The feasting time has come, my friends, when we stuff ourselves with turkey & all the sides. Pumpkin pie has always been my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Years ago, I was perfectly happy with store-bought pies for the holidays. That all changed once I started making my own pies. My baking life completely changed once I saw the light that is making your own all-butter crust. Ever since then I have become a bit of a pumpkin pie elitist, so I now only make pumpkin pies with fresh pumpkins & from scratch, all-butter crust. Yes, it does taste just as incredible as it sounds! Yes, you can do it too! It’s actually way easier than it seems. Read on for the recipe.
Ingredients (adapted from this recipe)
- 1 Pie crust (here’s my butter pie crust recipe)
- 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree (here’s my recipe)
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 t vanilla extract
- ½ t salt
- 1 t cinnamon
- ½ t allspice
Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Roll out pie crust & place in a pie dish. Make sure to pat firmly in place.
- Pour pumpkin puree, brown sugar, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, salt & spices in a blender.
- Blend on high until completely mixed.
- Pour pumpkin mixture into the pie crust.
- Bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway. The pie is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!
Tips
- Get as fancy or as simple with the pie crust as you want. I like to keep the crust simple but then decorate with pie cookies. Some people prefer to crimp the crust or go for a more rustic look. It’s up to you!
- Be careful with handling the pie when removing it from the oven, it can easily crack if jostled too much. Whenever that happens to me, I just cover it up with a pie cookie. Pie cookies cover up every mistake.
- I used a leaf pie cookie cutter & then I brushed the pie cookies with orange, purple & yellow food coloring in order to really autumn them up. Then I popped them in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
This pie is super special to me because I made it with the first pumpkin that I ever grew. I already went into a lot of detail in my adventures in growing pumpkins from seed post & my Halloween post detailing my love for all things pumpkin, so I won’t repeat myself here in regards to the growing experience. However, it was my ultimate autumn goal to make my very first, grown from seed pumpkin pie & I am thrilled that I was actually able to achieve it!
When I picked the pumpkin in mid-October, I wasn’t sure I would be able to ripen inside the house. I read a lot of conflicting advice, but I decided to just try to ripen it in front of a sunny window. For a while there I thought that nothing was happening & I would just use the green pumpkin as a fall decoration. I even bought two sugar pumpkins just in case it didn’t ripen so I would be assured I could still my favorite pie. For some reason, sugar pie pumpkins are plentiful here in October but are complete ghosts in November. So, I pureed both store-bought pumpkins last month as insurance. But slowly & surely my homegrown pumpkin started to change color. It took forever (over a month), but it finally completely ripened!
I have ambitious pumpkin growing plans for next year, which pretty much has me hoping that I’ll never have to buy a pumpkin again. But for now, I am pleased as punch that I was able to grow a single pumpkin this year. Thanksgiving is still a couple of days away, so I haven’t tried the pie yet, but the batter was mighty tasty! My recipe has never failed either, so I can confidently say that this might just be my best pumpkin pie yet. The smell that filled the kitchen when the pie was baking was out of this world too. I have to stop myself from taking a sliver slice. Two more days, two more days!
I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that this will be a different holiday for a lot of people & some of you might be spending this one alone. I encourage you to still make your Thanksgiving favorites, even if it’s just for you. The upside is that you can make your dishes exactly how you like them. Cook for yourself. For those that have never made a pie before, a pumpkin pie is one of the easiest pies to make! Dive right in & become the pie maker you were meant to be! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
The Plantiful Gardener 