Perfect Pumpkin Pie
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Pumpkin Pie is an absolute Thanksgiving must! It’s a main highlight of the meal so it had better be good right?? Here’s my idea of the perfect pumpkin pie. It has an excellent pie crust and a totally irresistible luscious pumpkin pie filling.
Pumpkin Pie
As long as I can remember Pumpkin Pie has been at our Thanksgiving meal every year without fail. That’s a lot of pumpkin pies for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My mom rarely baked but every year she made two pumpkin pies. And it was always pumpkin pie. Never apple, never chocolate, always pumpkin but we absolutely loved it!
It’s was a family tradition and every Thanksgiving when I get to cut into a homemade pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving it takes me back home and reminds me of all those delicious Thanksgiving meals and that special pie my mom made once a year.
And now to keep that going I’ve taking my mom’s classic pumpkin pie and just added all my favorite little details.
Pumpkin Pie Tips
Over the years I’ve learned lots of little tips and tricks to getting the best pumpkin pie. Don’t get my wrong my mom’s pie was wonderful but she didn’t care for details, she just used the recipe from the back of the pumpkin can – which is delicious but I love being picky about food :).
Here’s my thoughts and tips on pumpkin pie:
- Partially blind baking the crust first so you don’t end up with a soggy crust in the end.
- Use a lot of butter in that pie crust and don’t over-work it.
- Add a hint of sour cream or very well softened cream cheese (which I usually blend into the sugar if I go that route) to give it a little dimension.
- Go for cream instead of evaporated milk. I mean if you were to take of sip of each one side by side which one will taste better? The cream obviously not the canned milk, and either works in pumpkin pie so cream in the pie it is.
More Pumpkin Pie Tips
- Don’t over-bake your pie or you’ll end up with large unwanted cracks. Also, skip that traditional 425 f. high temperature to start out with, a custard based pie does better off with relatively lower temperatures.
- Go for a higher ratio of brown sugar, it adds more flavor – hints of those caramel-like notes.
- Tent all of the crust edges with foil while baking so they don’t burn (skip the pie shield as you could cut into the pumpkin pie filling as it rises a little). Making the foil ring can be annoying but it’s worth it.
- And use good quality spices (that haven’t gone stale), and use plenty of them. When I say “good quality” spices I’m referring to McCormick spices. They have such a pure flavor and it’s a brand I fully trust in helping achieving the best pumpkin pie!
You can use the McCormick Pumpkin Pie spice here, but I prefer to create my own blend because that way I end with just the amount I want of each spice.
Ingredients for the Filling
- Brown sugar and granulated sugar
- Cornstarch
- Salt
- Spices including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves
- Eggs and egg yolks
- Canned pumpkin (not pie filling! It’s already sweetened and spiced)
- Vanilla extract
- Heavy cream
- Milk (anything but skim)
- Sour cream
Ingredients for the Pie Crust
- Flour
- Butter
- Salt
- Sugar
- Egg white
- Ice water
How to Make Pumpkin Pie
- First prepare the pie crust dough and chill.
- Then roll and blind bake the crust.
- Next prepare the simple pumpkin pie filling.
- To cook, pour the filling into the partially baked pie crust and bake.
- Let cool to set. Slice and serve with whipped cream.
Scroll below for full printable recipe.
The Best Homemade Recipe
This isn’t your buy a pre-formed pie crust and dump in a basic filling pie, but rather it’s a made from scratch Pumpkin Pie that would have made your grandmother proud.
It’s sure to please down to the last creamy, flaky, irresistibly pumpkin flavored bite!
Note that this pie will hold just fine if you want to make it a day in advance so you can get one thing out of the way the day before Thanksgiving. Just store it in the refrigerator (after it’s cooled completely).
Hidden in the refrigerator that is :). Otherwise people won’t be able to resist and wait until the following day if they were to see it sitting there in plain site, and you may just open up your fridge to a half eaten pie.
It is truly irresistible!
This post was sponsored by McCormick, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
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Follow Easy Cooking Zone
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup + 1 Tbsp (152g) all-purpose flour (scoop and level to measure)
- 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, diced into small pieces
- 3 - 5 Tbsp ice water
- 1 large egg white, whisked (reserve the yolk for filling)
Filling
- 3/4 cup (160g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (55g) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp McCormick Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp McCormick Ground Ginger
- 1/2 tsp McCormick Ground Nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp McCormick Ground Cloves
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix!)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (175ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk (anything but skim)
- 1/3 cup (80g) sour cream
Instructions
For the crust:
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add in butter and cut it into flour using a pastry blender until it's becomes evenly distributed and there's larger pea size clumps scattered throughout.
- Drizzle in ice water 1 Tbsp at a time and toss with a rubber spatula after each addition until it comes together in larger clumps and mixture will hold when pressed together.
- Gather the dough into a ball then pat and press into a 6-inch disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill 1 - 2 hours.
- Roll dough out on a well floured surface to about a 13-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate that's 2-inches deep (I used this one HERE). Fold about 1/4-inch of the outer edge underneath and create a small flute design.
- Chill 30 minutes meanwhile preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place a sheet of heavy duty foil or crinkled then flattened out parchment paper over crust then fill with dry beans or pie weights. Bake 10 minutes.
- Remove beans and foil and continue to bake 5 - 8 minutes until crust appears slightly dry.
- Remove from oven and immediately brush crust all over with a thin layer of egg white, set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
For the filling:
- In a mixing bowl whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves while breaking up clumps of brown sugar with fingertips.
- Add in eggs and egg yolks and whisk until well blended. Mix in pumpkin and vanilla.
- Then whisk in heavy cream, milk and sour cream until combined.
- Pour filling into pie crust. Tent crust edges loosely with a ring made of foil while leaving room for pie filling to expand slightly.
- Bake in 350 degree oven for 55 - 70 minutes until edges are nearly set but center still jiggles slightly.
- Cool on a wire rack at least 2 hours before serving (I do prefer it cold, if you want it chilled through chill 3 hours after room temperature cooling). Store in refrigerator. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.
- Recipe source: Easy Cooking Zone