Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie
This Homemade Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie is a must-make for Thanksgiving and the holidays. It comes out perfectly creamy every time!
A MUST-MAKE THANKSGIVING DESSERT
I have been making this Pumpkin Pie with brown sugar for many years now. I have tried others but I always come back to this one. It’s my family’s favorite for every Thanksgiving! This pie is creamy and down right decadent without tasting too rich. You do need to use heavy cream for this instead of the traditional evaporated milk, but trust me on this, it really makes a HUGE difference!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Oven times vary, but basically the pie should be just a tiny bit jiggly in the middle when it is done. It is overcooked when the pie has totally set up in the oven.
This pie mixture may look VERY thin compared to what you are used to, but don’t worry, it will thicken up in the oven.
You can enjoy a slice of this pumpkin pie all by itself or try serving with Cool Whip, whipped cream, nuts, or a scoop of ice cream.
Yes. I would suggest to par-bake it first though before adding in this filling just so it is not being baked totally from frozen.
Yes, I have had readers who have used graham cracker crust. While I haven’t specifically tested this myself, others have and said it worked out nicely.
You sure can. You can freeze it before cooking or after cooking. Up to you. If you freeze it before, you’ll need to tack on extra cooking time.
If you have leftover pie, you can cover the pie or pie slices and refrigerate them for up to 3-4 days. The crust may get a little soggier over time. You can freeze leftovers for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- pie crust– you can use a deep dish frozen pie shell, refrigerated pie crust (or homemade pie crust). I like the store bought refrigerated pie crusts because you can still use your own pie pan so it still looks totally homemade, but you do what works for you.
- salted butter – we aren’t adding any salt to this pie so the very minimal salt in the salted butter will slightly offset the overall sweetness.
- light brown sugar – if you want a deeper molasses taste, you could use dark brown sugar.
- pumpkin puree – you can make your own pumpkin puree or buy a can of store-bought. It needs to be pure pumpkin NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- eggs – if you have time, allow your eggs to come to room temperature. This just helps them blend into the batter better.
- heavy cream – this needs to be heavy cream for the texture to be what we’re looking for. Milk would not substitute as good as the heavy cream s don’t skip it. You only make pumpkin pie once or twice a year so do it right. 🙂
- sour cream – this doesn’t add a tangy flavor, it only helps get the perfect texture.
- pumpkin pie spice– you can use store-bought pumpkin pie spice, or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice
- vanilla extract
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PIE:
If you are using a frozen pie crust, you may need to partially bake it first. Check the back of the package for instructions. Most frozen crusts just require that you to sit it out on the counter for about 10 minutes before putting any filling into it. Put pie crust on a baking sheet. This will make it easier to lift it in & out of the oven. If using a refrigerated pie crust, carefully unroll the pie crust and place into pie pan and crimp the edges. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Using an electric mixer or a whisk, mix the melted butter, brown sugar, pumpkin puree together until combined.
Add in eggs, heavy cream, sour cream, spices, and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour batter into the pie shell, taking care not to overfill.
Also, to keep the pie crust edges from getting too brown, you can put strips of aluminum foil around the crust edges before popping it into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 425F degrees, then reduce heat to 350F degrees and bake for about 40-50 minutes. Cool to room temperature for 2-3 hours (to allow the pie to finish setting up.) Then serve with whipped cream.
CRAVING MORE?
Originally published: November 2011
Updated & republished: November 2024
Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 1 refrigerated pie crust (or frozen deep dish pie crust)
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- If you are using a frozen pie crust, you may need to partially bake it first. Check the back of the package for instructions. Most frozen crusts just require that you to sit it out on the counter for about 10 minutes before putting any filling into it. Put pie crust on a baking sheet. This will make it easier to lift it in & out of the oven.
- If using 1 refrigerated pie crust, carefully unroll the pie crust and place into pie pan and crimp the edges.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Using an electric mixer, mix 2 Tablespoons salted butter, melted, 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed, 15 ounce can pumpkin puree together until combined.
- Add in 3 large eggs, 1 cup heavy cream, ⅓ cup sour cream, 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Pour batter into the pie shell, taking care not to overfill. Also, to keep pie edges from getting too dark, you can wrap edge of crust in aluminum foil.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for about 40-50 minutes.
- Cool to room temperature for 2-3 hours (to allow the pie to finish setting up) then serve with whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
One of my favorite pumpkin pie recipes. Easy to make. Everyone loves!
My favorite pumpkin pie.
Could I use your Wham Bam pie crust recipe for this pumpkin pie?
I had extra filling, and my husband tasted it and said very good!
I love this recipe, for years I struggled to find a recipe I could leave out the pumpkin spice due to a cinnamon allergy, but I used this recipe about 7 years ago and fell in love with it. if I didn’t tell people I did not add it they wouldn’t know this difference.
Made this once before and loved it, however I have been wondering if you could this using a graham cracker crust( my daughter not fond of dough) and if so would there need to be adjustments for cooking 🙂
Hi Kathy! I honestly don’t know. That is not something I have ever tried. All you can do is experiment and see how it goes. Please let me know if you try it!
I’ve been making it with a graham cracker crust for years. I use cinnamon graham crackers and I add in a chopped up dark chocolate burnt caramel chocolate bar, then refrigerate the crust after the 10-minute crust bake. It still often comes out a bit burnt on the edges, but I like it that way!
This is the best pumpkin pie ever. Super easy to make!! It’s my go to thanksgiving dessert
So great to hear that – thank you Misty!
I made this pie for Thanksgiving last year, and it was hands-down the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever had, and my entire family agreed. I made it again this year because we loved it so much. I think this is always going to be my go-to pumpkin pie recipe from now on. There’s something about this recipe that takes pumpkin pie to another level.
I’ve made your recipe for years now! Made it the year I found it and family went nuts. It’s amazing and DEMANDED all through the year, especially the holidays! Thank you!
I made this today, and it was outstanding, delicious, awesome….did I say we loved it! So light and yummy. It took mine about 20 minutes longer in the oven which is odd as my oven is usually pretty much on. The top cracked some, but didn’t hurt a thing. Had to put some foil strips around the crimped part of the crust toward the end. I’ve always made a pumpkin pie from an old recipe that was on the Libby’s can. This is far superior. Thank you so much.
Hi Terri! Woo hoo! Love hearing that! Thank you so so much!