Hello, you pie-loving humans. I’m here with another pie. This one is slightly different. This Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie IS IT!
Why Is this Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie the Best?
– It’s made in a cookie crust which is infinitely less annoying than blind baking pie crust. I refuse to blind bake unless it’s for a pudding pie which is barely worth it. But worth it.
– This butterscotch pumpkin pie is SILKY SMOOTH! Truly delicious.
– It can be made ahead and it’ll still be delicious.
Butterscotch VS. Caramel
It’s this easy: butterscotch is made with brown sugar, where caramel is made with white sugar.
That’s it. I like my butterscotch not burnt or taken too far but just right.
If you hate making pie crust, this is super easy. It’s a gingersnap crust taken from the No-Bake Pumpkin Pie from The Year of Cozy. I steal from myself!
If I had to choose between this one and that one. Dang dang dang. It’d be tough. I think they’re both ridiculously delicious. It sort of depends just on how much oven space you have, if you love a custard-based type pumpkin pie, or if you want something more silky smooth vs. light and airy.
This is the silky smooth one. This pie has a balance in flavor and spices, letting the butterscotch flavor really come through! If you make this, let me know on Instagram!Â
Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 cups gingersnap crumbs (from about 40 cookies)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon bourbon
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- Pinch ground cloves
Instructions
To Make the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the crumbs and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the melted butter and mix until the gingersnap crumbs are moist. Transfer to 14-inch x 5-inch tart pan, 9-inch tart pan or 9-inch pie dish. Press the crumbs firmly and evenly until they line the bottom and sides of the pan or dish. Bake until slightly darker in color and mostly firm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Allow the crust to cool completely before adding the filling.
To Make the Pie Filling:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium saucepan, set over medium heat, add the brown sugar, butter and salt. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue boiling until it turns a dark brown color, about 2 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the bourbon and heavy whipping cream. Most likely it’ll bubble up, continue stirring until dissolved. (If the sugar hasn’t dissolved, you can warm it on low heat, stirring constantly, until it dissolves.) Whisk in the pumpkin puree and stir. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes. Then, add the whole egg, egg yolk, cinnamon and cloves. Mix until very smooth.
- Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Carefully transfer to the oven and bake until just set, about 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the oven door. I do this to avoid the top from cracking. Keep the pie in the oven for an additional 10 minutes and then remove it from the oven. I like to let it cool in a warm place, so near the oven is good!
- Cool the pie until room temperature, about 3 hours. Serve with whipped cream.
To make ahead:
- Make up to two days ahead, and keep in the fridge until you're ready to serve. I cover this lightly with plastic wrap when I keep it in the fridge.
Love this recipe! I’ve made it for Thanksgiving several times. The filling is so silky smooth.
I don’t have gingersnap cookies, can I replace it with 2 cups of graham crackers?
yes absolutely! that should totally work and taste great too!
Should I have greased the pie pan? My pie is still in oven… fingers crossed!
No you should be ok!! There’s enough butter in the crust where it shouldn’t be necessary. Give me an update on the crust tho! 🙂
This pie was delicious and quick to throw together. The butterscotch flavor was wonderful and the cookie crumb crust was delightful. Thanks again for creating such great recipes.
Hey hey it says 1 can of pumpkin but there are different sized cans! I am assuming the smaller 15oz can?
Hi! It actually says 1 cup of canned pumpkin. So you’re going to scoop out 1 cup from the can (whatever size you have is fine) and use just 1 cup of it. 🙂
Oh my goodness thank you for responding to me and my brainless comment! I have two kiddos under 2 and I am 6 weeks post partum so my brain doesn’t work! haha I totally see that is says cup of canned now!
BUT…I went ahead and put the whole can in and its in the oven as I type!! aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh
Do you think there is any chance it will bake properly without burning the crust! I cant believe I did that. sigh
Ahhh no worries at all. It might be a little runny because in would need the eggs in order to hold it together. How did it turn out. If it’s cold enough, it might hold together. 🙂
Funny Woman!
How did your pie go?
Thanks for the chuckle.
You said in answer to an earlier comment that a regular pie crust could be for this. How long would I bake a regular crust jprior to adding the filling? Same amount of time as the ginger snap crust or longer?
You’ll have to par-bake the crust. So preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Then spray a piece of parchment or foil with cooking spray and place it on the crust, spray side down (so it doesn’t stick). Fill the parchment with pie weights or dried rice or dried beans. Bake for about 10 minutes and then remove the parchment/beans/weights and allow it to bake for an additional 10 minutes.
I personally hate par-baking and this is why hahaha.
I made this as one of our dishes to take for Friendsgiving, and holy crap it’s good. I actually burnt my first batch before it even made it to the pie crust because I always forget when melting sugar that my stovetop runs on the HOT side. Sigh. The second batch seized but then melted together to form creamy perfection (especially once I ran it through a fine mesh sieve). I’m not normally a pumpkin pie fan, but this one was exactly what I wanted. Served with some cinnamon whipped cream, I caught friends even sneaking nibbles of the crust. Total winner!
Hi! I keep trying to make the butterscotch part of the directions and when I put the bourbon and whipping cream in it immediately turns to a hard, candy-like consistency. What am I doing wrong? I waited for the sugar/butter/salt mix to boil and turn dark brown.
Thanks!
You’re doing nothing wrong. Keep cooking it a bit on low it’ll all re-melt! It’s basically seizing but if you cook it for a minute or two longer it’ll all come back together
It worked! Thank you! This is the first pie I’ve ever made and of course I picked thanksgiving day to do it haha. Thanks!! 🙂
Yayyy!! Let me know if you have any more questions!!
Thank you for this recipe! I had never baked a pie before, but your instructions were easy to follow and I think mine turned out pretty good! I’m excited to try more of your recipes.
YAYY!! This makes me so happy. xoxo
What should the consistency of the “butterscotch” be? If mine is liquid did I go too far? Should it be more of a caramel texture??
Umm..it’s slightly runnier than caramel. So I think you’re ok!
Pie is cooled, looks and smells perfect!! Thank you!
Yassss!!!
If you were to make this pie a day ahead, do you store it in the fridge? Would you then serve it cold or bring it out a few hours early to let it warm up?
You can store it in the fridge or just leave it out on the counter. If you’re uncomfortable with leaving it out of the fridge then just remove it a few hours earlier so it can come to room temperature!
Perfect, thank you!
This looks wonderful, so you leave the pie in the oven to cool?
Thanks
I just added this tip to the bottom of the recipe. I say YES! I didn’t do this the first time I tested this and big ol’ crack showed up but toward the end of my testing I cooled it down in the oven and no crack!