I am extremely picky about pumpkin pie. It has to be not too thick, creamy but not goopy, pumpkin-y but not bland, creamy and not rubbery, THE CRUST CANNOT BE SOGGY, etc. etc. I have issues.
I’ve been making hacking this pumpkin pie for several years now and generally love it EXCEPT for the crust part. I love all-butter crusts, but with pumpkin pie, it just seems to get lost and get soggy. And as mentioned, I cannot handle soggy (to this day, I refuse to eat cereal with milk).
So I threw my version on top of a gingersnap crust, did it in bar form for ease of group serving, and voila – new Thanksgiving dessert.
Maple Pumpkin Pie Bars
8oz gingersnaps
6 T melted butter
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup drained canned yams from 15-ounce can
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon table salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Make the Crust:
Preheat to 325F. Finely grind gingersnaps. Mix with melted butter (directly in the baking pan if you’re lazy like me) until evenly moistened. Press into 9×13″ baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
Make the Filling:
While crust is baking, combine pumpkin
puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, and spices in
large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to sputtering simmer over medium
heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring
constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny,
10 to 15 minutes.
While pumpkin mixture is cooking, whisk cream,
milk, eggs, yolks and vanilla together in medium bowl. Let pumpkin mixture cool slightly and combine with cream mixture. Immersion blend until smooth.
Pour pumpkin mixture over crust. Bake in preheated oven until set, about 35-40 minutes.
Cool for 5 minutes and serve.
