Traditional Pumpkin Pie

This traditional pumpkin pie is absolutely the best homemade recipe! Make it with canned or fresh pumpkin puree and up to several days ahead. It also freezes well! Thanksgiving pie never looked so good or so easy. The single most requested dessert at our Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie next to apple pie or pecan pie. Pumpkin pie is so synonymous with the holidays that you can find "pumpkin spiced" everything, from lattes to donuts during this time. When making a pumpkin pie from scratch, you have a choice. You can either use a pumpkin purée from a can or make your pumpkin purée by cooking a sugar pumpkin. Canned pumpkin purée will give you a consistently good result in your pumpkin pie. Making your purée by roasting a sugar pumpkin (or other flavorful winter squash like kabocha or butternut) can give you a deeper, more exciting flavor. I Love making my pie crust from scratch. But you don't have to, especially if it's your first time making a pie. Just pour the pumpkin pie filling into an unbaked chilled or frozen pie crust, and bake it in the oven. The crust and the pumpkin filling will cook at the same time.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Category: Desserts
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted cold butter (diced)
• 1 large egg (lightly beaten)

For filling:

• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

To make the dough

1. Make the dough by hand. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles. Add the egg and stir the dough together with a fork or by hand in the bowl. If the dough is dry, sprinkle up to a tablespoon more of cold water over the mixture.
2. Alternatively, make the dough in a food processor. With the machine fitted with the metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined.
3. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles, about 10 times. Add the egg and pulse 1 to 2 times; don't let the dough form into a ball in the machine. Remove the bowl from the machine, remove the blade, and bring the dough together by hand.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough with a rolling pin into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges and design as desired. Freeze the pie shell for 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake the pie crust on a baking sheet on the center rack until the dough is set, about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.

To make the filling

7. While the pie shell is cooling, make the filling. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs, spices, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
8. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Enjoy!