The BEST PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE
Award-winning creamy pumpkin pie recipe has a secret ingredient to make it extra special!
I spent most of my life making the pumpkin pie recipe on the back of the Libby's pumpkin can. It is a yummy recipe and produces a classic pumpkin pie. But it might just be a tad boring. Most of my kids reach for any other pie but pumpkin so I set out to change it.
Last year, I made a simple perfect pumpkin pie using sweetened condensed milk. This year I decided to up the ante and really change up the classic pumpkin pie recipe. The result was pumpkin pie perfection.
How to make the best pumpkin pie recipe:
So what makes this the best pumpkin pie recipe? Two ingredients -- Cream Cheese and Butter. Instead of using evaporated canned milk, we add cream cheese and butter. Duh. Why have I not thought of this before? The creamy cheese and butter add a touch of rich creaminess to the pumpkin pie. My son, Carson, who will NOT even touch pumpkin pie, is in hog heaven with this pie.
The cream cheese and butter also softens the strong pumpkin flavor. Don't you worry...it is still a perfectly pumpkin flavored pie but is much creamier than the original. When paired with a buttery flaky pie crust and fresh whipped cream, it just screams holiday.
This Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe actually just won 1st Place in the Pumpkin Pie Bake-Off competition -- Pumpkin Pie Bake-Off. What a fun surprise!
The best pumpkin pie recipe starts with a homemade all-butter pie crust. Click here for the recipe. I include step-by-step instructions on how to make butter pie crust. I use a deep-dish pie pan for this recipe since there is plenty of filling.
There's nothing like homemade whipped cream. It begins with heavy whipped cream, whipped until soft peaks form. Powdered sugar is added to sweeten it.
Find the recipe for the Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe here:
- 1 - 8- ounce pkg. Cream Cheese softened
- 1 - 15 ounce can Pure Pumpkin Puree
- 1/2 cup Butter melted
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 3 Eggs
- 3 1/4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Nutmeg or 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
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- All-Butter Pie Crust Recipe
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- 2 cups Heavy Cream
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- Make pie crust recipe according to recipe directions. Find the recipe for an all-butter pie crust here. Let dough chill in refrigerator, tightly wrapped.
- In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese for 5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides often with spatula. The whisk attachment works the best to whip the cream cheese.
- Add pumpkin and mix for another 5 minutes.
- Add melted butter and vanilla and mix for 1 minute.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add powdered sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice and salt.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place pie dough in a deep-dish pie pan.
- Pour pumpkin pie filling into pie crust and place pie plate on baking sheet. Depending on the size of your pie pan, you may have some extra filling.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 42 - 48 minutes. Watch the crust carefully to make sure it isn't becoming too brown. Cover with pie cover or foil to prevent browning.
- Let chill in refrigerator for 4 hours.
- Top with freshly whipped cream.
Recipe Video
Click the links below for more pie recipes:
Caramel Apple Pie
White Chocolate Macadamia Chocolate Ganache Pie
Double Chocolate Marble Pie
The BEST Pumpkin Pie
Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie
Sweet Cherry Pie
Traditional Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Caramel Banana Cream Pie
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Happy Baking, my friends! Find all of Modern Honey Thanksgiving Recipes on www.modernhoney.com/thanksgiving.
Kerry says
OMG tbis was the best pumpkin pie I have ever had!!!
It was so creamy and just the perfect amount of pumpkin flavor. I used a frozen deep dish pie crust that i defrosted and blind baked for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. I added some freshly grated nutmeg and a tiny bit of mace because i had it on hand. I had extra pie filling that I turned into fantastic pumpkin cornbread. To make the cornbread I just added about 2 boxes of jiffy cornbread mix to the pie filling I didn't add anything else. Then baked at 350 for 30 minutes or so.
My family has already requested another pie and wants pumpkin cornbread pancakes thid time.
Rachel says
After you blind baked, did you follow the temp instructions provided or did you alter it?
Jan Golden says
I made the pie for Thanksgiving and it was very good, but I accidentally came up with something we loved.. I had doubled the pie recipe for two pies but found I had extra filling. I made a graham cracker crust with one package of crackers, topped the crust with chocolate chips and spread the filling over the chips. I baked it with the pies. I will definitely make the pies again next fall, but these cookie bars will be a regular. Thank you so much for such a wonderful and easy pie recipe.
Marie says
This was amazing! Best pumpkin pie I’ve ever tasted! Next time I’ll be sure to pre-bake the crust. I was a little confused with your butter pie crust directions and if I should bake it ahead of time. It wasn’t soggy but it came out a little soft and didn’t really brown but still tasted amazing! Going to make this again for Christmas! Thank you!
Nicole Wintle says
My family is not a big pumpkin pie fan, but they are obsessed with this pie! I'm making it again this weekend to enjoy!
Sylvia says
Can you substitute the powder sugar for Splenda
Yazmin says
Did you make the pie with Splenda by any chance? Was it any good if you did?
Jane Walker says
Best pumpkin pie recipe ever, so creamy and smooth yet firm and set beautifully. Could not have been better. I am making another one tonight to freeze for the holidays. Thank you for the great recipe.
Emilie says
Thanks for the recipe!
I want to try to make the pie for Christmas but I have a doubt about the powdered sugar quantity. Is it 3 1/4 cups as in 406 grams? It seems like a lot so I was wondering if I’m reading that right (I’m not used to the cups system). If this is indeed 406 grams do you think I can reduce it to about 300 grams? The French don’t like their sweets too sweet.
I only have one can of pumpkin puree cause I live in France and they don’t sell that here so it was hard to come by. I wouldn’t like to mess it up :/
Thanks a lot for the help!
Emilie
Modern Honey says
Hi Emilie! I have had a lot of readers have success with lowering the sugar amount. I think it will still be great with 300 grams of sugar. Let me know how it turns out!
Janelle says
I have made this twice and just about halved the sugar because it did get pretty sweet for our taste as well. It turned out great! Bonne chance!
Nikki says
Hello! We thought the same thing at first - we never expected this to taste good with that much powdered sugar! It tastes amazing though and it seems that amount is perfect! Merry Christmas!
Angie says
I’ve made this pie 3xs n it is delicious! Tonight I used an 8 oz container of a pumpkin cream cheese spread that we had for the holidays n never used. I used that in place of plain cream cheese! It’s still too warm to taste but it looks good! I had trouble with rolling out the crust n ended up molding it into the pie dish by hand. Will let you know how it turned out. Thx for a great recipe.
Stephanie T says
I’ve made this three times. Everyone who tries it loves it and wants to know what it is that makes it so delicious compared with traditional pumpkin pie. Seriously. Everyone.
I reduce the sugar quite a bit, to about 2 and 2/3 cups, but I think even 2 and 1/4 cups would be fine. The recipe does make A LOT of filling. Way more than even a dip dish 9.5-inch pan. I’ve also made this into bars in a 11x7 pan, and still had leftover filling. (I use leftover filling in ramekins, no crust, and bake for about 30 mins while pie is in oven too.)
One thing to note, I don’t know if it’s due to the fact that I use less sugar, but my pies always seem to set pretty quickly, around 35-40 mins. But bake times do vary according to ovens.
Angelika says
I only used 2 cups of sugar (a mix of cane sugar and coconut sugar) and it's still too sweet...
Kasey Barnard says
It’s because you used a different kind of sugar. It’s not 1 to 1 sweetness with confectioners.
Jillian Bragg says
I’m thinking about using this recipe tonight for my birthday treat, but instead of the powdered sugar, I’m going to use a can of sweetened condensed milk. It seems to do well in other recipes in place of the sugar, so I figured I’d give it a try. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
MS says
How did it turn out?
Cyn says
Has anyone had any luck with their pie top NOT cracking ? The last 15-20 mins of baking my pie rose slightly, cracking across the top in several places, mostly the middle of the pie. Seen quite a few comments saying it happened to others as well.
This is my first attempt at this recipe and followed almost everything to a T. I did alter my sugar down to 3c based on suggestions from the comments. Nothing else was altered, so why did my pie crack ?
My eggs were room temperature, could that have caused it ? The recipe didnt specify, and a usual rule of baking is to use room temperature eggs so I just assumed. Should the eggs have been cold? Mainly, has anyone made one that didnt crack and what did you do please 🙂
Pie smells amazing and I'm sure will taste great too! The cracks are just a cosmetic flaw, but if I can get a picture perfect pie I'd like to know how!
Thanks for sharing the amazing recipe!!
Shaun says
When I turned down the oven temp, I also covered mine in foil, and kept the foil on until 10 mins before the end. That stopped the top from cracking, but still let the top brown. However, it did pull away from the crust when I popped it in the fridge to cool.
Nanecky says
Cracked top on a cheesecake is usually the result of over mixing..continue to use room temperature ingredients but only beat in the eggs until just mixed..tap out bubbles on your countertop..cracks don’t effect the taste..I’m sure it was still delicious! When my cheesecake cracked I called it Earthquake Pie..lol. We had just suffered a 7.2 here in Alaska a few weeks earlier so it worked..
Jen says
I followed directions (altered spices a bit) and mixed with hand mixer then divided into two frozen (pre baked per package instructions) crusts and baked for 30 minutes- top did not crack.
Diana says
Hello!
The cream cheese must be at room temperature or cold?
Donna says
I haven't tried this pie yet. I can't wait to see how it will turn out for me. I think I will be like some of the other Ladies and use a little less sugar. I don't like Pumpkin Pie really sweet anyway. Thanks for this recipe. I can't wait to try it!!!!
Ingrid Sheriff Allen says
2 cups of sugar and still overly sweet 🙄
Debbi says
Can this pie be frozen?
Renata Mcneill says
I will be using a store boughten pie crust. Should I bake the crust before baking the pie? Thanks!
Kate says
After reading the reviews, I reduced the sugar to 2 1/2 cups and it was plenty sweet. It was delicious warm with whipped cream; after refrigerating overnight, it was AWESOME! A delicious pie indeed!
Carrie says
This pie had a great taste, but the texture was grainy. Anyone else have this issue? Wondering if I could use granulated sugar instead of powdered to help?
J says
This was amazing! Thank you for sharing. Even my pumpkin pie averted dad liked it! It was my first time baking a pie and then trying to work with gluten free and dairy free. I used bobs red mill 1:1 gluten free flour, added 3tbs of water and then 1/2-1tsp of honey and it came together much better and was more pliable then better result as well. I replaced all the dairy ingredients for dairy free versions and that worked just fine without any special accommodations! For vegan I did three “flax eggs” and it was still delicious. I looked through the comments for GF/DF/V comments but didn’t see many so thought I’d leave this here!
Tracy says
When I bake for the stated time, my pie filling is still moving like an ocean. Should I keep baking it, or should I go ahead and pull it out? I am using the entirety of the pie filling in my pie pan.
Modern Honey says
Hi Tracy! It will definitely jiggle a little in the center but it shouldn't look completely raw and unset. It will firm up once it is chilled in the refrigerator. I would give it a few more minutes if it is completely underbaked.
Gail says
This was quite the pie! The texture was divine; creamy and smooth. I did not find it to be too sweet. It's pie. Pie is supposed to be sweet! I followed the recipe exactly. I am not a pastry chef so I wussed out and used a Pet Ritz. It actually filled 2 deep dish ones. Definitely took some time with all that mixing but well worth it. Husband is a pie connoisseur and said it was the best he had ever had.
Sandra Gaffney says
Absolutely amazing!
I have never liked pumpkin pie but I’ve never had it homemade.
This year I decided to roast my Halloween (uncarved) pumpkin and make pies. In total I made 8 pies using this recipe. For each, I adjusted something different.
The perfect outcome for us was 2.5 cups of powdered sugar, baked at 375 for 50 min straight. We did not prebake the crust either.
I gave most of the pies away and each recipient echoed the same sentiment. That they normally don’t like pumpkin pie but this one is exceptional.
I’d say way have finally been converted to pumpkin pie eaters, but only if it’s this recipe.