It’s officially autumn which calls for pumpkin everything. Celebrate Thanksgiving with family, friends, and a freshly baked pumpkin pie that no one can resist. It’s a lengthy process making it completely from scratch but in the end, is completely worth it!

Crust Ingredients 

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 16 tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 6 to 8 tbsp ice water

Pumpkin Pie Mix

• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 2 cups pumpkin purée or one 15 ounce can
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream or 1 (12 ounce) evaporated milk can
• 1 homemade pie crust or two frozen pre-made pie shells

Crust instructions (optional) 

1. In a blender combine the flour, salt and sugar together and make sure it’s well combined.
2.  Next, in the blender add your cubed butter pieces little by little. Pulse the blend about 6 to 7 times for each new batch of butter. Make sure not to over blend as it’s important to keep pieces of butter in your final dough.
3. After adding all the butter, add water tablespoon by tablespoon until the dough becomes crumbly and is able to mold and combine it all together with your hands. Be sure not to add too much water as it’ll make your crust too tough.
4. Form the dough into a disk shape using your hands being sure not to over-knead as the crust will end up tough.
5. Place in the refrigerator until you’re ready to form the crust. Once ready to form the crust, take the crust from the refrigerator and let sit for 15-20 minutes. If it doesn’t soften by then, place it in the microwave for 10 seconds.
6. Roll out the dough using a dough roller, about 1/2 inch thick. Place it in your baking pan and mold it to your liking and cut off any excess. You’re now ready to add your pie mix.

Pie Mix instructions 

1. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves, cardamom and lemon zest.
2. Once well combined, pour in pumpkin purée and heavy whipping cream. The consistency will be runny but will form in the oven.
3. Next, pour the mix into your pie crust.
4. Bake it in the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, set the temperature down to 350 letting it bake until you can put a knife through and pull it out clean, about 30 minutes. The crust may not be completely browned but will be cooked all the way through.
5. Let the pie cool in the fridge or on a cooling rack for 2 hours before serving.

Though this recipe may seem lengthy, in the end you will come out with a perfectly flakey crust and a spice filled inside that makes your mouth burst with fall flavors.