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This butterscotch pumpkin pie has delicious caramel notes, the perfect silky smooth texture and is the ideal pumpkin pie for your holiday table. Serve this alongside this Caramelized Shallot Dip, Creamy Baked Macaroni and Cheese and perfect Cranberry Sauce.
Ingredients for Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie
- Ginger snap cookies – This is for the crust. I think they taste SO good with the caramel notes in the pumpkin pie.
- Brown sugar – Brown sugar and butter are going to be making the most delicious butterscotch for this pie.
- Pumpkin puree – I prefer organic canned pumpkin puree. It has the brightest orange color, I find. And the perfect amount of water.
- Eggs – This will help with giving us a pumpkin pie that sets.
- Bourbon – It will complement the pumpkin and butterscotch notes in a really pleasant way.
For full list of ingredients, please see the recipe card below.
Butterscotch VS. Caramel
Have you ever wondered the difference between butterscotch and caramel? Butterscotch is made with brown sugar; where as caramel is made with white sugar.
That’s it. I like my butterscotch not burnt or taken too far but just right.
How to Make Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie
- Start by baking the crust. I love this cookie crust because it’s much simpler than making pie dough. You only bake it for 5 minutes and allow it to cool.
- Make the butterscotch by combining the brown sugar and butter. Cook it until it smells like caramel and toasty and turns a darker brown color. Remove it from the heat.
- Pour in the bourbon and mix it. It will bubble up. That’s why I like to use a deep-set sauce pan, if possible.
- Pour in the heavy cream and whisk it until smooth. Combine it with the pumpkin and spices.
- Be sure you allow the mixture to cool down a bit before adding the eggs. Crack in the eggs and spices and whisk it until very smooth.
- Pour the filling into the pie crust and transfer to the oven to bake.
- Bake until the pie is set, about 35-40 minutes. I like to crack open the oven door, turn off the heat completely and let the pie stay in there for 5 minutes. This will ensure a smooth top (it won’t crack this way!)
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely. You can make this up to 2 days ahead and store it in the fridge lightly covered with plastic wrap. If it’s too tight it may mess up the topping.
Yes, you can use chocolate oreo cookies. Just be sure to remove the cream filling by scraping the cookies clean.
Tips and Tricks
- Avoid the Top from Cracking – To achieve this, crack open the oven and turn off the heat completely. Let it stay in the oven for about 5 minutes. This usually happens when there’s an extreme change in temperature.
- The Best Way to Make Cookie Crumbs – I like to do this by adding them to a food processor and blending them up. You can also do this by adding them to a plastic ziploc and crushing them with a rolling pin or wine bottle. Be sure they’re as small as you can get them because this will ensure that the crust stays intact.
What to Serve with this Pie
Here are some holiday table favorites that would go with this pie splendidly!
If you tried this Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie
Equipment
- 1 (9-inch) tart pan or pie pan
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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you please tell me how much by weight for the gingersnap cookies. Either ounces or grams. Thanks.
Sorry I don’t have the weight.
What can be substituted for the bourbon?
You can simply leave it out or add a splash of extra vanilla extract
I’m adding this onto my menu for the holiday this year. Can I leave out the bourbon? We don’t drink. Thanks for your help!
Absolutely you can just leave it out.
Hoping to make for Thanksgiving this year. Do you know what the weight of the cookies would be? Do you use something similar to Anna’s Ginger Thins or TJ’s Ginger Thins?
Thanks.
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!