Turkey Day just isn’t Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie to finish up the feast. Once I could be trusted to not destroy the kitchen and burn the house down, Mom put me in charge of dessert baking during the holidays. Pumpkin pie was, and still is, always on the menu. My kid go-to recipe came straight off the back of the Libby’s pumpkin puree can.
The recipe for pumpkin pie is pretty standard–pumpkin, sugar, eggs, spices and milk of some sort, usually evaporated. An early version of pumpkin pie started as a pudding recipe. Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery cookbook from 1796 first published pumpkin pudding. Look similar?
Today, pumpkin pudding-pie ingredients are blended together and poured into a pie shell. Feel free to use store-bought pie crust or make your own, like my Flaky Not-Amish Pie Crust recipe. Because pumpkin pie is technically a custard pie with its egg and milk base, be careful to not overbake it. The edges should be set and the center will be slightly wobbly. Overbaking a custard-based pie can result in the liquids separating from the rest of the ingredients, which is definitely not good eats.
This Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie recipe is adapted from Emily and Melissa Elsen‘s “The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book.” The brown butter and brown sugar combination in this recipe takes this humble pie to a new level. There are a few more steps having to brown the butter and strain the filling, but the result is absolutely worth it! An extremely smooth, rich and pumpkin-pie spiced ending to a your favorite holiday meal.
PrintBrown Butter Pumpkin Pie
Spicy, butterscotchy, creamy, and impeccably pumpkin! This custard-based pie is a quintessential holiday favorite!
Adapted from “The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book” by Emily and Melissa Elsen.
- Prep Time: About 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 45 Minutes
- Total Time: About 1-1/2 Hours
- Yield: One 9-Inch Pie 1x
Ingredients
One 9-inch single crust, unbaked pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp. water
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. salt (table, kosher or sea)
1–2/3 cups pumpkin puree*
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. unsulphured molasses
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup evaporated milk
Instructions
Partially prebake the pie crust according to your recipe directions. Set pie pan on baking sheet. Set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Stir constantly. Butter will foam and then turn golden brown, with flecks of browned bits. Browned butter will be fragrant and nutty smelling. Immediately add and stir in brown sugar and water to loosen. Bring the butter mixture to a boil. Continue simmering until the temperature reads 225 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream. The cream will bubble immediately. Whisk constantly and carefully until smooth. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk eggs and egg yolk together with the salt. Using a food processor, immersion blender, or a blender, blend pumpkin, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, molasses, and lemon juice together until smooth. Turn the food processor down to low. Slowly stream the brown butter mixture into the pumpkin spice mixture. Blend until smooth. Stream in egg mixture, and evaporated milk, blending until smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the container, blending again to evenly combine. Strain and press the pumpkin mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a separate bowl to remove any lumps. Pour pumpkin mixture into partially prebaked pie shell.
Bake on the middle shelf in the oven for 45 to 55 minutes. Use an aluminum pie shield or strips of aluminum on the pie crust edges if they begin to brown too much. Pie is done when the edges are set, crust is browned, and the center is still slightly wobbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack for 2 to 3 hours. Store cooked pie covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or at room temperature for 1 day. Serve warm or cold, with or without whipped cream.
Notes
*Opt for canned pumpkin. It has just the right moisture content.
IMNPB
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