The first time I had pumpkin pie, my dad brought it home randomly and left it in the fridge. Intrigued, I cut a piece and ate it in secrecy because I thought you were supposed to heat it up, but it tasted too good to do so. So this entire time I thought I was eating pumpkin pie “raw”, and finally in middle school they served a slice to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and as I watched in horror, I saw other kids eating it the same way. Anyways, this cinnamon confection of a dessert is my absolutely favorite. I never made it before, and I wanted to make everything from scratch, and naturally, I wanted to make 15 pies. Cheers to the holidays, and goodbye to our waistlines.

Ingredients
pumpkin pie filling
1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
½ cup of milk
1 cup of heavy cream
¾ cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
¼ teaspoon of ground ginger
¼ teaspoon of chinese five spice
3 eggs
Kosher salt

pumpkin pie crust
2 and ½ cups of all purpose flour
¼ cup of sugar
¼ tsp of salt
1 cup of COLD cubes of butter
5 tbsp of vanilla vodka

I purchased these boxes that come with their own tins here on amazon:

If you would like to skip to the directions without tips go ahead and scroll to the very bottom!

Directions:

Add 2 ½ cups of all purpose flour, ¼ cup of sugar, ¼ teaspoon of salt to a food processor
Whisk to combine in food processor
Add 1 cup of cold butter to mixture
Pulse until a shaggy dough forms
Sprinkle in 3 tbsps of ice cold vanilla vodka
Pulse again
Check dough to see consistency (should be something similar to moon sand)
Add cold vodka as needed (2 tbsps more or so, depending on humidity)
Lay out saran wrap and dump “moon sand” dough on top
Knead by pushing the dough together
Form a disc shape and saran wrap tightly, leave in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight

Tips:

This dough is enough for one open faced pie with ½ an inch thickness on a 10x10 pie tin.

1 cup of butter is 2 sticks (you’re welcome), a big pro tip is cutting the butter into cubes, then leaving them in the freezer before starting your dough.
Don’t skip leaving the dough in the fridge because it is essential for the moisture to disperse through the dough.
The moon sand consistency is when you can hold it and it does not stick to your hand, but when you squeeze it, it holds its shape.
The vodka allows you to add moisture to the flour without hydrating it too much, also if you want to add caramel or whipped cream flavored vodka as well you can do so! The alcohol bakes right off in the process. Also, leave your vodka in the freezer!
This is a flaky, moist dough, so if you’re looking for more of a “Tart” style pie crust, this isn’t it.
You can make this dough the night before to allow for a smoother pie making process the following day.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
Roll out your dough into a circle to desired thickness, and make sure to leave about an inch overhang from actual pie tin size
Add dough to pie tin
Trim excess with scissors, and then pinch your desired pie crust design
Take a fork and poke holes to the base of your pie crust
Take an aluminum foil and create a bowl shape and lay on top of your pie crust without covering your crust’s edge
Add rice or beans to create a “weight” to keep from the crust from falling down while cooking
Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes
Whisk and egg and 1 tbsp of water together (or cream or milk)
Remove aluminum foil carefully, stab with fork again and brush the bottom, the sides, and your outer crush of your pie with egg wash
Add your pie without the aluminum weight and bake for another 10 minutes at 425 degrees

That crumbly mixture has become..

a pliable dough!

Piercing the pie!

Prevents inflation and a nasty pie bottom!

Tips:

After trimming your excess pie crust, try and make sure to have your design be “laid out” on top of the edge of your pie tin, instead of it being “upright”. Thinking of laying out a flower with its petals clinging to the edge as opposed to being straight up. This helps the pie crust from shrinking.
You are “blind baking” your pie crust. This is an essential step to preventing a soggy bottom crust for custard based pies.
The egg wash gives your pie a nice color, and creates a seal post “fork shanking”

While this is happening: make your pumpkin pie filling.

Directions:

Add 1 15oz can of pumpkin puree, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon (you can definitely add more if you’d like), ¼ teaspoon of five spice, ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger, a dash of salt, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to a pot on medium heat, then stir.
In a microwave safe cup, add 1 cup of heavy cream and ½ cup of milk to a microwave and heat for 40 seconds
In a bowl, add 3 eggs and whisk
Stir your pot with your pumpkin puree mix to fully incorporate your dry ingredients
After about 5 minutes, take your pot off of heat and set aside
Slowly add your milk and heavy cream to your whisked eggs and stir constantly
Then add your milk and egg mixture to your pot and constantly stir
Your pumpkin pie filling is now ready!

Tips:

Heating up your brown sugar and dry ingredients with your pumpkin puree insures no lumps

Heating up your milk before adding to your eggs prevents scrambled eggs in your pumpkin pie filling
If you want to add more cinnamon then I stated, go for it!
Brown sugar is my favorite because of its depth. I personally do not like using condensed milk because it tastes a bit too artificial for me
You can use fresh pumpkin as well but make sure to wring it out of excess moisture before using!

Directions:

Take out your pumpkin pie crust and set aside
Set your oven to 350 degrees
Add your pumpkin pie filling with a ladle to make sure there are no air bubbles
If you like the color of your crust so far, tent it with aluminum foil by making a “ring” shape to protect the crust while baking, if you do not like the color, leave as is.
Bake for 40-50 minutes

Tips:

I added a lighter crust design to my pie because I wanted to be fancy, if you are doing this, prebake your designs at 350 for 10 minutes, then add your designs to your pie at the 40 minute mark so it’ll be baked on, but not sink because your pie should be mostly set already

I also added some cut out sweet potato stars, to do this, I just sliced some sweet potatoes and cut them out, tossed them in some butter and brown sugar and baked them at 425 degrees for 7 minutes and set them aside
Make sure to let your pie cool down before putting it in the fridge, if you do not wait, you will get a puddle of water accumulated on your pie
I made my own stabilized whip cream to add on top, but I have an absurd amount of time on my hands, so if you do not want to do this, you can wait to serve to add whip cream if wanted.

Here is the directions without tips if you don’t need me anymore:

PIE CRUST:

Directions:

Add 2 ½ cups of all purpose flour, ¼ cup of sugar, ¼ teaspoon of salt to a food processor
Whisk to combine in food processor
Add 1 cup of cold butter to mixture
Pulse until a shaggy dough forms
Sprinkle in 3 tbsps of ice cold vanilla vodka
Pulse again
Check dough to see consistency (should be something similar to moon sand)
Add cold vodka as needed (2 tbsps more or so, depending on humidity)
Lay out saran wrap and dump “moon sand” dough on top
Knead by pushing the dough together
Form a disc shape and saran wrap tightly, leave in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight

BAKING PIE CRUST:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
Roll out your dough into a circle to desired thickness, and make sure to leave about an inch overhang from actual pie tin size
Add dough to pie tin
Trim excess with scissors, and then pinch your desired pie crust design
Take a fork and poke holes to the base of your pie crust
Take an aluminum foil and create a bowl shape and lay on top of your pie crust without covering your crust’s edge
Add rice or beans to create a “weight” to keep from the crust from falling down while cooking
Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes
Whisk and egg and 1 tbsp of water together (or cream or milk)
Remove aluminum foil carefully, stab with fork again and brush the bottom, the sides, and your outer crush of your pie with egg wash
Add your pie without the aluminum weight and bake for another 10 minutes at 425 degrees

PUMPKIN PIE FILLING:

Add 1 15oz can of pumpkin puree, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon (you can definitely add more if you’d like), ¼ teaspoon of five spice, ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger, a dash of salt, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to a pot on medium heat, then stir.
In a microwave safe cup, add 1 cup of heavy cream and ½ cup of milk to a microwave and heat for 40 seconds
In a bowl, add 3 eggs and whisk
Stir your pot with your pumpkin puree mix to fully incorporate your dry ingredients
After about 5 minutes, take your pot off of heat and set aside
Slowly add your milk and heavy cream to your whisked eggs and stir constantly
Then add your milk and egg mixture to your pot and constantly stir
Your pumpkin pie filling is now ready!

ALL TOGETHER NOW:

Take out your pumpkin pie crust and set aside
Set your oven to 350 degrees
Add your pumpkin pie filling with a ladle to make sure there are no air bubbles
If you like the color of your crust so far, tent it with aluminum foil by making a “ring” shape to protect the crust while baking, if you do not like the color, leave as is.
Bake for 40-50 minutes