This easy old fashioned pumpkin pie recipe is made from scratch with a creamy homemade filling and the best flaky pie crust. Made with fresh pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin, this recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving and the holiday season!
This post was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated for content.
The best part of the holiday season is the desserts, right? We always make pies for thanksgiving and sometimes for Christmas. This old fashioned pumpkin pie made from scratch is always on the menu and has become a family favorite over the years.
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🎃 Ingredient notes
- Pumpkin - For this recipe you will need 2 cups of pumpkin puree. Either you can make pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkin or use canned pumpkin puree. If you opt to use canned pumpkin, make sure you get pure pumpkin or pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Pie Crust - The recipe below includes enough dough for a 9 ½ inch pie pan. Alternatively, a store bought pie crust can be used instead. The filling will also work in a 9 inch pie pan, but it needs to be a deep sided one to accommodate all of the filling.
📋 Substitutions and variations
- Dairy Free - To make this pumpkin pie dairy free, replace the butter in the crust with a dairy free or plant based butter substitute and replace the evaporated milk with a non dairy unsweetened milk substitute such as almond or oat milk.
- Gluten Free - The filling for this pumpkin pie is naturally gluten free. To make this pie gluten free, simply substitute the homemade pie crust for a gluten free pie crust.
🥣 Step by step instructions
First, pulse the flour, salt and cold butter pieces in a food processor about 8-10 times until the butter is the size of small peas. Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time, pulsing for 3-5 times after each addition, until the dough just comes together. The dough will be crumbly but will stick together if you press it with your hands.
Turn the dough mixture out onto a tea towel and pull up the sides of the towel and twist to help shape the mixture into a disc. Wrap the disc of dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until no lumps remain. Place the filling in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
When the dough is done chilling, roll it out on a floured surface until it's about ¼ inch thick.
Place the dough in a greased 9 ½ inch pie pan and press it down gently so it is flat against the sides and the bottom.
Using your thumb and index finger from one hand and thumb or index finger of your other hand, pinch the edges of the pie dough between your fingers to form a V shape. Repeat with the remaining edges of the dough until all of it is crimped.
Pour the chilled pie filling into the prepared pie crust and bake in a 400˚ oven for 50-55 minutes until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the pie.
⭐ Expert tips
- The trick to making a flaky pie crust is to keep the dough cold. Make sure both the butter and water are kept ice cold before using to help with this.
- The dough will be crumbly after mixing it, but will start to meld together in the refrigerator during chilling time. Be careful not to over mix the dough or it will become tough.
- Turn the dough mixture out onto a tea towel and pull the sides up while twisting it to help the dough easily come together into a disc. This will help to form it without overworking the dough or making a mess.
- Place a baking sheet on the rack underneath the pie in the oven to catch any drips that may happen during baking.
- If the crust is getting too browned, place foil over the crust edges for the remainder of the baking time.
- Let the pie cool for 30 minutes outside of the oven before transferring it to the refrigerator and then make sure it completely cools in the refrigerator before slicing or serving. If you can, let it chill overnight for best results.
⏲️ Make ahead and storage instructions
Filling - The pumpkin pie filling can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or it can also be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months. Frozen filling should be thawed completely before using. Cooking times may be longer.
Pie dough - The dough can be prepared up to 3 days ahead of time and stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Dough can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Frozen dough should be thawed completely in the refrigerator. Dough that has been thawed or stored in the refrigerator for a while should be taken out 30 minutes before use to make rolling out easier.
Pie - Once the pumpkin pie is baked and cooled, it can be stored in the refrigerator up to 2 days ahead of time. The fully cooled pie can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to one month. Frozen pie should be completely thawed in the refrigerator.
🎃 More pumpkin recipes
If you loved this old fashioned pumpkin pie recipe, check out these other pumpkin recipes that I know you will love too!
Don't forget! If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and give it a rating. I love to hear from each and every one of you! Tag me on Facebook and Instagram as well! It makes my day to see all of your photos of the food you have made.
Print📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie {from Scratch}
This easy old fashioned pumpkin pie recipe is made from scratch with a creamy homemade filling and the best flaky pie crust. Made with fresh pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin, this recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving and the holiday season!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes + chilling time
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 3-5 Tablespoons ice water
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 2 cups pumpkin puree, fresh or canned
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
Pie Crust
- In a food processor, combine flour, salt and cold butter pieces. Pulse the ingredients 8-10 times, until the butter is the size of small peas.
- Add the ice water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing 3-5 times after each addition, until the mixture just comes together. The mixture will be crumbly, but should just hold together if it's pressed together.
- Turn the crumbly dough mixture out onto a tea towel. Pull the ends of the towel up and twist them to wrap up the dough mixture completely in the towel and help form it into a disc.
- Remove the disc from the towel and wrap it up completely in plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- Preheat the oven to 400˚ and grease a 9.5 inch pie plate with butter or baking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, evaporated milk and eggs and whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, white sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk everything together until no lumps remain. Chill the filling in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Roll the chilled pie dough out on a floured surface until it is approximately ¼ inch thick.
- Carefully lay the rolled pie dough onto the prepared pie plate and gently press it down to lay flat against the sides and bottom.
- Using the index finger and thumb on one hand and a finger or thumb on the other hand, gently pinch the pie dough in between the fingers to form a V shape to crimp the edges of the pie crust. Repeat until the entire edge of the pie crust is crimped.
- Pour the chilled filling in the prepared crust and bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
- Let the pie cool for 30 minutes outside of the oven and then transfer it to the refrigerator to cool completely.
Notes
- The trick to making a flaky pie crust is to keep the dough cold. Make sure both the butter pieces and water are kept ice cold before using to help with this.
- The dough will be crumbly after mixing it, but will start to meld together in the refrigerator during chilling time. Be careful not to over mix the dough or it will become tough.
- Turn the dough mixture out onto a tea towel and pull the sides up while twisting it to help the dough easily come together into a disc. This will help to form it without overworking the dough or making a mess.
- A sheet pan can be placed on the rack underneath the pie in the oven to catch any drips that may happen during baking.
- If the crust is getting too browned, place foil over the crust edges for the remainder of the baking time.
- Let the pie cool for 30 minutes outside of the oven before transferring it to the refrigerator and then make sure it completely cools in the refrigerator before slicing or serving. Chilling overnight will give the best results!
Substitutions and Variations
- Filling - 2 cups of pumpkin puree is needed for the recipe and either homemade pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin puree may be used. If canned pumpkin is used, make sure to used pure pumpkin or pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Crust - The recipe includes enough dough for a 9 ½ inch pie pan. Alternatively, a store bought pie crust can be used instead. The filling will also work in a 9 inch pie pan, but it needs to be a deep sided one to accommodate all of the filling.
- Dairy Free - To make this pumpkin pie dairy free, replace the butter in the crust with a dairy free or plant based butter substitute and replace the evaporated milk with a non dairy unsweetened milk substitute such as almond or oat milk.
- Gluten Free - The filling for this pumpkin pie is naturally gluten free. To make this pie gluten free, simply substitute the homemade pie crust for a gluten free pie crust.
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
Filling - The pumpkin pie filling can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or it can also be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months. Frozen filling should be thawed completely before using in pie. Cooking times may be longer.
Pie dough - The dough can be prepared up to 3 days ahead of time and stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Dough can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Frozen dough should be thawed completely in the refrigerator. Dough that has been thawed or stored in the refrigerator ahead of time should be taken out 30 minutes before use to make rolling out easier.
Pie - Once the pumpkin pie is baked and cooled, it can be stored in the refrigerator up to 2 days ahead of time. The fully cooled pie can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to one month. Frozen pie should be completely thawed in the refrigerator.
Keywords: old fashioned pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie from fresh puree, pumpkin pie from scratch, pumpkin pie from canned pumpkin, homemade pumpkin pie
Emily Flint says
I'm never buying a pumpkin pie at the store again!
Amanda says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!