The Basics: How to Make Pumpkin Pie

Published on Friday, October 23, 2009, by CHOW Food Team / Edit Post

From the store to the kitchen to the table: We outline the steps that get you from raw ingredients to your dinner tonight, free of measurements and complicated techniques. It’s a method you’ll remember and whip out whenever you like. It is the most basic way to make the thing you’re making.

  • WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
  • - a large bowl
  • - a whisk
  • - a baking sheet
  • - a 15-ounce can of pumpkin purée (not pie mix)
  • - a 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
  • - two eggs
  • - ground cloves
  • - ground nutmeg
  • - salt
  • - ground cinnamon
  • - an unbaked 9-inch pie crust (thawed if using a frozen crust)

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

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  • 1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (it will take at least 20 minutes to warm up) and arrange a rack in the middle. Place the pumpkin purée, condensed milk, eggs, a pinch of cloves, two pinches of nutmeg, two to three pinches of salt, and four pinches of cinnamon in the bowl and whisk until combined.

    Step 1

  • 2. Dump the pumpkin mixture into the unbaked pie crust.

    Step 2

  • 3. Put the pie on the baking sheet and place it in the oven. Bake until the top starts to brown and the filling is set but still jiggles a little in the center, about 50 to 70 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Makes 8 to 10 servings. See more Thanksgiving Basics.

    Step 3

Illustrations by Bill Russell

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POST A COMMENT |8 Comments

COMMENT

  • If you want a good pumpkin pie don't use canned pumpkin. I cook down and mash Jack-O-Lanterns for my pies. Don't puree, just mash with a potato masher, then use the Eagle Brand Sweetened condensed milk recipe. I usually play around with the spices some trying new combinations. I also use a water whip pie crust that I make. Store bought crusts suck.

  • I follwed the directions on the back of the can (easy Pumpkin Pie - Libbys) and my pie was very dense, no one liked it... what happened?

  • If you are going to use a premade piecrust from the store you might as well just buy the whole pie. The filling is the easy part.

  • The teaser for this recipe asks "Why does my pumpkin pie weep?" and the answer is something like, "Because it is sad that you overcooked it." Then the advice is to prebake your pie crust so that you can cook your pumpkin pie at a lower temperature (because--not on the website, but I read my Alton Brown--there will be less protein binding, which squeezes out the water.)

    Then this recipe calls for...+READ

    The teaser for this recipe asks "Why does my pumpkin pie weep?" and the answer is something like, "Because it is sad that you overcooked it." Then the advice is to prebake your pie crust so that you can cook your pumpkin pie at a lower temperature (because--not on the website, but I read my Alton Brown--there will be less protein binding, which squeezes out the water.)

    Then this recipe calls for a PREMADE but not PREBAKED pie crust. The teaser advice should match the advice in the recipe. Hey, I don't want to be too critical. It sounds like the recipe comes out nicely, even if there is a bit of a contradiction between the teaser and the recipe to which it links. And Chowhound, I love your recipes and your website!-COLLAPSE

  • i agree this is this the recipe from the back of a can but it was the one i was looking for. im not sure what brand i will be able to find this year and im a procrastinator. there are a ton of variations (like the one on libby's - which is different) and the condensed milk is very sweet and adds the perfect amount of sweetness sans sugar. i prefer to use it instead of evaporated milk and sugar...+READ

    i agree this is this the recipe from the back of a can but it was the one i was looking for. im not sure what brand i will be able to find this year and im a procrastinator. there are a ton of variations (like the one on libby's - which is different) and the condensed milk is very sweet and adds the perfect amount of sweetness sans sugar. i prefer to use it instead of evaporated milk and sugar which is what is called for in a lot of recipes.-COLLAPSE

  • Well it does call for sweetened condensed milk, which contains a good amount of sugar.

  • To echo the previous poster: um, this *is* the recipe from the back of the can, minus sugar. While I agree that many pumpkin pie recipes contain too much sugar, surely you want to include at least a bit? Otherwise this is going to be a bitter pill and hardly a dessert,

  • I know these are like the "Thanksgiving made easy!" type of recipes, but if you're going to make pumpkin pie from the canned stuff, you can probably just follow the recipe on the back of the can.