Easy Pumpkin Pie Recipe: A Family Experience

Thanksgiving is a time of thankfulness, family, and food, and very few things are as essential to your holiday meal as pumpkin pie. Here's an easy pumpkin pie recipe to brighten up your holiday table.

Every year when my sisters and I get together for Thanksgiving, we have a pie bake-off, so we can sample a variety of different options. One sister loves to make a chocolate mousse pie with a perfect flaky homemade crust and slightly jiggly middle. Another will make a deep-dish pecan pie or we might mix up flavors and have some fruit or key lime pies.

As one who doesn't love spending my total time in the kitchen, my go-to dessert is often the easy, no-fail pumpkin pie. It has minimal ingredients, you don't have to make your pie dough from scratch, and as long as you pay attention to the pumpkin pie recipe details, you're good to go!

Because in the flurry of my many sisters sharing the mixing bowls, cracking large eggs, inevitably spilling condensed milk, and arguing over whose turn it is to use the food processor, something magical happens. It doesn't matter if we have a store-bought crust, crustless dishes, or a gourmet pie shell. The beautiful combination of flavors blends together to create Thanksgiving magic. I can almost smell the cinnamon and allspice now!

Though we often equate pumpkin pie with American Thanksgiving, as pumpkins were one of the first foods European explorers brought back from the New World in 1536.  Nor surprisingly, pumpkin dishes, in various forms, made their way onto the table of the early settlers. While we have records of pumpkin pie dating from the 17th century, it didn't really make its mark until the 1920s, when the Libby canning company manufactured the first pumpkin puree. This new product made it significantly easier for Americans nationwide to bring joy to the Thanksgiving table.

Today, you, too, can enjoy this delicious dessert, whether you make a pie crust from scratch, or just buy a pie crust at the grocery store. If you would like to make your own pie crust, there are plenty of recipes across the internet for that. This pumpkin pie recipe, however, just covers the easiest, most basic way to make a pie. So this recipe includes pre-made crust. If you want a healthier version of pumpkin pie, check out this recipe for pumpkin pie protein bombs!

Since I have a gluten intolerance, I'm a big fan of these "Wholly Wholesome" pie shells. Other great pie crust options with gluten include Pillsbury, Marie Callendar, or really whatever's available at your local grocery store.

• Just because this is a simple recipe doesn't mean you have to have a boring dessert. Add a little personality to your pumpkin pie, like Jessica Lee Clark-Bojin from Pies are Awesome and the Pieous.
• Don't wait until the last minute to buy a pie crust! They might be harder to find than you'd like if you wait until Thanksgiving morning.
• Be sure to preheat the oven and chill the pie for about 2 hours after it comes out of the refrigerator.
• This recipe is a basic template. Feel free to experiment with extra spices like cinnamon or swap out granulated sugar for brown sugar. Maybe some vanilla would add an extra oomph? Be creative!
• If the thought of creativity in the kitchen terrifies you, stick with the pumpkin pie recipe exactly as written. That's ok, too.
• Use a large bowl to mix your ingredients. You can use a mixer but should be able to whisk things together pretty easily.
• This recipe is really easy, so you can get your kids involved in the action, too. Have fun!