The Best Pumpkin Pie and Perfect Pie Crust
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Cook time: 
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Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
For the crust:
  • 6 oz. flour
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 4 oz. butter, frozen, cut into cubes.
  • 2 oz. (or more) ice water
For the filling:
  • 1 15 oz. can (2 c.) pureed pumpkin
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • ½ cup half and half
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated if you're aiming for perfection)
  • 1 small pinch ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
To make the pie crust:
  1. Pulse the frozen butter cubes with the flour and salt in the food processor only about 5 or 6 times -- there should still be chunks of butter. Add your water all at once, and pulse only a couple of times to mix. The dough should look like pebbles.
  2. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm.
  3. When your dough is chilled, lay a piece of parchment on the counter, sprinkle with flour, add the dough disc, then more flour, then the other piece of parchment. Roll the dough, starting from the center and rolling out in all directions. Make sure to peel it off the parchment and flip it over at least once, adding more flour. You want your dough to be flattened but not stretched.
  4. When it's big enough, peel off the parchment and move it to your 9 inch pie plate. Take some time to lift the edges of the dough and make sure that the inside corners of the pie plate are covered. Using scissors, trim the overhang of the dough to ½ inch. Use any scraps you have to fill in any holes in the edges, adding layers of dough. Then pinch it together so it stands up nicely, and put that pie crust back in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, while the gluten relaxes and the dough firms back up.
  5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  6. When it's chilled, using two fingers and your thumb, crimp the dough into a fluted pattern.
  7. Prick all over with a fork (sides too!) Line carefully with tin foil, and fill the tin foil with pie weights (e.g., pie weights, dried beans, uncooked rice, uncooked barley). Lay a shield atop the pie crust, or cover with tin foil. Then bake it for 16 minutes (the crust should be pale gold, and dry to the touch), and let it cool before filling it.
  8. Preheat oven to 350.
For filling:
  1. Mix all of the filling ingredients together, making sure that everything is incorporated. Let rest a few minutes for the sugar to dissolve, mix again, and let rest again to let any air bubbles escape.
  2. Pour the filling into the pie crust (this is enough filling for a fairly deep pie), set on a cookie sheet, protect the crust with a shield or tin foil, and bake 50-60 minutes, or until the filling is set (not liquid) but still very wobbly.
  3. Let cool and serve chilled.
Recipe by The Domestic Front at https://www.thedomesticfront.com/perfect-pumpkin-pie-and-pie-crust-101/