Ever since seeing Alton Brown's episode about making pumpkin pie completely from scratch, I've been wanting to try that. I went on a hunt for pie pumpkins like 2 or 3 weeks before Thanksgiving and couldn't find any. The day after Thanksgiving we went to good old Wal-Mart and found some. Hurray! His recipe calls for a 4 pound pumpkin and they only had 1 pound pumpkins there. The first thing I did was take all the guts out of the pumpkins. Beware for lots of bright orange coming up.
If you like Alton Brown Recipes try Alton Brown's Guacamole Recipe, Alton Brown Corned Beef and Cabbage, or Alton Brown's Smoked Meatloaf.
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Ingredients Needed Alton Brown's Pumpkin Pie
- Gingersnap cookies - Use prepared gingersnap cookies from the store or make your own.
Dark brown sugar - Is made by combining granulated white sugar with molasses, which gives it a brown color and a slightly different taste than regular white sugar.
Ground ginger - Freshly grated ginger comes in a squeezable tube and is usually found in the produce area. It lasts long in the fridge and is always a better option then ground ginger.
Unsalted butter, melted - is the most commonly used type of butter in baking, as it allows for more control over the amount of salt in the recipe. - Pumpkin Puree - there is a recipe for how to make pumpkin puree in the recipe card below but if you don't want to do that use canned pumpkin.
Half-and-half
Nutmeg - is a seed or ground spice of several species of the genus Mysristica. It is rich in antioxidants and helps protect against signs of aging.
Kosher salt
Dark brown sugar -
Eggs - The best type of eggs you can buy at the store are organic or free-range eggs, while others may prefer eggs from specific breeds of chickens - See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Alton Brown's Pumpkin Pie
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 1 For the crust: Combine the gingersnaps, brown sugar, and ginger in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cookies are fine crumbs. Drizzle the butter into the crumb mixture. Pulse 8 to 10 times to combine.
Press the gingersnap mixture into the bottom, up the sides, and just over the lip of a 9-inch glass pie dish. Place on a half sheet pan and bake the crust for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool crust at least 10 minutes before filling.
Step 2 For the filling: Bring the pumpkin puree to a simmer over medium heat in a 2-quart saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the half-and-half, nutmeg, and salt. Stir and return the mixture to a simmer. Remove the pumpkin mixture from the heat and cool for 10 minutes.
Step 3 Whisk the brown sugar, eggs, and yolk until smooth in a large bowl. Add the pumpkin mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour the prepared filling into the warm pie crust and bake on the same half sheet pan until the center jiggles slightly but the sides of the filling are set, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack for at least 2 to 3 hours before slicing. Pie can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance. Pie is best the day after it is made.
Ste4 For mini-pies: Evenly divide the crust mixture between 5 (5-inch) pie tins and bake on a half sheet pan for 5 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before evenly dividing the filling between the pans. Bake until the center juggles slightly but the sides of the filling are set, 25 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack for 2 hours. Spread 1 teaspoon of light brown sugar on the top of each pie. Melt the sugar using a torch to form a crispy top. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
By the time the pie crust was done it was time to puree the pumpkin.
Then you cook the pumpkin puree with the half and half mixture.
And at the end when it's all done baking you will have the most perfect pumpkin pie ever. I got home at around 1 in the afternoon and the pie was all complete at about 4:30ish. It was a lot of work, and believe it or not, the pumpkin was actually fun to scoop out of it's shell. We now have about 4 cups of extra homemade pumpkin puree. I was thinking next Spring I might have to grow my own sugar pumpkins in my garden and make my own pumpkin puree before hand, so this is a lot easier and doesn't take so much time.
I'll try and take a better picture of this pie tomorrow. Sorry for the redness.
Other Recipes to Try
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Alton's Pumpkin Pie
- Prep Time: 15min
- Cook Time: 1hr 15min
- Total Time: 1hr 30min
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Medium
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
And at the end when it's all done baking you will have the most perfect pumpkin pie ever.
Ingredients
6 ounces gingersnap cookies
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 ounce unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
16 ounces Pumpkin Puree, recipe follows
1 cup half-and-half
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
Brulee for mini-pies:
5 teaspoons light brown sugar, divided
Instructions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust: Combine the gingersnaps, brown sugar, and ginger in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cookies are fine crumbs. Drizzle the butter into the crumb mixture. Pulse 8 to 10 times to combine.
Press the gingersnap mixture into the bottom, up the sides, and just over the lip of a 9-inch glass pie dish. Place on a half sheet pan and bake the crust for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool crust at least 10 minutes before filling.
For the filling: Bring the pumpkin puree to a simmer over medium heat in a 2-quart saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the half-and-half, nutmeg, and salt. Stir and return the mixture to a simmer. Remove the pumpkin mixture from the heat and cool for 10 minutes.
Whisk the brown sugar, eggs, and yolk until smooth in a large bowl. Add the pumpkin mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour the prepared filling into the warm pie crust and bake on the same half sheet pan until the center jiggles slightly but the sides of the filling are set, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack for at least 2 to 3 hours before slicing. Pie can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance. Pie is best the day after it is made.
For mini-pies: Evenly divide the crust mixture between 5 (5-inch) pie tins and bake on a half sheet pan for 5 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before evenly dividing the filling between the pans. Bake until the center juggles slightly but the sides of the filling are set, 25 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack for 2 hours. Spread 1 teaspoon of light brown sugar on the top of each pie. Melt the sugar using a torch to form a crispy top. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Pumpkin Puree:
1 (4 to 6-pound) baking pumpkin, rinsed and dried
Kosher salt
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice a small piece of skin off the one side of the pumpkin so when laid on its side, the pumpkin will lay flat without rolling. Remove the stem and split the pumpkin in half from top to bottom, using a large cleaver and a mallet. Scoop out the seeds and fiber with a large metal spoon or ice cream scoop. Cut the fibers with kitchen shears if necessary. Reserve seeds for another use.
Sprinkle the flesh with kosher salt and lay the halves, flesh side down, on a parchment paper-lined half sheet pan. Roast until a paring knife can be easily inserted and removed from the pumpkin, 30 to 45 minutes. Test in several places to ensure doneness.
Remove the half sheet pan to a cooling rack and cool the pumpkin for 1 hour. Using a large spoon, remove the roasted flesh of the pumpkin from the skin to the bowl of a food processor. Process until the flesh is smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.
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