Holy Cow! It’s been over a month since my last post! I have no excuse except for the fact that I haven’t really been feeling that well due to this baby growing inside my tummy. I’ve had these pictures ready to share with you since a week before Thanksgiving, but as usual, I have been procrastinating. That, and my darling husband does not like it when I upload pictures while he is playing his precious Call of Duty. He plays with his friends online, and when I upload pictures onto my blog it makes his game lag. Heaven forbid!
Well luckily, he’s watching football right now with his parents (they’re here visiting for Thanksgiving), so I have some time to write a blog post without Steve complaining about how slow his game is moving.
I made this twist on a traditional pumpkin pie a week before Thanksgiving for our Bible Study’s Thanksgiving Dinner. It was the first time I made it, and it turned out great, and it got several thumbs up at the dinner. So if you don’t really like traditional pumpkin pie, maybe you’ll like this version a little better.
Here’s what you’ll need:
FOR THE CRUST:
- 1-1/2 package Graham Crackers (about 15 Cookie Sheets)
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 stick Butter, Melted
FOR THE FILLING:
- 1 box (3 Oz. Box) Vanilla Pudding (Cook And Serve Variety)
- 1 cup Half-and-half
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- Pinch Of Cinnamon
- Pinch Of Nutmeg
- Pinch Of Ground Cloves
- 1/2 cup (plus 3 Tablespoons) Pumpkin Puree
- 1/2 cup (additional) Heavy Cream
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
Preheat oven to 300°.
Start by adding graham crackers to a food processor and pulse until finely crumbled. If you don’t have a food processor, you can put graham crackers in a Ziplock bag and pound them with a meat mallet or something else that’s good at pounding things into little bits.
When graham crackers are crumbled into tiny bits, add powdered sugar and mix until completely combined.
Add crumb mixture to a bowl and pour in melted butter.
Mix butter in with a fork until all the crumbs are coated. Then pour into a pie pan.
Press crust down either with your fingers or with the bottom of a cup (I find using the bottom of a cup to be the easiest method) so that it is tight against the side and bottom of the pie pan.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until pie crust is golden and set. Set aside and cool completely.
Next take your vanilla pudding…..and chipping nail polish….
And pour into a sauce pan. Doesn’t it look pretty? Almost like sparkly snow.
Add half and half and cream to the pudding powder and stir until combined.
Add spices and continuously stir until the mixture comes to a bubble. Once you have it bubbling, turn off the heat…..but keep stirring.
Next comes the main ingredient. Pumpkin puree!!!
Stir in the pumpkin until thoroughly combined. This may take a lot of stirring because the pumpkin can make the pudding a little lumpy, and you don’t want any lumps.
Once pumpkin pudding mixture is cool enough, cover and place in the fridge to cool completely.
Add heavy cream to a medium sized bowl.
Add some brown sugar to the cream.
Then whisk together until stiff peaks form……be sure to stop when it looks like this. Otherwise, you can whisk it too much to where it will curdle, and then you’re halfway to butter. Learned that one the hard way!
Add chilled pumpkin pudding mixture to the whipped cream.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin pudding. Be sure not to stir too progressively. You want to fold in gently to keep the fluffy airy quality of the whipped cream.
Pour filling into cooled pie crust.
Smooth filling so that it’s nice and even. Then cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours. If you have the time, it would be best to chill overnight.
Then slice up and enjoy! You could add a little more crunch by adding some crushed graham crackers to the top of the pie once sliced.