Pumpkin Pie – No Cans Allowed

Pumpkin Pie - No Cans Allowed

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I've always loved pumpkin pie but been slightly disgusted by the canned pumpkin and evaporated milk that every pumpkin pie recipe seems to require. How can it be that we've come to believe this is how to make this pie?

One day I'd had enough and engineered my very own all-scratch recipe for pumpkin pie, and then I decided to share it with you.

 

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Pumpkin Pie Ingredients

  • 2 ⅛ cup (or 380g/13.5 oz) Pumpkin Puree*
  • 2 Tbsp Flour
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp Ginger
  • ¼ tsp Nutmeg
  • 1/16 tsp Salt
  • ¾ c Cane Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 Tbsp Molasses
  • 1 ½ cup Whole Milk

Crust: Flaky Crust - formed into an unbaked pie shell

Mise en Plas

  • Medium Mixing Bowl
  • Whisk or beaters
  • Soft Spatula
  • Preheated oven 400°F
  • Foil Sheet, shaped to fit completely over the pie without
    touching the surface

Instructions

Pre-work:

  1. Make your pie crust and roast your pumpkins first:
    1. Here is my favorite pie crust recipe of all time.
    2. Jump down the page for help with roasting your pumpkins.

Filling:

  1. Beat the eggs in the mixing bowl until uniform, thick and lemon yellow.
  2. Beat in the sugar and molasses
  3. Add the pumpkin to the bowl and beat to combine with the egg-sugar mix.
  4. Sift the flour over the mix and sprinkle the spices over. Fold together.
  5. Add the milk and gently fold it in.
  6. Allow the mix to rest for 30 minutes — no more and no less!
  7. Pour into the pie shell.
  8. Bake in the lower half of the oven for about 25 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350°F and move the pie to the upper half of the oven.
  9. Place the foil dome over the pie. Bake for another 35-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean

Optional: Pie crust cutouts

  • Prep the cutouts from crust scraps, if you have any. You can hand cut, form them or use cookie cutters.
  • Prepare an egg wash by beating a fresh egg with about a teaspoon of water until it is frothy.
  • Brush the backs with egg wash, and if you wish you may also brush the fronts and then sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles (or both).
  • Place the cutouts between step 8 and 9.  Place them gently on the surface of the pie then cover it with the foil dome.

Timing Tip: Make the pie crust dough in advance and let it rest while you prepare
the pie filing. Roll it out and form it while the filling rests

Bonus: how make your own "canned" pumpkin puree:

You'll need at least 2 sugar (aka pie) pumpkins, preferably organic. Most are about 1 ½ pounds and large enough to make one pie. It's kinda a pain to do this, so make more than you need — divide and freeze the leftovers for later use. You'll be happy you did all of this when you get that first bite of pie!

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Slice the pumpkins in half on their "equators".
  3. Scoop out the seeds and pulp then set them aside for toasting later.
  4. Rub a thin layer of light olive oil or coconut oil on the surface of the pumpkin meat and place the pumpkin halves on a baking sheet.
  5. Bake for about an hour, or until the meat is fork tender.
  6. Allow to cool fully and peel the meat and skin apart — it will come right off as long as you roasted it long enough.
  7. Run the meat through a food processor or food mill affixed with a fine plate to puree.
  8. Measure the pumpkin and freeze whatever you don't use promptly.

 

Double bonus — make sweet potato pie or butternut squash pie:

Sweet potato:

Peel and dice sweet potatoes, toss in a very light coating of oil, and roast in a covered pan until fork tender.

Allow to cool and run it through a food processor or food mill affixed with a fine plate to purée.

Substitute for the pumpkin in the above pie, reducing the sugar by about a third

 

Butternut squash:

Roast and puree the same way as described above for the pumpkins.

Reduce sugar in the recipe to 1/4 cup -- if your squash is particularly sweet, reduce to 2 tablespoons.


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