Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Published November 12, 2017. Updated August 21, 2019

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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

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 shown here in a glass baking dish

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.

 

Pumpkin Pie

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.

Pumpkin Pie with blind baked crust in a glass baking dish

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.

Pumpkin Pie

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!

Pumpkin Pie

This post was sponsored by McCormick, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

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Pumpkin Pie
5 from 11 votes

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

My idea of the perfect pumpkin pie! Make this one if you are looking to impress! Love all the little details that really make a difference. It's love at first bite.
Servings: 10
Prep45 minutes
Cook1 hour 15 minutes
Ready in: 5 hours

Ingredients

Crust

Filling

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: Cooking Classy
Nutrition Facts
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Amount Per Serving
Calories 348 Calories from Fat 171
% Daily Value*
Fat 19g29%
Saturated Fat 11g69%
Cholesterol 127mg42%
Sodium 280mg12%
Potassium 189mg5%
Carbohydrates 39g13%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 24g27%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 7325IU147%
Vitamin C 1.9mg2%
Calcium 78mg8%
Iron 1.7mg9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

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42 Comments

  • Sean

    I have been following your recipe for a couple of years now, and it has been a homerun every time. One tip that I have used for years, is to make the pie filling a day before I bake. This lets all the flavors marry. I just bring the mixture to room temperature, and then mix in a stand mixer before pouring into the pie crusts.

  • Kathy

    Made your pie and it lives up to its name. My oh my what a great pumpkin pie. It is creamy like stated and the pumpkin pie flavoring spices are perfect. I didn’t change a thing. Everyone else likes it too. I even had one person ask if I would make him one and he would pay for it. It’s that good. i made my own pie crust ;-)

    Thanks for the recipe
    Kathy

  • Mrs. Bond

    I love ❤️ your recipes, I have used many and the outcome is always delicious! I am going to try your pumpkin pie recipe this year, but I would like to ask could I use fresh pumpkin purée vs canned pumpkin? If I can use fresh how much would I use of the fresh purée vs 1 can pumpkin. Thank you for your delicious recipes!!! ?

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I don’t recommend fresh pumpkin just because it can be more watery and therefor the end result isn’t as consistent. Crazy enough canned pumpkin is more reliable.
      I’m so glad to hear you love my recipes :), thanks for letting me know!

  • Petek Dincman

    Hi, I live in Turkey and I am amazed at the things you do. Quick question what if we don’t have canned pumpkin ? do we have to boil it ?I really have no ? ideas. Can you help me out,please ??Thank you ?

  • Julia

    The best pumpkin pie I’ve ever made! I didn’t have sweetened condensed milk so I searched for a recipe and found yours! So glad I did, I’ll be making it again and again!

    • Tammy Trussell

      I am going to try it for the first time. Hope my husband loves it. It’s his favorite. I was just at the store but didn’t realize that almost every recipe use evaporated milk or sweetened condensed milk. So, I figured this one sounds good. And I have everything on the list

  • angela

    Delicious pie recipe. I cut back the sugar by a quarter cup and used a premade graham crust. Everyone loved the creaminess of the filling and the sour cream added just the right amount of contrast. Perfect. Next time i will make the crust.

    • Anya

      The recipe is good except way too much liquid: I used 1/2c cream (instead of 3/4) and 1/4c milk (instead of 1/2c) and the resulting texture was still more like pudding than pumpkin pie after an hour of baking. Next time I’d cut the milk/cream combo down to 1/4 or 1/2c total and think any variation of cream, half and half or milk would have worked fine. Otherwise great.

      • Jaclyn

        Jaclyn Bell

        Did you happen to use canned “pumpkin pie mix” or fresh pumpkin puree because both of those can alter the consistency of the pie. Also I recommend sticking with Libby’s brand as it is the most consistent in consistency.

  • Romelle Baker-Jarvis

    I thought I knew how to make the definitive pumpkin pie. That was the case until I tried this recipe! I grow my own butternut squash and used my home-grown veggie to make this pie. It is the best damn recipe I have ever made. It was a Thanksgiving hit and is on tap again for Christmas!