So this is the first time I have written a blog for something I haven't eaten. But the story goes a little something like this...I work with men, lots of them (no I am not a stripper), who love food. So one of them started following my food fb page and he started declaring his love for pumpkin pie on every post he saw. Seeing as I am extremely perceptive and a trained observer I deduced the fact that he had an affinity for pumpkin pie. So then the other day I was leaving an awards ceremony (not the pole dancing olympics) and I was accosted by a group of these so called men, who all started whining about pumpkin pie, how much they wanted one, how much they love food, yada, yada, yada. And I decided to take pity on them and bake them a pie.






Truth be told I love any excuse to cook and they gave me a great one!

On Monday morning they got their pie and I got this picture of them eating it for breakfast...


The pie got rave reviews from this group so I figure it has got to be a hit. Thank you AA (not alcoholics anonymous, this is not a confessional blog) for the pumpkin pie inspiration and for returning my pie pan.

This pumpkin pie recipe had a few ingredients I had never used before, cream cheese and half and half. I was told the cream cheese was subtle and added a nice texture, so give it a shot.


First make your crust or cheat and buy one, whatever you prefer. Believe you me there will be no judgment from me on pie crust. I can make them, but they just aren't pretty after my hands get done with them.


Pre-bake the pie crust. I was pretty proud of my pie weight creativity. I don't have pie weights and I didn't have any dried beans and so I used barley and that seemed to work fine.


Next in a mixing bowl make the filling.  Cream the softened cream cheese and then add in the pumpkin. Add the sugar and salt and mix some more. In a separate bowl, combine the half and half, eggs and melted butter. Mix into the pumpkin concoction. Add in the vanilla extract, cinnamon and ginger.


Pour into pie crust and bake for 50 minutes. Cool on a rack.


1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
1 piece pre-made pie dough
Whipped cream, for topping
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.