Winston Pies Opens in Studio City—just in Time for the Holidays

Brianna launched Winston Pies in Brentwood in 2017, which was a leap of faith and a serious professional pivot. For many years she’d been a practicing attorney, but she wanted a job with more creativity and flexibility, which from-scratch baking provided.

“Pie is my personal favorite—although my family made every type of dessert when I was growing up,” she said. “Cakes were my mom’s specialty, my older sister makes cookies perfectly decorated with piping, and my little sister is a bread maker. But bread takes a lot of forethought; you can’t just whip it together.”

That’s not to say pie making is easy. Brianna spent countless hours honing her recipes before opening up shop. She perfected the basics first: apple, blueberry and cherry pies (the latter made with whole dark cherries and a flaky double crust). She practiced her grandmother Edna’s lemon meringue pie, which has been on the Winston Pies roster since the beginning. Pumpkin, key lime and chocolate chess pies were also in the mix from the start.

More storefronts followed in Marina del Rey, West Hollywood and Santa Monica. Then in June, Winston Pies opened its doors in The Shops at Sportmen’s Lodge, where customers can often be seen enjoying a slice of pie on the shaded redwood deck outside.

Though Brianna is always developing new flavors, customers can expect a few menu mainstays. Harvest apple pie, Key West lime, Southern pecan and Carolina cherry are constants, as is her chocolate cowgirl pie. Decadently fudgy, it’s made with Dick Taylor chocolate, caramel and an oat crust.

There’s always a gluten-free and vegan crumble in the glass case, too. Limited-time special offerings often appear, ranging from cookie dough pie to old-school, candy-inspired treats like Payday peanut butter pie and a Whopper pie. Customers also have the option of buying take-and-bake pies and 2-inch PieBites.

How to choose? Brianna suggests trying your historical favorite first. Chances are that if you usually like key lime pie, you’ll love her version.

“We get emails that say, ‘Your Key lime was really tart.’ And we’ll reply, “Yes! That’s a compliment; thank you so much.”

As you would imagine, pumpkin pies will show up at the shop in late fall. Brianna also makes a babka chocolate swirl pie around the Jewish High Holy Days and a beloved cranberry orange chess pie around Christmas.

To see what pies are being offered, Brianna suggests following @winstonpies on Instagram and signing up for the shop’s newsletter for holiday preorder announcements.

Final pro tip: “If you’re open to it, consider bringing one of our take-and-bake pies to your gathering,” she says. “Fresh from the oven, they make a home smell absolutely delicious.”

Brianna’s Spiced Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

• Moravian cookie crust (recipe below)
• 6 eggs, whisked and strained through a sieve
• 2⅔ cups heavy cream
• 2⅔ cups milk
• 2 27-ounce cans pumpkin puree
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon teaspoons nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cardamom
• 1 teaspoon clove
• 2 teaspoons salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300°. Take Moravian cookie dough, press into a disc, and roll into a circle. Gently press dough into the pie dish. Trim edges of the dough and form a decorative crimp or smooth edge. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Bake cookie crust for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Combine sugar, salt, spices and pumpkin puree. Mix eggs, milk and vanilla. Slowly add the egg and milk mixture to the pumpkin mixture.

Pour filling into cooled cookie crust. Bake at 300° for 35 minutes until it starts to set on the edges (the first 2 inches around the edge) and the center has a 3- to 4-inch diameter center that is still loose. The pie continues to bake once removed from oven, so don’t worry if it doesn’t look totally baked. Let cool for at least 1 hour before placing in refrigerator.

Spiced Candied Pepitas

• ½ cup raw pumpklin seeds
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1½ tablespoons butter
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne

Preheat oven to 325°. Place pepitas on parchment-lined pan and toast for 10 minutes.

Place sugar in small saucepan over medium heat and melt it. Cook until sugar is golden brown: about 5 minutes. Be careful to not overcook or burn. Add in butter, salt and cayenne. Once butter is melted, add in toasted pepitas. Once mixed in, remove from heat and spread pepita mixture onto an oiled or lined sheet tray  to cool.

Once cooled, scatter on top of pie or whipped cream.

Moravian Cookie Crust

• ¼ cup molasses
• 1 large egg yolk
• 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon allspice

Mix butter, brown sugar and molasses together until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix baking soda, baking powder, spices, salt and flour. Slowly fold the flour mixture into the sugar and egg mixture until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge until you are ready to form and bake pie crust.