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.
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.
I’m going to have to try this tomorrow as a test for thanksgiving! Can’t wait!
And I’m happy to see you don’t add ginger to your recipe. I always leave that out when I make my recipe too.
I LOVE your dedication trying your recipes out early. You are setting yourself up for success! 🙂 I hope it made the cut for your Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you for trying out the recipe! 🙂 –Melissa
If I am making my own pumpkin purée, would I need to make any alterations? Add any more sugar or butter?
Sounds yummy since I am a huge cream cheese fan! Can’t wait to try it! Tiff’s mom (my mother-in-law) used to make a Pumpkin Chiffon pie that was delish! I will have to track down that recipe for you! I think it had gelatin in it or something.
Hi Clarissa! You know I love those heirloom recipes! I hope your family loves this pie and has a wonderful Thanksgiving, my friend.
Hello,
This recipe looks so interesting and creamy! Just wanted to verify the amount of sugar before I make it. Your recipe says 3 and 1/4 cups of powdered sugar. Is that correct. Thank you!
Hi Garrison! Haha….my husband wondered the same thing! It does seem a lot but because of the unsweetened pumpkin and unsweetened cream cheese, it comes out just right. If you want to add a little less, you could probably get away with 3 cups. I hope that helps. Thanks for trying out the recipe! 🙂
Hi!
The pumpkin pie was amazing! I have been a bit disappointed with pumpkin pie for a while. I wanted something a bit creamier and full of flavor. I doubled the cinnamon, used fresh nutmeg, and added a tsp of pumpkin pie spice too! But, I had to cook it a bit longer, an extra 25 minutes. It also had a caramelized crust on top. Needless to say, it was so creamy and delicious. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Garrison! Love the feedback. Those are some great additions — I bet those extra spices made it taste amazing. I love the caramelized top so it sounds like you cooked it for the right amount of time. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it! –Melissa
I’m relieved to see someone else had to cook longer! I’m going on an extra 10 right now and sure it’s not going to be enough. I have an egg allergy and was worried my substitute of applesauce was the culprit and was going to be bummed!!! There is hope! I’ll let you know!
Why is it powdered sugar in the pumpkin filling? Can I use coconut sugar? Love the cream cheese idea!
Hi Caitlin! Great question. The powdered sugar dissolves to nicely and helps to create a silky smooth texture. If you use coconut sugar, I suggest creaming it with the butter and cream cheese until it is light and fluffy. I hope that helps!
How. Am I make this non dairy? Can I use margarine and toffuti cream cheese ?
Hi Cherie! I haven’t tested this recipe to be non-dairy but I think you should be able to use margarine just fine. I am not sure how toffuti cream cheese bakes up but I am hoping that it would still work. I hope that helps!
Just want to make sure — this is for a deep dish pumpkin pie, right?
Hi Umberto! I did use a deep-dish pie pan when creating this pumpkin pie. If you use a smaller pie plate, you will have some extra filling. I hope that helps! Thanks for trying out my recipe. I appreciate it!
Pumpkin Pie is a must have this time of year!
Hi there!
Do I cover the pie the whole time it bakes or just once the temperature comes down? I’m excited to make this!
Hi Carrie. You only have to use the foil to cover the pie if the pie crust is getting too brown. I usually put it on the last 5-10 minutes. Hope that helps!
I never made a pumpkin pie before and nothing like the night before Thanksgiving looking for a recipe that uses ingredients I have on hand. It’s in the oven now and I can’t wait to try it tomorrow. We really liked the filling (we’re not afraid of raw eggs. lol) so I’m sure we’ll like it just fine baked.
This looks so, so good!
Love how you used cream cheese!
Oh my, the best and colorful Pumpkin Pie for sure!
Should you blind bake the butter crust first?
Excited to try this recipe.
Hi Janet! You don’t have to blind bake the crust ahead of time. You can just pour it into your unbaked pie crust and bake it all together. If you want a slightly flakier bottom crust, you can blind bake it for about 10 minutes, if you so desire. Thanks!
This looks incredible!
My father-in-law made this for Thanksgiving and it was amazing! We are doing our annual pie party tomorrow and I’m adding this to the line up! Do you think it’s ok to make it today for tomorrow? Would you keep it in the fridge overnight and up until serving? Thanks for any feedback!
Hi Kendra! Love hearing that! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. You can make it today, no problem. I had a lot of people do that for Thanksgiving and it turned out well. I hope that helps! 🙂 — Melissa
Great! Thanks so much! <3
Pie is in the oven now smelling Divine… the filling knocked my socks off, Melissa!! ☆☆☆☆☆ The idea of 3+c of powdered sugar made my teeth fall out just reading it tho, lol, so I used just 1c with a smidge of brown creamed with the cream cheese. Plenty sweet for my taste. Roasted a Jarrahdale for this and threw in a pinch of cardamom as well. Wish it was morning so I could throw the leftover filling in some pancakes. Wonderful recipe – thanks!
I just pulled this pie out of the oven, it smells amazing! I can already tell this is going to be a keeper. So happy I found your site. ❤
Hmm, guidelines on how firm or wiggly the center should be before removing from oven? Appreciate a tip.
Hi there! It will be slightly jiggly but should be mostly firm. It will set up after it comes out of the oven but it needs to be almost fully set in the middle. If you try to remove it from the oven, and it looks like there’s an earthquake in the center, it is not done. 🙂 Hope that helps! Thank you for trying my recipe.
How do you measure the powdered sugar for this? I’m worried I put to much because I didn’t shift. I guess we’ll see how it comes out. I’m super excited.
Hi Christine! I hope you love it! I use the scoop and scrape method. I don’t pack it down but do a light swipe across the top. You should be just fine! It should taste amazing!
Great recipe, i lowered the amount of sugar and used 1 cup of brown sugar instead. Cream cheese really makes it come together
@Angelique
Did you just use brown sugar entirely and no powered sugar? How did it taste!? I’m curious!
Really looking forward to making this pumpkin pie!!! Do you bake the crust before adding the filling?
Hello. It’s almost that time of year again. So Exciting !!! Can you please tell me about the plates in the photo? They bring such an elegance to the table. The perfect complement to such a wonderfully prepared pie 😉 thank you for sharing, Laural
Useing your recipe as my guide, I made the regular pumpkin pie w/ the 6 oz. of condensed milk not the powdered sugar. I then made the cream cheese, powdered sugar, egg & vanilla mixture and spread it atop the pumpkin layer and swirled it in a bit. Around the edges of the pie I sprinkled chopped walnuts just for fun. Thank you for the idea, we were so excited to taste it we cut into it while still warm, it is awesome.
Hi. I’m planning on making cupcake sized individual pumpkin pies. Am I correct in assuming I can use this recipe but just cut down the baking time?
Hi Terri! I LOVE that idea! They will turn out amazing. Yes, you can use the same recipe, no problem. Since they will be much smaller in size, I would suggest halving the time and then keep checking on them. It depends on how deep the filling is in the individual cups. If it is deep, it will need more time than if it is shallow. I hope that helps! Thank you for trying my recipe.
Hi there! Looking forward to making this for my Pumpkin Pie Lovin’ Hubby! I have a question….should I use unsalted or salted butter for both the pumpkin mixture and pie crust?
Thanks!!!
Hi Lynn! I hope your pumpkin pie lovin’ husband loves it! Even my non-pumpkin pie lovers will eat this pie so I hope it turns out amazing! I would suggest using unsalted for the pie and salted butter for the crust is fine. I like to make sure there’s enough salt in the crust to bring out the flavor. 🙂
This is the best pumpkin pie I’ve tasted. Perfect amount of creaminess and pumpkin flavor. I only used 1 cup of sugar and still feel it’s plenty sweet. But then again I am averse to overly sweet anything. Next time I may even skip the sugar all together as other recipes don’t call for it and I prefer just the basics. The creamy pumpkin filling with some whipped cream to me is decadent enough on its own! Also healthier to skip the sugar. But this is just my personal preference. I didn’t like all the extra fillers the grocery store pies had in it and this recipe is amazing and easy!
Awww thank you! I love to hear it! Thank you for trying my recipe. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
So excited to try this recipe! I’ll be making it the day before Thanksgiving – do you have any storage tips?
Thanks!
Hi Morgan! The beauty of this pie is that it can be made ahead of time. You can bake it, let it cool, and then refrigerate it. I hope that helps!
I want to make this in a 10 in cast iron skillet. Would that work for this recipe?
Thanks!
Hi Natalie! Great question! I haven’t tried it but I am sure it will be amazing. The baking time may vary slightly so keep checking the pie and watch for it to firm up in the center. You may want to put pie crust covers on the edges to ensure the pie crust doesn’t get too brown. Good luck!
Hi, I’m making two pies and wondering, do I just double the ingredients? I don’t want it to be too sweet. Also, I don’t have a deep dish pie pan, so any suggestions on what to do with the extra would be awesome! Thanks!
This was my first ever home made pie! Absolutely love the cream cheese! So rich and creamy. I only put two cups of powder d sugar and added a lot more pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
I made this last night and meant to put it in the fridge once it cooled, but I just realized I left it on the counter all night! Is it still ok to serve later today? I don’t want to make my in-laws sick. The filling tasted good, btw!
OMG, I made this for Thanksgiving (today), and I really think this is the best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted. I made it with frozen pie crusts. I gave birth to twins a year ago and haven’t had a good nights sleep in a year :-P, so sorry, I don’t have time to make pie crust, but even so, it was absolutely amazing. My husband loves pumpkin pie. I think it’s ok, but it’s definitely not my favorite. Now, I think I’ve changed my mind with this pie. It is so delicious! I think I’ll make this for Christmas and every Thanksgiving from here on out. Also, this made enough filling to fill up two frozen pillsbury pie crusts. If you feel like skipping making pie crust. Thank you!
I made this for thanksgiving today and it was fantastic! I too was worried about the powdered sugar… followed the recommendation to cut back to 3c and it was perfect. Not overly sweet at all. Thank you for such a great recipe 🙂
Oh my goodness! This is the best pumpkin pie I have ever made! Thank you for the excellent recipe!
This pumpkin pie was soooo good! The only change was I only used 1 and a half cup of sugar. Also, I made one deep dish pie and one regular pie crust, and the thinner one tasted better. Thank you so much for the recipe. It’s definitely a keeper!
I made this for Thanksgiving! I’ll never make a different pumpkin pie again! (I am not good at baking and I could even do it). I used light cream cheese and couldn’t tell the difference. Does anyone have the nutrition information on this??
I want to make this for our inlaws thanksgiving tomorrow… but I don’t have enough powdered sugar for the recipe :/. and I DO LOVE SWEET, so if I wanted to combine either regular or brown sugar OR sweetened condensed milk to the 2 cups of powdered I have, what would those measurements be??? thank you
I am a Baker and owned a bakery for 15years. I made your pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving because the butter and cream cheese caught my eye. Well I just want to tell you it was absolutely amazing! The best pumpkin pie I ever made. My family said to me that they didn’t think i could ever out do myself. But with the help of you I did. I will be looking at more of your recipes. Thank you for sharing. Diane
Big hit with my guests! I used gluten free pie crusts by Wholly Wholesome. The filling yielded a smooth, creamy texture that filled 2 pie crusts. They were absolutely scrumptious. I couldn’t stop eating it and will never use any other pumpkin pie recipe. Brava!
This was the best pumpkin pie I have ever eaten! So delicious, my husband asked me to make another one as soon as the first one was gone – and I did! Highly recommend you try this. I followed the recipe exactly and it was superb. Thank you for this awesome recipe! Will make again and again!
I made this pie as instructed. The taste was fantastic. I was slightly disappointed, though, because as it sat out of the oven it sort of “deflated” like a soufflé might and rather than having a full appearance it was sunken. Any hints or tips so that when I make it again (and I WILL be making this again :). I can avoid this issue? Thanks!
Really tasty! I made it in a 9″x13″ pan without crust… so more like a pudding/custard. I wanted to use less sugar, so I used 1C powdered sugar + 1/2C honey. (I creamed the honey in with the pumpkin-adding step.) Actually turned out perfectly sweet in my book! Tastes like dessert, but not too sweet for me. Thank you for sharing the genius of cream cheese + long mixing times…. Turns out spectacularly! (I love it with or without whipped cream.)
Hi! Just wondering if we are supposed to blind bake the pie crust. Thank you 😊
I made the recipe as directed. Unfortunately, my family thought it to be bland, gringo food so I adapted it. The next time I made it, I added another tsp of vanilla, 1 tsp of almond extract, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp rum extract, 1/2 tsp of lemon zest. Used only 2 cups powdered sugar but added 1 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp cornstarch. I separated yolk, added the yolk and after everything was mixed, whipped the egg whites and folded them into batter. I covered the pie before putting in oven. It was a win with the family.
Lady, if I die of a ruptured stomach, I blame it entirely on you. That is the pumpkin pie to end all pumpkin pies. I added cardamom and it is in-freaking-real. I’m seriously debating having a fourth piece.