Some might argue that the turkey, ham or sides are the most important part of a holiday meal. But for Matthew Landry, it’s all about a special peanut butter pie.
He grew up loving the chilled pie his grandmother, Lynn Allen, made every year. His “Maw Maw” reserved the recipe just for the holidays, and as a boy, Landry promised to open a restaurant one day and sell her famous dessert. After taking over ownership of Maxwell’s Market’s Corporate Boulevard location last year, Landry finally got to make good on his word.
“We’ll have apple pie and all the staples for holidays (at Maxwell’s),” Landry says. “But the peanut butter pies were so unique. They’re so different; they’re so good. And Maw Maw makes them—and that makes them even better.”
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All it took was a call from her grandson for Allen, 82, to drop everything and come to assist in the kitchen. A few weeks before last year’s Thanksgiving, the duo tested the waters by putting six pies in the shop’s cold case. They sold out in an hour and a half.
“We had no idea whether they would go over or not,” Allen says. “I was really amazed at how fast and how well they sold.”
Naturally, production ramped up again closer to the holidays. Landry ensured his Maw Maw had ample kitchen space, supplies and tools. He ordered Jif peanut butter in bulk, because that’s the brand she’s always reached for. He splurged on a large mixer to make the bulk batch-making process a little easier, and he renamed part of the kitchen “Maw Maw’s Pie Department.”
The duo says about 40 more pies were snatched up for Thanksgiving, and about 100 were sold around Christmas.
Since Allen wouldn’t allow Landry to pay her, he gave her a Christmas present of Maxwell’s gift cards totaling the profit the pies brought it. For him, it was less about making money—and more about the opportunity to finally share his Maw Maw’s peanut butter pies with others.
“That Sunday (after making the first ever batch), we came up here because we were closed on Sundays back then,” Landry says. “I was like, bawling crying when I walked in here. I’ve literally dreamt about this, and now it’s coming to reality. Even if we didn’t sell any, it would still be that I’m selling my Maw Maw’s pies.”
Allen won’t reveal the nitty-gritty details of the recipe, of course. The pie’s label only lists one special ingredient: “Maw Maw’s love.” But she says the no-bake dessert is fairly easy to make. And she doesn’t take full credit for being the mastermind behind the pie—she and an old co-worker got the recipe from the kitchen at New Orleans’ Mercy Hospital after trying the treat during lunch breaks.
“For all of the holidays, I made the peanut butter pie,” she recalls. “The kids would be real disappointed if I didn’t make them. … It got to the point where I just couldn’t show up for a holiday without peanut butter pie. They’d probably tell me to go home.”
She says her colleague at Mercy Hospital had tweaked the industrial-sized recipe to yield two pies. Now, she has had to do the reverse to increase the volume. Because this holiday season, Landry and his Maw Maw are planning to make even more pies. Landry says they’ve already started ordering ingredients to prevent shortages. And Maw Maw has already set aside her time so she can make the store’s pies along with all of the sides and desserts she preps for her family meals. She promises that making all of the store’s pies hasn’t made her tired of the dessert.
“I’ll always sell Maw Maw’s pies,” Landry adds. “As long as Maw Maw’s around, I want her to make them. But, when that time comes, her name will still be going. It’s a childhood memory that will literally last forever.”
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Allen insists that working with her grandson is the real treat.
“I’ll never not have fun when I’m with my grandchildren,” she says. “And then, to be here all day, working with him and making those pies in his own place—my heart wants to just pop.”
Pies will be stocked in the case during the holiday season, but Landry can’t promise that they won’t be all snatched up. Secure a pie by calling the store at 225-216-0030. Maxwell’s Market also offers full holiday meal spreads, available now for preorder. The store is at 7620 Corporate Blvd.