This pumpkin pie recipe is smooth and creamy and always a hit on the holidays. Made with simple ingredients and classic techniques for the perfect pie.
No burnt crusts, no soggy bottoms, no cracked tops. All you need is pumpkin puree, heavy cream, flour, butter, eggs, and spices.
What's in this blog post
Ingredients
Tips for the best pumpkin pie
Pumpkin pie is notorious for getting a soggy, undercooked crust. This is because of the high liquid content in pumpkin filling. It seeps into the crust and prevents it from baking. So how do you avoid a soggy bottom? You have to use a crust made for repelling liquids. I use my mealy pie dough recipe which is perfect for making a tasty, crisp crust with no soggy bottom as you can see in the photo above.
Mealy pie dough works well for pies with a liquid filling like pumpkin pie.
- Make your pumpkin pie filling and let it cool
- Make your mealy pie dough and let it chill for one hour or overnight
- Let your dough warm up at room temperature just until you're able to roll it out with your rolling pin
- Roll out your dough to ⅛" thick and place it into your pie pan
- Trim off the excess dough but leave about ¼" excess dough all the way around to account for shrinking
- Pinch the edges to make them decorative or use a fork to make decorations
- Freeze the pie dough for 20 minutes before filling
- Brush with egg wash to promote a shiny and brown crust
- Fill your pie crust with the pie filling and bake until the pie crust pulls away from the edges of the pan
How do you fill a pumpkin pie crust without spilling?
The best way to fill a pumpkin pie crust is to place the chilled pie crust onto a baking sheet. Then fill the pie up halfway with your filling. Transfer the sheet to the preheated oven and finish filling. That way all you have to do is slide the pie into the oven and your chances of spilling are minimal.
Make sure you fill your crust all the way to the top, pie filling does not rise at all.
Do you need to blind-bake pumpkin pie crust?
If you are using mealy pie dough, you do not have to blind bake (pre-bake the crust). Just make sure you bake the pie for long enough that the crust shrinks away from the edge of the pie pan. That's how you know it's done baking. If your crust starts to brown too soon, place the second oven rack at the top of the oven above the pie with some aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
Don't put the aluminum foil on the pie crust or you can damage your pie filling.
If you do want to pre-bake your crust to avoid over-cooking your pumpkin pie filling, only par-bake it (half-bake) so that the crust doesn't over brown with the filling.
- Roll out your mealy pie dough and place into your pie pan
- Trim off the excess crust but leave ¼" of dough around the outside to account for shrinking
- Freeze for 20 minutes
- Place some parchment paper into the dough and fill with pie weights or dry beans all the way to the top.
- Bake for 15 minutes then remove the weights carefully. Bake for 5 more minutes.
- Fill with the cooled pumpkin pie filling and bake. Remember, a par-baked pie crust will bake faster than a raw pie crust.
How do you avoid a soggy bottom on your pumpkin pie?
Step one is using the correct dough (mealy dough). Step two is to make sure you're not under-baking your pie. Bake until the crust pulls away from the sides of the pie pan. This means that the center of the dough has baked through and contracted.
How to keep pumpkin pie from cracking
Pumpkin pie should be baked at a fairly low temperature (375ºF) to avoid the filling getting too hot, expanding and cracking. Baking at a high temperature or over-baking can also cause the pumpkin pie to get watery and crack.
To avoid cracks, place your pie at the lowest rack possible in a pre-heated oven so the pie crust sets quickly. Bake just until the filling is set at the edges but still a little jiggly in the center and when the crust shrinks away from the edges. You can take the temperature of the pie filling. It is fully cooked at 175ºF.
You might also be interested in these recipes
Stabilized Whipped Cream
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Recipe
Equipment
- 9" pie plate
Ingredients
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 12 ounces pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 ounces brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 10 ounces heavy cream
Mealy Pie Dough
- 12 ounces all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces cold butter grated
- 1 large egg cold
- 1 ounce ice water
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- Before you begin: Preheat your oven to 375º F with a rack in the lowest position. Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Your butter should be cold and grated.
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- Whisk the eggs and heavy cream together.
- Add the pumpkin puree and whisk until smooth.
- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt, and brown sugar, and whisk until fully combined. Set aside while you prepare the dough.
Mealy Pie Dough
- Combine together the flour and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Add in your cold butter and mix on low until the mixture resembles a coarse mealy sand.
- Add the egg and ice water, mixing just until the dough comes together and sticks. Don't overwork it.
- Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for 20 minutes, up to overnight.
- Let the dough warm at room temperature for about 20 minutes before rolling so it's pliable.
- Roll the dough to ¼ inch thick and place it in a 9 inch pie pan.
- Trim the edges, leaving ¼ inch of excess dough to allow for shrinking.
- Pinch or fork the edges into a decorative border.
- Dock the bottom of the crust with a fork to help prevent big air bubbles, then freeze the shaped crust for 20 minutes before filling. This is what keeps the crust from shrinking away from the pan as it bakes.
- Place the crust on a sheet pan, fill it with the pumpkin filling, and brush the edges with egg wash. Optional: to avoid carrying a full pie across the kitchen, fill it about halfway at the counter instead and finish filling the rest of the way once it's already on the oven rack.
- Bake at 375º F on the lowest oven rack until the edges are set and the crust pulls away slightly from the pan, about 45 minutes. The center should still jiggle slightly, and a thermometer inserted in the center should read about 170º F. It carries over to about 175º F fully cooked as it cools, so don't wait for the higher number in the oven.
- If the crust is browning too quickly, tent it loosely with foil, making sure the foil doesn't touch the filling.
- Cool the pie completely, about 1 hour, before topping with whipped cream and slicing.
Egg Wash
- Whisk together one egg and 1 Tablespoon water then brush onto the crust to promote a golden brown and shiny crust
Amy Bill says
2nd year in a row I have made this recipe and it's delicious 😋. this year was a different oven so after 45 minutes I turned the oven off and left it in for another 15 as it was too jiggly in the middle. turned out perfect 😁
Sal says
Hey Liz,
I added dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar to the pie. Will this will affect the color or taste of the pie?
Elizabeth Marek says
No it wont harm it
Diana says
Hi Liz! I always look for your recipes when I’m planning to do something for my business. My question is how I can make the pumpkin purée at home? Or I need to use in a can. Thanks in advance
Elizabeth Marek says
Hey there! I just published a blog post on how to make your own pumpkin puree https://sugargeekshow.com/homemade-pumpkin-puree/
Ashaw says
Could I replace the heavy cream with coconut cream?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes I think that would be ok