So you want to really impress your friends and family at Thanksgiving this year? Try this very yummy Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie recipe that I've been using for YEARS now - and my husband LOVES me for it! And yes... you're going to make it FROM SCRATCH using a REAL PUMPKIN! Don't let that scare you, it's not as hard as you might think it would be.
Why the Blue Ribbon? Because I entered this recipe into a pie competition one time... and it TOTALLY WON FIRST PLACE!!! YES! Ok... maybe I should mention that I was the only one that entered into the Pumpkin Category...... but I like to think that even if there were more people who entered... I'd still have won because it's THAT GOOD!
PS. This year, I was SUPER excited to be able to use home-laid chicken eggs from our chicken Dixie. But don't worry, you don't need your own dang chicken to make this recipe. Store bought is fine. (OMG I've always wanted to be the Barefood Contessa and say that hahaha!)
What You'll Need:
-Large and Sharp Serrated Knife
-Spoon
-9x13 Baking Dish
-Food Processor or Blender
-Hand/Stand Mixer
-2 9" Pie Dishes
-Rolling Pin
Pie Filling Ingredients:
-A Pie Pumpkin (A Small, Round Pumpkin available at most grocery stores in the Fall. It's sweet, and provides the perfect amount of puree for this recipe)
-1 Cup Brown Sugar
-1.5tsp Ground Cinnamon
-1tsp Ground Cloves
-1tsp Ground Allspice
-1/2tsp Ground Ginger
-1/2tsp Ground Nutmeg
-1tsp Vanilla Extract
-4 Large Eggs
-1.5 Cans of Evaporated Milk
Pie Crust Ingredients:
-4 Cups Flour
-1Tbsp Sugar
-1.5tsp Salt
-1Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
-1 3/4 Cup Vegetable Shortening
-1Tbsp Vinegar
-1 Egg
-1/2 Cup Water
Let's get started by following the steps below!
Let's start by getting the Pie Pumpkin ready! Go ahead and preheat the oven to 350°. First, using the large serrated knife, cut the top off of your pumpkin and then cut it in half.
Now go ahead and scoop out all of the seeds (believe me, it's a lot easier than doing this for your Halloween Jack O'Lantern! You're not reaching through a little whole at the top and I think the pie pumpkin isn't as slimy as a regular pumpkin too).
Put your pumpkin halves face down in your 9x13 baking dish and put it in the oven for 45 minutes. Take it out when you can easily poke a fork into the meat of the pumpkin. You may need to cook a little longer than 45 minutes, just check on it every 5 minutes or so until it's ready. If it seems to be ready, scoop all of the contents into a food processor or blender.
I personally used a Food Processor to make my "Pumpkin Glop" I scooped all of the pumpkin meat into it and pulsed it until it was chopped up, and then let it run on full speed until I got it to this consistency:
Now, simply add all of the Pie Filling ingredients (All Pumpkin Glop from the pumpkin, 1 Cup Brown Sugar, 1.5tsp Ground Cinnamon, 1tsp Ground Cloves, 1tsp Ground Allspice, 1/2tsp Ground Ginger, 1/2tsp Ground Nutmeg, 1tsp Vanilla Extract, 4 Large Eggs, 1.5 Cans of Evaporated Milk) into a bowl or mixer and mix together until it looks like this. Yes. It will be a soupy texture. Now, let's set this mixture aside for a bit while we begin to make the crust!
This is probably the easiest pie crust recipe EVER! It's easy to mold and roll and the easiest to transfer to a pie (in my experiences with making pie crusts!).
Start by mixing 1Tbsp Vinegar, 1 Egg and 1/2 Cup Water together in a small bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients (4 Cups Flour, 1Tbsp Sugar, 1.5tsp Salt, 1Tbsp Cinnamon, 1 3/4 Cup Vegetable Shortening) including the vinegar/egg/water mixture into a large bowl and cut with a fork (I like to add 1/4 cup of shortening at a time and cut it. Once it begins to crumble, you can use your hands to kneed into a smooth dough into four balls (I think 2 if you're wanting enough dough for a pretty pie edge).
Sprinkle your surface with some flour and take one of your dough balls and begin to use your hand to pat down and form into a flat circle. I try my best to not to let the edges crack... but hey... it happens. And you know the drill, if it's a bit to sticky add some flour to the top of your dough and on your rolling pin, if it's not doughy enough, add small amounts of water to your dough.
Roll out your dough with your rolling pin into a thin circular sheet, I try to aim for 2" outside of my pie dish.
Grease your pie dish generously using a cooking spray. I use one that is great for baking, as it has flour in the spray. Carefully roll your dough into your pie dish and begin to press the dough into the dish to spread it outward to the edges. I didn't have enough excess dough to make a pretty edge... and admittedly, I'm not the best at making them, so I just do thumb prints to make a classic wavy/zig zag edge. I'm sure there is a proper culinary name for it, but you know... I'm just a mom trying to make a yummy Thanksgiving Day treat.
TA DAAAA!!!!
To prevent the edges from burning, I made a simple cinnamon egg wash using 1 egg and 1tsp of cinnamon. Then, I just brush it all over the pie crust, on the edges, in the center - all over (see below). Now, preheat your oven to 425°.
Then, fill up the two pie crusts evenly with your pie filling.
Bake your pies at 425° for the first 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350° and bake for another 45 minutes. It may seem a tiny bit wet in the center, but it will harden a bit as it cools off.
Then... voila! Your Blue Ribbon Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie is ready to lay before your guests at the feast. You can tell everyone how you made it from real pumpkins and be the hero of Thanksgiving! You're welcome boo.
You can serve it hot or cold and ALWAYS with whipped cream. I prefer to make my own from a frozen/frosted mixing bowl, some Heavy Whipping Cream, some Vanilla Extract and a tiny bit of Powdered Sugar to thicken it a bit. I don't have exact measurements for that... I kind of just go by taste and thickness. Sooo yummy and delightful! Enjoy!
