If there’s one thing that I look forward to during the holidays, its pumpkin pie! This recipe is my absolute favorite recipe for homemade pie and crust. And the best thing, it’s so easy to make.
Start by with making the crust. I promise it’s much easier than you think. (But if you’re in a time crunch, you can always buy a crust.)
PIE CRUST
*This will make two 9” pie crusts*
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 sticks chilled (unsalted) butter
6-8 tablespoons of ice cold water
Mix together flour, salt, sugar. Cut 2 sticks of butter into cubes. Add butter to dry ingredients. Combine until mixture looks like coarse meal.
Add 6 tbsp of ice water, until dough holds together when you squeeze it in you’re hand (do not over blend).
Divide dough into 2 equal parts, shape into disks and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Roll the dough to fit into your pie dish. Bake on 400 for 10-15 minutes. You’ll get a nice flaky crust.
TIP: Baking the crust before filling will help keep the crust from turning out soggy. Also, make sure to use pie weights when blind baking the crust. If you don’t have pie weights, I have used dried beans, and rice, they both work great.
PIE FILLING
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp ground cloves (I grind my own, I thinks it gives a better flavor)
½ tsp ground ginger
1-½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
½ tsp salt
4 eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
1-½ cans (12 oz) each evaporated milk
3 cups “pumpkin glop” (I use a Cinderella or Jarrahdale Pumpkin
TIP: You can substitute 4 tsp of “pumpkin pie spice” instead of using cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (note: you'll decrease the temperature for baking).
Cut Pumpkin to slices; remove stem, clean goop and seeds out. You can either microwave the pumpkin slices or steam them to soften. To microwave, put a couple inches of water into a microwave-safe dish, add pumpkin slices on top of water and microwave until soft. To steam, put water in large pot, add pumpkin slices and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until slices are very soft and fall apart.
Separate the meat of the pumpkin from the skin. Discard the skin. Let pumpkin sit in a strainer for about 15 minutes to drain out any excess water it may have in it.
Puree pumpkin in a blend or food processor. Add all other ingredients and blend. Pour pumpkin mixture into pre-baked pie crust.
Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees and back for 40-55 minutes (time will vary depending on oven).
TIP: The best way to prevent cracks in your pumpkin pie is to avoid over baking. Remove from the oven while the center is still a little wobbly. The residual heat will continue to finish cooking the center and firm up.
Let cool and enjoy!
Follow Kelly Cohen on Instagram at @kellycohen4202.