Pumpkin Pie recipe from scratch

Bursting with flavor, this pumpkin pie recipe is my very favorite. It’s rich, smooth, thick, and tastes incredible on my homemade pie crust and served with whipped cream.

Pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin bread, but HELLO what about pumpkin pie??

My Great Pumpkin Pie Recipe. Is Here. Today. Say hi to this pie.

I spent the majority of my incredibly awesome week last week testing pumpkin pie recipes. And when I say awesome, I really mean frustrating because testing the perfect pumpkin pie recipe is a lot more challenging than one would assume. Fresh pumpkin, canned pumpkin, ginger, no ginger, brown sugar, white sugar, cornstarch, flour, no cornstarch, no flour, and O-M-G how do I decorate it and make it look pretty for my blog?

But I think I cracked the pumpkin pie code. I grew up in a house of pumpkin pie lovers and absolutely no Thanksgiving was complete without a nap, and then a massive slice and an even bigger serving of cool whip. What I’m trying to say is, my pumpkin pie standards are high. When it comes to this Thanksgiving classic, I’m a huge snob. And now that I’ve found the recipe, I can rest easy at night. And you can too! Because I’m sure finding a tasty pumpkin pie recipe haunts your dreams as well.

Just me? Ok.

Since this is such a classic recipe, I snapped a lot of pictures of the process as well as the finished products. Yes, productS. I made three of these pies, just to be sure this recipe was the best of the very best. I’m crazy, as you know. So, what makes it so great?

The pie crust. Every pumpkin pie has to start with a stellar pie crust. My homemade pie crust uses a mix of shortening and butter so you get the most buttery tasting, tender, flaky (so flaky) pie crust. It’s easy to make. And I have a ton of step-by-step photos here.

The pumpkin. Fresh or canned? I tested this recipe with both and I truly liked the pie using canned pumpkin better. The canned pumpkin pumpkin pie (say that 3 times fast) was a little more sturdy when baked for the same amount of time. I found the pie to taste grainy and a little… herbaceous? And the sugar couldn’t even cover that up. I prefer using fresh pumpkin puree in savory recipes, not desserts. This is your call, you can use either.

The mighty ingredient in pumpkin pie, besides the pumpkin, are the eggs. They set up the filling. They give the filling its rich, luxurious texture. 3 eggs are needed here, no shortcuts around it. Another ingredient making this pumpkin pie so luxurious and silky smooth? Heavy cream. Thick and creamy and absolutely heavenly in this pumpkin pie recipe. I use 1 cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cup of milk. I found that 1 and 1/4 cups of heavy cream (or more) was simply too much. Too thick, too gloppy…

Gloppy is the best word I can think of right now.

A starch thickener is one of the most important ingredients in a pie filling. I use a touch of cornstarch in my pumpkin pie filling because it helps set up the pie. Makes it a little sturdier and firm, while keeping everything smooth.