- 1 unbaked 9-inch Pie Crust (half the
recipe; see note below)
- 16 ounce can pumpkin (or 2 cups of
cooked, mashed pumpkin flesh)
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon each ground cloves,
nutmeg and ginger
- 1 cup milk
First prepare the crust according to the
recipe for Easy Pie Crust. You will only
need half of the recipe. You can freeze the
other half, or go ahead and make two pies
(in which case, double this recipe). After
you have lined the pie plate with the rolled
out crust, you can start to prepare the
filling. Open up the canned pumpkin and
scrape the contents into a big bowl. Crack
in the eggs. Measure in the sugar, salt,
spices and milk. Beat very well. I use a
whisk, but a fork could work if you were
diligent. The batter may seem a little thin,
that's alright. Gently pour the filling into
the unbaked crust. If you have too much
filling, you can pour the rest into oiled
muffin cups and make pumpkin custard. Fill
the crust almost to the top of the crust.
Place the pie in the oven. Bake at 450° for
ten minutes. Reduce the heat to 350° and
bake for 45 minutes. When the pie is done,
it will be slightly puffed around the edges,
and seem firm when you jiggle the pie on the
oven rack. Poke a knife off center to be
sure. If it comes out clean, the pie is
done. Remove it from the oven and let it sit
a while to cool down. My favorite way to
serve this is when it is still warm from the
oven, with a nice scoop of ice cream, or
Whipped Topping. Heavenly. High in Vitamin A
too because of the pumpkin. Serve with a
skimpy main dish to make sure the family is
full. Makes 8 slices.
Note: The pie crust is optional in this
recipe. I often bake the filling in a pie
plate, or a cake pan without using a pie
shell at all. This is called Pumpkin
Custard. It tastes the same as pumpkin pie,
but is a bit healthier because you don't
have the added fat and calories of the
traditional pie crust. Personally I believe
I like it better with the crust, but let
your time limit and waist line be your
guide.
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