It’s fall, and that means it’s time to dig out your favorite pumpkin pie recipes. Is it bringing back fond memories of your mom baking in the kitchen?
I’m a terrible baker, so unfortunately it brings up this memory: For the first Thanksgiving with my husband’s family, I decided to make a pumpkin pie from scratch for the first time. After toiling for hours over a homemade crust and homemade pumpkin puree, I was proudly displaying my creation to my future in-laws when it slid off the plate and hit the floor. But the crust was so hard, it didn’t even break. Not a single crumble. We would’ve needed a chainsaw to cut through that thing. So we ended up scooping out the filling and enjoying our “pumpkin pie” from bowls. I haven’t made a homemade crust since then.
But for the rest of you, it’s time to embrace pie-baking season. And with all those jack-o’-lanterns you’ll be carving for Halloween, you’ll have plenty of pumpkin on your hands to turn into pies. (Also, don’t throw away those seeds!)
And don’t stop with just your standard pumpkin pie. We have some variations here that will please the palates of all the pumpkin pie pundits at your party. From vegan to sugar-free, and some truly out-of-the box recipes to experiment with. But don’t worry — we have a standard pumpkin pie recipe, too — just like your mom used to make.
Basic pumpkin pie recipes
Unique pumpkin pie recipes
If you’re up for experimenting with your pie, here are a couple of out-of-the box recipes to try. Even the purists won’t be frightened by these.
Pumpkin Pie With Dulce de Leche and Cardamom
In 2019 Libby’s updated their back-of-the-can pie recipe for the first time in seventy years. The Washington Post upped the ante by taking that recipe and adding dulce de leche and cardamom to it, and we are here for it.
Pecan-Rye Pumpkin Pie
Let’s face it — one of the hardest decisions to make in life is, “Pumpkin or pecan?” This genius pie from Epicurious lets you have both so you can move on to other decisions like “help clean up the dishes or pretend you’re sleeping?”
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
This isn’t really a pie, but who can resist Whoopie pies? Plus, it solves the problem of who gets burdened with cutting and serving dessert. This version, from Cafe Sucre Farine that also has the fantastic addition of bourbon buttercream, will have everyone saying, “whoopie!”
