Pumpkin Pie w/ Homemade Crust

Step 1

Make the pie crust. Mix flour and cold butter cubes in a ceramic mixing bowl using your hand(s) to work the butter into the flour. This may take several minutes of mixing. Once you have lots of little butter pieces, add 1 tbsp ice water into the dough and work it in. Add another tbsp, if necessary, until you can squeeze the dough in your hand and it holds together. There should be lots of crumbs still.

Step 2

Transfer dough and crumbs to a piece of unbleached parchment paper and use all sides of the paper to squish the dough into a ball so there are no longer any crumbs, just one piece of dough. Shape dough into an even round and cut it in half. Wrap each half in a piece of compostable cling wrap and flatten into a round disk. Move both disks to fridge for 1 hour or so before rolling out. You can also do this a day or 2 in advance.

Step 3

Lightly flour a counter surface. Place 1 pie disk on the counter and use a rolling pin to roll dough out to a large circle. Lift and rotate the dough between each roll to prevent sticking. The crust may crack while rolling out, just carefully press it back together. It won’t be perfect. When the dough is larger than your pie dish (12″ diameter), take the rolling pin and starting at the top of the dough, furthest away from you, roll the dough towards you, over the rolling pin. Lightly roll the dough over the pin until the entire dough is wrapped around the rolling pin. Carefully place rolling pin overtop your pie dish and unroll the dough onto the dish. Carefully press the dough down into the pie dish, without pushing hard. Flute the edges by folding the excess underneath, then pinching the edges with your thumb and fingers. Transfer the pie dish to the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour or more.

Step 4

Time to bake the pie shell. Preheat the oven to 425℉ about 20 minutes before you’re going to bake the crust. Remove crust from freezer, take a piece of parchment paper and squish it into a ball, then unravel it and press it into the pie shell. Add pie weights, or fill the crust with dried beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie from oven and let sit for a few minutes before removing the parchment paper with pie weights. Use a fork to make holes in the bottom of crust. Allow to cool before filling. Turn oven down to 350℉.

Step 4

Get started on the pumpkin filling while the crust cools. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add the pumpkin puree, eggs, cream, vanilla, and combine well. Pour the filling into the pre-baked pie crust and bake for 35 – 40 minutes. The filling should look set, but center should be slightly jiggly.

Step 5

Allow pie to cool for several hours before cutting and enjoying.

Tip

If you have extra filling leftover, pour the filling into a greased baking dish and bake just as you would the pie. Bake time may be less.

Make Ahead

Pie crust can be made days in advance. Whether you make the disks in advance and store in fridge or freeze the crust in the pie dish. Pie should be baked the night before you want to consume to ensure it has enough time to cool, especially if you’re serving on Thanksgiving Day, as you’ll have lots to do!