered with a savory custard. The bottom and edges of the pie get deeply browned and crisp, the top is lightly golden, and the inner layers remain soft and custardy—it’s creamy and crisp all in one bite. 

Hopper admits that this recipe took a couple tries to nail, with a few lessons along the way: Overpacking it with raw vegetables led to a soggy pie, while cramming too much phyllo into the dish also had a similarly soggy result. She also found that it's important to season the custard well to ensure that the pie is not bland. 

To solve these issues, she focused first on the phyllo sheets. She found that par-baking the arranged scrunched phyllo sheets in the pan before layering in the other ingredients ensured the phyllo remains crisp. And sautéing the aromatics and the kale not only develops a robust flavor, but cooking the mixture drives off excess moisture, ensuring a creamy, not soupy pie. The sautéed kale and shallot mixture along with thin raw butternut squash slices and crumbled feta are all lovingly tucked between the pleated phyllo.

Pre-cooking the squash before layering it into the pan proved to be unnecessary when Hopper tried it in testing, plus we wanted it to retain a bit of texture to contrast the creamy custard once baked. The custard is bolstered with garlic and herb Gournay cheese (such as Boursin) and lemon zest to guarantee an incredibly rich flavor.

Once the pie is baked, a final drizzle of honey not only adds a glossy sheen, but echoes the sweetness of the squash. The end result is an incredibly delicious Mediterranean-inspired savory vegetable pie, and I have to grudgingly admit, this particular social media trend is a good idea.