Today’s recipe for high altitude pumpkin pie is perfectly creamy and lightly spiced, with an all butter homemade flaky pie crust. This is the most perfect pumpkin pie with no unsightly cracks in the filling and no soggy bottom crust. Your Thanksgiving dinner won’t be complete without this classic pumpkin pie!
You might also love these high altitude Thanksgiving recipes for fluffy pumpkin shaped dinner rolls, the best pecan pie, brown butter pumpkin pie and apple crumb pie.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
No Soggy Bottom. The pie crust is pre-baked to ensure that it’s perfectly cooked, crisp and flaky. If you skip this important step of pre-baking your crust, it will be under-cooked, pale and doughy.
No Cracking. Since pumpkin pie filling is a type of custard, it needs to bake more slowly and gently at a lower temperature. So by baking your pie on a lower oven rack at a moderate temperature of 325 F, and taking the pie out of the oven when the edges are set but the center is still jiggly, you’ll have a perfectly baked pie with no cracking on the surface. When I make pumpkin pies with crumb topping or praline pecan topping, though, I’m not concerned about cracks on top, so I bake them at a higher temperature to brown the topping.
No Sweetened Condensed Milk. I usually make my pumpkin pie with sweetened condensed milk, as you’ll see in my pecan praline pumpkin pie and bourbon crumble pumpkin pie. But if you’re looking for a recipe for pumpkin pie without sweetened condensed milk, you’ll be happy to know that you can use heavy cream or half and half with brown sugar for a perfect replacement.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. However, today’s recipe will work at sea level, too, with no adjustments needed.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Crust
- All Butter Pie Dough. Since you only need a single pie crust, you can either make half the pie dough recipe, or wrap and freeze the other half of the dough for another pie.
Filling
- Canned Pumpkin. You need plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Heavy Whipping Cream. Adds a rich, creamy consistency to the filling. You can also use half and half instead of cream.
- Light Brown Sugar. Sweetens the filling.
- Eggs. Thickens and emulsifies the filling, so it essentially bakes into a pumpkin custard.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and salt adds flavor and warmth.
Instructions
Crust
- Prepare 1/2 Recipe Pie Dough (or make the full recipe, and freeze half the dough for another pie).
- Roll the dough out into a circle, and fit it into your pie pan. Fold the edges under and crimp the edges. Freeze the crust for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F, with one rack positioned in the center and one rack positioned in the lower third of the oven.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper over the frozen crust, and fill with dried beans or pie weights.
- Bake the crust on the center oven rack for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and the paper from the crust, then return the crust to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until it’s a pale golden brown. If the bottom of the crust puffs up a little, just gently press it flat again with a spoon. Set the crust aside while you make the filling.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F.
Filling
- In a bowl, whisk together all of the filling ingredients until smooth. Pour the filling into the pre-baked crust.
- Bake the pie on the lower oven rack at 325 F for about 50-60 minutes. You’ll know the pie is done when the edges are gently puffed and set but the center of the pie (around 4-5 inches across) is still wobbly when you gently shake the pan. If the center is puffed and set or the filling is cracking, then you’ve over-baked your pie.
- Set the pie on a cooling rack to cool at room temperature for two hours, then refrigerate for two more hours before serving. The filling will set up as the pie cools.
- Decorate the top of the pie with pie crust cutouts and serve with whipped cream.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store leftover pie?
Store leftover pie loosely covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Will this recipe work with store bought pie dough?
Yes, you can use store bought pie dough and follow the same baking instructions.
Do you use a metal, glass or ceramic pie pan?
I use a ceramic pie pan for pumpkin pie. When baking fruit pies, I prefer a metal pie pan or tart pan, as it conducts heat more efficiently.
Do you have a preferred brand of canned pumpkin?
I really don’t. I use Libby’s, or the store brand from Kroger and Target, and they all work equally well for my pies, cakes and pumpkin baked goods.
Can I use homemade pumpkin puree instead of canned pumpkin?
I haven’t tested this recipe with homemade pumpkin puree. The moisture level may be different from canned pumpkin, so this substitution may be something you need to experiment with. When roasting pumpkins for puree, be sure to use the sweeter pie pumpkins or sugar pumpkins, not field pumpkins intended for carving and not eating.
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High Altitude Perfect Pumpkin Pie
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Deep Dish Pie Pan
Ingredients
Crust
- ½ recipe All Butter Pie Dough (1 single pie crust)
Filling
- 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream or half and half
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Instructions
Crust
- Prepare 1/2 Recipe Pie Dough (or make the full recipe, and freeze half the dough for another pie).
- Roll the dough out into a circle, and fit it into your pie pan. Fold the edges under and crimp the edges. Freeze the crust for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F, with one rack positioned in the center and one rack positioned in the lower third of the oven.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper over the frozen crust, and fill with dried beans or pie weights.
- Bake the crust on the center oven rack for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and the paper from the crust, then return the crust to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until it's a pale golden brown. If the bottom of the crust puffs up a little, just gently press it flat again with a spoon. Set the crust aside while you make the filling.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F.
Filling
- In a bowl, whisk together all of the filling ingredients until smooth. Pour the filling into the pre-baked crust.
- Bake the pie on the lower oven rack at 325 F for about 50-60 minutes. You'll know the pie is done when the edges are gently puffed and set but the center of the pie (around 4-5 inches across) is still wobbly when you gently shake the pan. If the center is puffed and set or the filling is cracking, then you've over-baked your pie.
- Set the pie on a cooling rack to cool at room temperature for two hours, then refrigerate for two more hours before serving. The filling will set up as the pie cools.
- Decorate the top of the pie with pie crust cutouts and serve with whipped cream.
Amberdawn
Above you said you usually use sweetened condensed milk. Can I use that for this recipe?
Heather Smoke
Yes, you can replace the cream and brown sugar with 1 can sweetened condensed milk.