True confession: I’m one of THOSE people. You know the kind who don’t like pumpkin pie. I would WAY rather have a scoop of Pumpkin Pecan Crunch Dessert to get my fill of pumpkin spice flavors. That is until I tasted this pumpkin pie. It really is the BEST PUMPKIN PIE!
My days of being able to walk right past or turn my nose up at the pumpkin pie on the dessert table at Thanksgiving are over. Bring it on! Give me the biggest slice!!!
So what is it about this pie that has got me all, “I LOVE PUMPKIN PIE,” after 30-some-odd years of dogging on it?
It’s a combination of a couple of things. Most of the pumpkin pies I had ever tasted were made from the recipe on the back of the can or in a store bakery.
More Amazing Pies
- Coconut Cream Pie
- Key Lime Pie
- Mom’s Cherry Pie
- Samoa Cookie Cream Pie
- Dutch Apple Pie
- Brown Butter Raspberry Pie
A couple of years ago, I decided to try making a recipe I saw on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. The girl’s got it going on with the cooking skills! Anywho, her recipe had heavy whipping cream and two extra egg yolks in it. It intrigued me, and I had to give it a try. The result is a much more smooth and custardy filling that hits all the happy spots on your texture taste buds. It’s delicious!
I decided I would make that pie every year.
Well, last year I saw a pumpkin pie video on Facebook, and it had a really strange ingredient: Ground Black Pepper.
Just a little, but still it had black pepper in it. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it, but the blogger (Sally’s Baking Addiction) who had posted it promised it was the best pumpkin pie in all the land. So, of course, I just had to try adding a little ground pepper into the perfect recipe I had found on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST PUMPKIN PIE
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, black pepper, cloves, and vanilla.
- Next, add the eggs, egg yolks, cream, and milk. Whisk until smooth.
- Pour batter into your prepared crust and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the pie is set.
- Let cool completely and serve with fresh whipping cream.
- Enjoy!
Guys!!!! The black pepper is a game-changer! It blows my mind that such a simple addition of a couple of grinds from my pepper grinder can make such an incredible difference. It deepens all the flavors. Combine that with the thick, smooth, custard-y filling from Mel’s recipe and top the whole thing off with a giant scoop of sweet homemade whipping cream–Forget it! It’s the best!
You will forever be a pumpkin pie snob after tasting this delicious version of a Thanksgiving classic! Or if you’ve never been tempted by pumpkin pie before (like me), this is going to have you eating crow.
Tips for making the Best Pumpkin Pie
- Make sure to use canned pumpkin puree. Do not use the type that has spices and sugar added.
- Be brave and add the ground black pepper. It deepens all the other spices and will not disappoint.
- I use a deep dish frozen pie crust when I am in a hurry.
- Just in case of an overflow, you can place the pie on a baking sheet while baking.
- If the edges of the crust start getting brown early on in the cooking process, you can cover them with a foil shield or a pie shield if you have one. Do not cover the whole pie with foil. You can cut out a circle that will go around the edges or make one out of foil strips.
- Serve with fresh whipped cream.
Baker’s Tools:
It's Pumpkin Season!
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper (or a couple of grinds from your pepper grinder)
- Pinch of ground cloves
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup milk or evaporated milk
- 1 prepared pie crust
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, black pepper, cloves, and vanilla.
- Next, add the eggs, egg yolks, cream, and milk. Whisk until smooth.
- Pour batter into your prepared crust and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the pie is set.
- Just in case of an overflow, you can place your pie on a baking sheet while baking. Also, if the edges of your crust start getting brown early on in the cooking process, you can cover them with a foil shield or a pie shield if you have one. Do not cover the whole pie with foil. You can cut out a circle that will go around the edges or make one out of foil strips.
Must-Make Thanksgiving Recipes
I am so intrigued by this! I made some gingerbread last year that called for black pepper and it was soooo good! But it would never occur to me to try it in pumpkin pie. I’m totally going to try it this year!
You’ll love it! I was totally skeptical too, but I will never go back!
Well I knew I had to make pumpkin pie this year..and the black pepper made me NEED to try it…lol..though ok I didnt notice it…but others did.. and they are the pie really fast.. so I’m gonna say it was a hit lol..will make again.
Could I use all milk if I don’t have heavy cream
unfortunately the cream is pretty important. You could used canned milk in place of the milk and cream but the pie will be a little less custard-like.
After reading about this pie I think I’m going to be making it instead of my old recipe. Thanks for sharing
After reading about this pie I think I’m going to be making it instead of my old recipe. Thanks for sharing
#febgiveaway
It really is the BEST! Something about that little bit of pepper, it just brings out the other spices perfectly. You are going to love it!
This pumpkin pie is so delicious and full of flavor, and it was even better the second day.
Right! It’s my absolute favorite, it’s the pepper! 🙂
amazing! I love pumpkin pie but this was so much better than any pumpkin pie that I had ever had before. I use a gingersnap cookie crust (graham cracker crust but made with ginger snaps instead) which is so delicious together and so much more flavor and so much easier than pie dough. I am an American living in Italy and started making this a few years ago and even the Italians are so excited for its return each Thanksgiving which really surprised me as these flavors are totally out of their wheelhouse.
I can’t tell you how much I love hearing this, I really believe this is the best pumpkin pie in the world and you adding a gingersnap crust must have just made it to die for! I love that the Italians love it!
This is an excellent and delicious pumpkin pie recipe!!! I had ran out of heavy whipping cream, so I needed to use a replacement. I added some of the left over evaporated milk to some plain Greek yogurt to the consistency of heavy cream and whala! It just came out so good. I also made my own pie crust. I’ll be using this recipe many times! Great recipe and thank you!!!
Yay! I am so glad to hear that Virginia! Great idea for a substitution!
THIS IS THE BOMB people! It’s a must try. Wow! The ground pepper is the secret.
I made for Thanksgiving and everyone said it was the best!
I couldn’t agree more Terry! Thank you so much for the glowing review!