With another Thanksgiving right around the corner, I figured it was finally time to make my first real pie crust instead of using one from the freezer section. I went back to this post that had all of your great suggestions for pie crust recipes to try. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you.
Not sure which one to start with, I took pieces and parts from a few that sounded good. Strike that… that sounded easy. It seems I have an irrational fear of working with dough for some reason.
To start, I made sure to get all my ingredients super cold, including the metal bowl and pastry cutter.
I decided to try out a pie crust with shortening instead of butter… no reason… just because.
And I went out to buy a pastry cutter for the task. I’m sure this wasn’t necessary, but it did work great.
I also had this pie rolling pin that I bought about a year ago. The ends are tapered so you can turn and roll out the dough in different directions easily… I think. I’m sure this wasn’t necessary either, but it gave me a little extra confidence.
Now, don’t laugh at my pie dough. I have a feeling it’s not supposed to look this rough. It would definitely help to see someone do this first. I work much better when I know what things are supposed to look like. I also think I need to see what a lightly-floured surface means, because lightly wasn’t working so much. After rolling it out one time, I had to scoop it up and try again. Definitely leaning toward the generously-floured side of flouring. It reminded me of this doughnut disaster.
But not to give up, I carefully placed my twice-rolled, tearing and stretching crust in the pie plate, repairing sections where necessary.
And it worked. YAY!
Next came the cream cheese layer. It already looks better.
Then the pumpkin layer. YUM.
When it came out of the oven, it looked like a real pie. And the crust doesn’t look so bad after all.
Rustic… yeah… I was going for rustic if anyone asks.
Halfway through baking, I added the topping made of brown sugar, chocolate, pecans and a little maple syrup.
It was so good. Just the right amount of texture to go with the creamy filling.
If you use miniature chocolate chips, the crunch will be a little more subtle. Or just tell yourself that because that’s all you have on hand.
It was really, really good. I was even surprised by how good the crust tasted.
I think I’ve opened up a new world of baking. I see more pies in my future. As a matter of fact, I think I’m gonna make up some more crusts and freeze them to keep handy.
Try out this pumpkin pie and have a Happier Thanksgiving.
Here’s the recipe in order of assembly:
Pumpkin Pecan Cream Cheese Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Cream Cheese Layer
Pumpkin Layer
Pecan Topping
Instructions