Pumpkin Pie From Scratch
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This pumpkin pie from scratch is one of Mini Chef’s favorites. He loves to eat it every year, and I love that this recipe is just as healthy as it is delicious!
I adapted this recipe from the book, Laurel’s Kitchen Caring: Recipes for Everyday Home Caregiving (affiliate link) by Laurel Robertson. Although difficult to find in most bookstores, it’s well worth the search. The recipes are clean, but the focus is on nourishing and nurturing with food. I can’t say enough about this book. I was lucky enough to find it for $2 in a used bookstore!
Perfect for the holiday season, nobody will know that this pumpkin pie is different in any way. Aside from a whole grain crust (which is absolutely delicious!), the filling tastes exactly the same as a store-bought pie, only the flavor is better, as most homemade things are.
You can even make a crustless version if you want to cut down on the carbs a bit. Just don’t forget the whipped cream! Natural whipped cream can easily be made at home by slowly adding honey to the cream as you beat it. (But get it mostly stiff first before you start adding the honey). If you are dairy-free, consider using coconut cream instead. You can find that recipe here. I also have pecan and apple pies at the links below.
FAQs
Can I Use Fresh Pumpkin Instead Of Canned?
Absolutely! You’ll need to bake the squash and blend it into pureé. From there, it works just like the canned stuff.
What’s The Difference Between Pumpkin Puree And Pumpkin Pie Filling?
Pumpkin puree is just cooked and blended pumpkin with nothing added. Pumpkin pie filling is the same thing, but with sugar and spices added. For more control over the spices and level of sweetness, always use regular pumpkin pureé. Not pumpkin pie filling.
Should I Pre-Bake The Pie Crust?
With pumpkin pie, this isn’t necessary because the pie cooks for a longer amount of time, giving the crust plenty of time to fully cook.
How Do I Avoid Cracks On The Surface Of The Pie?
If you have cracks, you baked the pie too long. Cracks come from over-baking. Keep a close eye on the pie during baking.
Why Is My Pie Watery?
This happens sometimes when you make your own pumpkin puree. The pumpkin can retain too much water, which in turn makes the pie watery. Drain fresh pumpkin well and bake until the filling reaches 175°F.
How Long Should I Let The Pie Cool Before Serving?
Let the pie cool at room temperature for at least 2 hours to fully set. Then store in the fridge. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Can I Make Pumpkin Pie Ahead Of Time?
Yes! Pumpkin pie can be made 1–2 days ahead. Store it in the refrigerator, covered, and let it come to room temperature before serving.
What You’ll Need
- Pumpkin puree – Not pumpkin pie filling.
- Honey – Any type you like best will work.
- Large eggs – Room temperature
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Ground cloves
How To Make Pumpkin Pie From Scratch
Gather and measure all the ingredients.
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk well to get a nice, smooth, batter.
Pour mixture into pie crust. (I used the recipe linked above)
Bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake for 45 additional minutes. Cool and slice.
Storage
Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing
This pie can be frozen, but for no more than one month. Technically, you can freeze it a little longer, but after one month, the texture and quality of the pie will start to degrade.
Recipe Updated 11/28/24
I updated this recipe to give it a thicker consistency. But if anyone is looking for the original recipe, here it is:
2 cups prepared pumpkin
½ cup honey
4 egg whites
1½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1½ cups fat-free milk (you can substitute unsweetened soy, almond, or rice milk)
Directions
Step 1 – Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.
Step 2 – Pour mixture into pie crusts.
Step 3 – Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes.
Step 4 – Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 45 additional minutes.
Side Notes:
This pie is not very sweet. If you prefer a sweeter pie, add an additional ¼ cup of honey.
More Holiday Pie Recipes
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Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups prepared pumpkin
- ¾ cup honey
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ tsp. ground cloves
Instructions
- Gather and measure all the ingredients.
- Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk well to get a nice, smooth, batter.
- Pour mixture into pie crust. (I used the recipe linked above)
- Bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake for 45 additional minutes. Cool and slice.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted on 12/22/2009.
Hi! I just did a trial run before Thanksgiving and it was great! I replaced the honey with 1/2 cup of bakeable stevia. I decided not to alter the amount of milk I used (the new cashew milk that is out… it’s fantastic! ) and I’m glad I did that add more mill… this is the lightest pumpkin pie I’ve ever had…most pumpkin pies are more dense. At first I wasnt sure it was done. But it definitely was.. the husband approved too, so that’s always good! Thanks for the recipe! Happy Thanksgiving! !
Brittany – My pleasure! I’m happy it all worked out! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. 😀
Hi you mentioned the serving makes two pies, so would I use half of all the ingredients (2 egg whites instead of four) for making one pie?
Ann – Yep!
I made a couple of pies for Thanksgiving today, and your recipe was my first attempt at pumpkin pie 🙂 I don’t know how but my crust ended up a tad dry and was cracking and tough to roll out. Do you have any suggestions by chance for this pie newbie? Not sure what I did wrong! I have to say, I absolutely LOVE your recipes. This site is my go-to for clean eating and I share it every chance I get 🙂 Thank you!
Laura – Thanks so much! First of all, it IS a tough dough. That being said, if it’s cracking, it doesn’t have enough liquid in it. It’s possible the flours we used were different in some way. Yours may have soaked up a bit more liquid. It’s one of those finer things you have to get used to adjusting. Whole grain flours can be a bit “thirsty” in my experience. Adding a bit more oil and milk (in equal amounts) and then really working the dough should help. Did it bake up okay?
Made this last night for today’s dinner. I tasted the smaller one that I made and OH MY GOODNESS, how delicious! It was a last minute thought, so I didn’t have *everything* that I needed, so I improvised. I only had about 1-1/2 cups of pumpkin, so I mashed up a banana and added that. Then for the crust I made a simple organic gram cracker crust. So so good!
Chila – Sounds wonderful! I’m glad it worked out! 😀
I will try a bit more liquid next time, thank you – I will definitely be making another one for Christmas! These were a big hit with my family, and I absolutely loved the flavor and consistency. I’m glad I made two so we could bring some home! And the leftovers go great with coffee the next morning 😉
Laura – Fantastic! I’m so happy everyone liked it! 😀 Happy holidays!
Egg whites separated and cooked as white blobs on top of pie. Turned out pretty unsightly but still tasted pretty good. What do you think I did wrong?
Ashlee – My guess would be that the eggs were either very cold to start with, or the batter wasn’t mixed enough. I’m sorry that happened but glad it was still edible!
Can you substitute pumpkin pie spice for the ginger and cloves?
Danielle – Sure!
I made half the recipe yesterday – because of the note above the recipe that says it makes TWO full-size pies! This is also verified in the earlier comments. HOWEVER, it was less than 1cm tall in a 9″ glass pie pan without crust. On the bright side, using stevia instead of honey, and using unsweetened cashew milk, I think half the recipe was approximately 150 calories!!! And the taste and texture was great. I plan to make this again, using the full recipe for ONE PIE! Although, I believe it will STILL be too small for my 9″pie pan!! I will definitely open TWO cans to get a full 2 cups pumpkin (the ones I buy contain 1 2/3 cup pumpkin). On the bright side, it will be a good, enjoyable, and low calorie pie that I can eat while on a diet! 🙂
Shawna – How odd! I’ve made this a lot over the years and it fills 2 pies every time! Not sure what happened there, but I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it!
Tiffany- Thank you for the quick response! I went ahead and made the full recipe yesterday am. Yummy!! I used 3/4 cup granulated Stevia instead of the honey – which reduces the calories to 44 per slice (using cashew milk and no crust)! Truly AMAZING!!!
The filling then filled my 9″ pie pan to where it would be (or few mm higher) if I made the same homemade crust as I have for 20 years, and the Libby’s pie filling recipe that I always used (before switching to healthy clean eating – less than one year ago). BUT, if I had used foil pans (to use for gifts or potluck), it would have made two pies (esp w/crusts). I think it’s merely a difference of expectations and experiences. I actually compared recipes and pans to see how many cups in each. And I see your picture above is of a thin pie. Last, I think my Stevia may dissolve without adding bulk – whereas honey would add bulk. Just thought people should be aware. Regardless, best low cal, and clean recipe I have found by far!!! I will continue making it!
Shawna – Great! Ya, in the photo above, I used a pie pan that was too big. So it turned out a little flat. I’ll be taking a new photo this year to better represent the recipe. Glad it all worked out!
Pumpkin pie isn’t really “a thing “here in the UK but I made this for my husband last year and we loved it. He turned to me the other day and said “are you going to make that exact pie again this year ?”
So it is now in my oven! Thanks for a fab recipe
Carrie – Haha!! That’s so awesome!! It makes me so happy to hear stories like that. So glad you both enjoyed it! 😀
Can you use pure maple syrup instead of honey for this recipe? would it be the same amount of maple syrup as honey?
Elizabeth – The amounts would be the same, however, maple syrup isn’t as sweet as honey. So keep that in mind when choosing how much you want to use.
Hello!! Can you use whole eggs instead of eggwhites? How many would I use? 2?
Thank you!
Micki – Absolutely! And yes, you would use 2 whole eggs. Enjoy! 🙂
Hello! I will definitely be trying this recipe for this year’s Thanksgiving. Question – Should the egg whites be the liquid type in the carton or directly from the egg (which tend to have more membrane)? Also if I plan to use stevia should it be the bakeable type or the liquid type? Would the amount be the same as honey? Lastly – to confirm there is no need for vanilla? Thank you so much for all your feedback
Cali – The egg should be from fresh eggs, not the carton. Stevia has it’s own conversion chart. You would never want to use equal amounts of stevia. You would have to google the conversion chart though. They are online. I don’t use vanilla extract, but if you want to, try 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. Hope that helps!
I made this for Thanksgiving and my family and I loved it! Thank you so much for the recipe!!
KV – That’s fantastic!!! I’m so happy they all enjoyed it! 😀 😀 😀
I’m not sure if it’s the altitude but the pie recipe turned out extremely watery like I needed a cup less milk or none at all kind of watery. And then the pie crust didn’t have hardly any liquid in it. That I’m used to with most recipes I find online. ??? I live in Arizona at 5,500ft.
Desperate for recipes that work as written.
Victoria – I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you! The altitude is most likely an issue unless something got mis-measured on accident. I have seen things online that help you adjust recipes for different altitudes. Might be worth a shot!
Does this make one or two pies??
The crust makes 2 (if you use my recipe), the filling makes one.
So good! Featured you and your recipe on a blog post of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes!
Samantha – Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed the pie! 😀
What was the pic consistency when you pulled it out of the oven? I’m used to pumpkin pie being soft but clean when something is inserted. Currently this is taking an extra 20 minutes and not setting up like I thought it would with other pies I’ve made.
Kristen – It will set like “normal” pumpkin pie when it’s still in the oven. The true “setting” happens as it cools. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’m not familiar with clean eating, but my husband is trying to cut sugar out of our diet, so this recipe looked great- and it was!! Wil definitely make it again, and maybe sneak in some dark chocolate chips ?.
One question though- would it be okay to use the whole egg instead of just the whites (I end up wasting the yolks when I do this)? Or will it make a huge difference in texture?
Thanks again!!
Anna – I’m so happy you both enjoyed it! 🙂 Yes, you can use the whole egg. Use 2 whole eggs instead of 4 egg whites. The texture may change slightly, but it should be fine. Enjoy!
Awesome thank you! About to make it now ?
Amna – I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Why do you have to use fresh egg whites instead of carton?
Bridgette – They cook a bit differently. Plus the carton eggs are usually processed in some fashion. Real eggs are just a better option. 🙂