Classic Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Happy (belated) Halloween everyone!  I wanted to make a pumpkin pie as a celebration for my son's first Halloween this past week.  He was dressed up as a toothless vampire, which was totally adorable by the way.  This recipe is inspired from memory from my Mom and Grandma and from various other recipes, such as this one on All Recipes. This is a truly homemade pie though and perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, holiday dinners, and well, just because.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust
1 1/4 Cups (Organic) All-Purpose Flour (plus extra for floured surface/rolling out dough)
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Sugar
1/2 Cup (1 stick, 8 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter, Cold
4-6 Tbsp. Cold Water

Pie Filling
(some of the ingredients shown on the right)

2 Cups Fresh Pumpkin Puree or 1-15 ounce Can
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup White Sugar or Agave Nectar (as sugar substitute)
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
2 Eggs (or Egg Whites/Substitute for lower cholesterol/calories)
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Ground Cloves
1 tsp. Ginger
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1 1/2 Cups Evaporated Milk (Fat-Free)

(Note: you can substitute 4 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice--sold in stores--instead of all the spices separated out if you desire).

Directions:

Pie Crust
1.  Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a small bowl or food processor.
2.  Using a food processor or blender, combine flour mixture and half the butter.  Mix for just 30 seconds.  Add second half of butter and mix for another 30 seconds.
3.  Add 3-4 Tbsp. Ice water, just enough so it's not too crumbly.
4.  On floured surface (or right there in the bowl--that's what I did), put dough into small disk.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 min to 1 hour.

5.  Once dough is chilled, remove from refrigerator and place onto floured surface.  Roll out with floured rolling pin to roughly a 12" circle, about 1/8" thick.  Make sure dough is not sticking to surface (add more flour underneath, if it is).  You can instead put the dough between two pieces of wax/parchment paper (sprinkle flour on it as well) and roll it out that way.  Much easier and cleaner (that's what I did--see photo).
6.  Place dough on top of 9" pie dish or tin.  Remove excess dough hanging over pan, or fold under itself.  Make indentations on the crust if you desire, with your finger or fork.  Next step is for the filling, below.

Pie

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  To get your pumpkin puree, take a small-medium sized sugar pumpkin and cut in half (top and bottom).  This is by far the hardest part of the whole recipe, because these suckers are firm--if you get your pumpkin in half--way to go.  (I stick a knife in, wiggle/saw it for a bit, then pull it out and re-stick a few inches away until I was able to pull it apart).  Scrape out pulp and seeds (keep your seeds to bake Pumpkin Seeds).  Place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes (until skin is dimpling and pumpkin is soft).

2.  Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.
3.  In your kitchenaid, or other blender, mix together the brown and white (or agave nectar) sugars, salt, and pumpkin spices.  Add in the eggs, one at a time.
4.  Slowly mix in the pumpkin puree and milk.  Make sure thoroughly combined, about 2-3 minutes.

5.  Pour pie filling into pie crust (a trick to prevent spills is to pull the rack of the oven out a bit and set the pie crust on it...then pour the filling in).  Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6.  Cool for 1-2 hours.

Top with whipped cream (optional) and enjoy!