If you need help go to the bottom of the page with the pie crust

What you’ll need:

• Medium mixing bowl
• Rolling pin
• Pastry blender (or a fork, if you don’t have one)
• Plastic wrap or waxed paper
• 9-inch glass pie plate

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, shortening or lard, very cold
• 5-7 tablespoons ice-cold water

First, combine the flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl until well combined. Then, cut in the butter with a fork or pastry blender. You can also use shortening or lard in place of the butter—just make sure it’s super cold! Do this until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces sprinkled throughout.

Next, sprinkle in the ice water just a tablespoon at a time, lightly mixing with the fork, until the dough is just wet enough to form a ball when pressed together. You don’t want the dough to be too wet (it’ll be all sticky and difficult to work with!) but you don’t want it to be too dry either because it’ll crack and be hard to shape when you roll it out.

Shape the dough into two equal-sized balls and flatten them slightly to make small discs. Wrap each in some plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Let stand for about five minutes at room temperature before rolling out each disc.

On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc out into an 11-inch circle. Gently fold and place it into the pie plate and unfold—this is your bottom crust layer. Usually, for pumpkin pie, you don’t top with a second crust like you would for most fruit pies like apple pie. You can either make some decorative pie crust designs to place on top of your finished pie later or put the second disc in the freezer to save for another pie day.

Pro tip: Pie dough will keep in the freezer for a couple of months—wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in a sealed freezer bag for best results. When you’re ready to make another pie, simply allow it to defrost in the refrigerator, then proceed with rolling it out as instructed above.

One of the best things about pumpkin pie is that the filling is quite simple—you only need to add a handful of ingredients to get the perfect blend of spices that’s necessary to bake a winning pumpkin pie. Whether you start with a can of pumpkin puree or make your own completely from scratch is up to you! We’ll show you how to do it both ways.

Canned Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin puree is the key ingredient to pumpkin pie filling—not to be confused with canned pumpkin pie mix, of course! If you’re unsure of the differences between the two, the canned pumpkin pie mix is ready to go. It already has the spices added to the pumpkin puree, so it’s a good option for when you’re in a real-time crunch. But making your own filling isn’t hard and a tad more fun! Our favorite pumpkin pie filling recipe only requires five ingredients. Here’s how it’s done.

What you’ll need

• 9-inch glass pie pan lined with Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust
• Large bowl
• Knife
• Wire whisk

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk (1 1/2 cups)

Step 1: In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a wire whisk.

Step 2: Stir in the sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, pumpkin, and evaporated milk until well blended. And ta-da! Your pumpkin pie filling is done and ready to be poured into the crust for baking.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Though we usually like to reach for canned pumpkin puree for convenience, there’s something special to be said about baking a pumpkin pie that starts with the source. Grab yourself some pumpkins—but not the kind you’re used to carving. If you want to eat the pumpkin insides, you’ll want to buy a sugar or pie pumpkin at the store or your local pumpkin patch. These are typically smaller in size than your typical Jack-O-Lanterns and they have thicker flesh and lower water quantity, too.

Pumpkin Pie Spices

To make the pumpkin filling really sing, you’ll need to add the right dash of spices to the pumpkin puree mixture before baking your pie. You will see a lot of recipes call for “pumpkin pie spice,” which you can find at the store in the spice section of the baking aisle. But did you know that pumpkin pie spice is actually just a blend of spices you probably already have in your pantry? Most pumpkin pie spices are made from a mix of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground allspice and ground cloves.

Now that you know how to make the crust and filling, let’s put it all together, shall we?

Pour the filling into the crust-lined pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the pie cool for two hours, then serve!

Keep an eye on your pie towards the end of baking time—over-baking custard pies like pumpkin pie tends to make them watery. You’ll know your pie is done when the knife comes out clean, but the center still looks a little jiggly.

Avoid over-baking the crust edges by adding some aluminum foil over the edges about halfway through baking.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie tastes delightful on its own, but a little somethin’ extra on top makes it even better. Don’t believe us? Try these recipes and see for yourself.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

Beat a bit of whipping cream and sugar together on high speed until soft peaks form to make a simple, sweet topping for your pumpkin pie. Make it even more special by sprinkling with extra pumpkin pie spice!

Now your crust is ready to be filled and baked! To make it look really impressive, follow a few of these tips and tricks for tricking out your pie crust.