Made From Scratch Pumpkin Pie

The worst thing about cooking and baking right now...besides being four days overdue with this baby...is not having a dishwasher! Yeah, it sucks.  I absolutely hate doing dishes. It's the worst.  Anyway...

Pumpkin Pie time. 

For a while I tried to find a pumpkin pie recipe online that told me how to make it completely from scratch.  None of the ones I could find had rave reviews...they were all lacking something or other.  Then I remembered a friend of mine who likes to bake, and had made a pumpkin pie from scratch last year.  He graciously gave me the recipe.  I made a few minor adjustments...just because I like my pumpkin pie spicy and will post my modified recipe below. 

For the crust see my past recipe.  I just took it out of the fridge for about 20 min. and then rolled it out and put it in my 9'' pie pan, cut of the excess and crinkled the edges.  The crust does not have to be cooked before the pie. 


Ingredients: (this makes one 9'' pie)
1 cup pumpkin puree*
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. molasses
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups (one 12oz can) evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla

*To make pumpkin puree: Take a small baking pumpkin, cut into quarters.  Scrape out the innards.  Put into a pot of boiling water.  Boil until soft and mushy.  Pull out the pumpkin and use a spoon to separate the skin of the pumpkin from the flesh.  Put into a blender or food processor (I used my immersion blender...I never pass up the chance) and blend until smooth.  If you have any extra, you can save it and use for later...It freezes fine.  Note: Boiling pumpkin does not smell very good...make sure you have a way to ventilate the area! (It could just be the pregnant me talking, any strong smell turns my stomach.)

1) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 
2) Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  (It will be thinner than the pumpkin recipes you find on the cans, and darker in color)
3) Pour into unbaked pie shell. 
4) Put in the oven for 15 min.  Then reduce the heat to 300 degrees.
5) Cover the edges with foil so the crust doesn't burn (I just use a long sheet of foil and tent it over the pie. 
5) Leave in the oven for 45-60 min.  (until set in the middle)
6) Remove from oven, let cool completely and enjoy!