As the holidays descend upon us, it’s important to have a quick, simple and tasty homemade recipe in your back pocket. This one is for a rich, spicy pumpkin pie that will appease true pumpkin pie lovers (and also the pumpkin spice lovers who crawl out of the woodwork in September and sing the praises of gourds all season long…only to trade in their bright orange cards for one of the red and white striped variety when peppermint jumps onto the scene. Traitors.)
If you don’t make your own crust (and don’t you dare even think about trying to make your own filling for this sucker. I forbid you. It just isn’t worth it when you can spend the time reading exactly one quarter of the New York Times or falling into a Netflix black hole with the same delicious outcome) this pie prep will take you under 15 minutes and only one mixing bowl. If that’s not a holiday miracle, I don’t know what is.
Sublime Pumpkin Pie
2 pre-made pie crusts (homemade or refrigerated sheets)
whipped cream (for topping)
2 1/4 c. Canned Pumpkin
3 eggs
1 1/4 c. packed light or dark brown sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. whole milk
Preheat oven to 375. Mix pumpkin, eggs and sugar together well with a whisk. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until completely combined. Line pie pan with pie crust, pinching edges to crimp. (Pro tip: You can also brush the edges of the crust with a mixture of 1 egg beaten with a teaspoon of milk to make it gleam, but I usually skip this step because the additional step hinders the pie from reaching my mouth.) Fill the pie crust 3/4 way full.
I might not like to waste time on shiny crust, but I do appreciate moderately pretty pies (I’m not a complete monster) so I try to at least cut a few decorative leaves or other festive doo dads from the second crust and bake those on a cookie sheet for a few minutes. After the pie bakes for about 25 minutes, cover the browned edges with aluminum foil so they don’t get overdone. Pop that pie back in the oven for another 30-35 minutes for a total baking time of about 55-60 minutes. Cool that pie. Decorate that pie with festive doo dads. Top with whipped cream. Take the fork train straight to yum town.
[NOTE: This recipe will create enough filling for you to also throw together a couple of mini pies for your mini people–or yourself. If you choose, use the remainder of the second crust to roll out some tiny crusts, fill a couple of muffin tins or ramekins and bake until firm in the center. Watch them fly out of the kitchen like limited edition Star Wars merchandise at a comic con.]
{Disclaimer: My pie shifted in the oven due to a wonky baking sheet and looks uneven in the photo above. It was still delicious.}
Leave a Reply