With the holidays around the corner, we wanted to share our FAVORITE pumpkin and pecan pie recipes. This pumpkin pie bursts with flavor and its rich, smooth, thick filling on flaky homemade pie crust is to die for. The pecan pie combines a buttery pie crust with a sweet, dense and chewy filling with lots of YUMMY pecans. These pies are PERFECT on their own or with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream. Serve these DELICIOUS pies at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
The Pie Crust
- Every pie has to start with a stellar pie crust
- The trick to get the most buttery, flaky pie crust is to use COLD butter
- Cut up butter into small pieces and freeze for up to an hour
- Pie crust recipe works for pumpkin, pecan, apple, cherry and probably every other pie you can think of
- Make holiday shapes using cookie cutters to decorate the tops of your pies
- Pie weights prevent the dough from rising when baking unfilled pies
- Use a pie crust shield to prevent the crust from over-browning
Pumpkin Pie
- We love Martha Stewart’s pumpkin pie recipe
- The pumpkin, eggs and evaporated milk when combined with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, salt create a pie bursting with fall flavors
- Fresh vs canned filling? Baking two pies from scratch, along with the rest of your holiday dinner is time consuming enough. I always use canned pumpkin puree. One of these days, I’ll do a side by side taste test!
Pecan Pie
- The Food Network’s pecan pie recipe is to die for – it’s definitely our favorite pie recipe!
- Pecan pie is all about the nutty, pecan filling, which is sweetened with corn syrup and brown sugar along with a splash of bourbon (or rum)
- The splash of liquor balances the sweetness and accents all the pie’s delicious flavors
- If you do not want to use alcohol in the filling, simply substitute with an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract
We use the same recipes for Christmas desserts. Just use Christmas cookie cutters instead! We recommend serving pie with fresh whipped cream. I like making whipped cream with a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, but Olivia of My King Cook has lots of amazing tips on making whipped cream and not just in a stand mixer!
“Cut my pie into four pieces, I dont think I can eat eight.”––Yogi Berra
Perfect Pie Crust
Adapted from Recipe by Simply Recipes
Yield: 2 single pie crusts or 1 double pie crust
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water
Directions
- Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor in a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer
- Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times using the dough hook on the slowest speed, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter
- Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together
- If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready; if the dough doesn’t hold together, add a little more water and pulse again (too much water will make the crust tough)
- Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface and knead the dough and form two disks
- You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough
- Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days
- Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier
- Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick
- Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate and gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate
- Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Cut a circle of parchment, at least 16 inches wide, and fit into pie shell
- Fill with pie weights and bake until edges of crust begin to turn gold, about 15 minutes
- Remove pie weights and parchment and bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more
- Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool
Pumpkin Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Yield: 1 pie
Ingredients
- 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
- 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
- Pinch of ground cloves
Directions
- In a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, whisk pumpkin, sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, eggs, milk, and a pinch of cloves
- Pre-heat oven to to 325°
- Pour pumpkin mixture into cooled crust (from recipe above)
- Bake until center is set but still a bit wobbly, 50 to 55 minutes (If crust browns too quickly, use a pie crust shield)
- Let cool in pie dish on a wire rack
- Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours (preferably overnight)
- Serve chilled with whipped cream and/or homemade vanilla ice cream (Martha has great recipes for these as well)
Pecan Pie
Adapted from The Food Network
Yield: 1 pie
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 cups chopped toasted pecans
- 1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
Directions
- In medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt
- Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil for 1 minute
- Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts, bourbon and the vanilla
- Set the mixture aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes
- If the crust has cooled, return it to the oven for 5 minutes to warm through
- Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth
- Pour the filling into the hot crust and bake on the lower oven rack until the edges are set but the center is still slightly loose, about 40 to 45 minutes
- If the edges get very dark, cover with pie crust shield
- Cool on a rack
- Serve chilled with whipped cream and/or homemade vanilla ice cream (Martha has great recipes for these as well)
Those cutouts are so neat! I will have to get those for when we make pies. These look wonderful! I haven’t made pecan pie on my own, but it is one of my favorites.
Did you save me a slice?! Salivating over here as these pies look so good. I am definitely ready for baked goods and I am thinking this weekend it’s time to get in the kitchen and bake one of each of these!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
Two of my favorite types of pies! Pecan is my favorite overall, but pumpkin is delicious, too, if made right. The added cutouts on top add to the fun.
These pies sound delicious. The cutouts looks so festive and fun for a holiday treat. Thank you for the great recipes.
These both look so good. I love the crust cutouts on top, too. That’s such a great way to give them some festive flair!
Yummy! Both of these pies look delicious. I’ll try making them soon.
I love making pumpkin pie, but I never thought to add little decorations using cookie cutters before, what a great idea! I also haven’t tried making a pecan pie before, maybe I should tackle that one this year.
Nnniiccceeee…me loves some pumpkin and pie, as well! I feel I should give this recipe a try, one of these Saturdays. Thanks for sharing it.
I love pumpkin pie, but pecan pie is a big hit on our table. I`ll try our recipes this Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing with us.
These pies sound absolutely delicious! I can almost taste the rich pumpkin filling and the sweet, chewy pecan filling. What a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. I’m sure everyone will love these pies, and they’ll be the perfect addition to any holiday gathering. Thanks for sharing your favotite recipes!.
Pumpkin and pecan sounds like an interesting pie combination. I would love to try this!!!
This is a 5-star recipe. The photos looks like works of art. Quick question – is there a substitute for eggs? Most of my family is vegetarian and then they can enjoy this yummy dessert too.