Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie with Maple Cookie Crust
I’ve never been particularly fond of pumpkin pie – and certainly not as overjoyed by it as most people seem to be – and so I’ve always had my usual I don’t bother to stray from. People like it, and so I make at least one a year to appease the pumpkin pie lovers, not really thinking to change it up a bit – inspired more by the apple pie I make for myself.
But I think I might have a new usual – a deep-dish extravaganza courtesy of Blue Rodeo, towering higher than a cheesecake on a crust of – get this – maple sandwich cookies. This is a Very Good Idea.
So instead of the usual pastry or graham crumbs, you get yourself a box of those maple sandwich cookies and bash them up. Blue Rodeo’s recipe tells you to remove the frosting from the middle of each cookie, but a) why would you want to do that? That’s where all the maple flavour is!, and 2) that sounds like a whole lot of extra work… or licking. I just left the icing in – and the butter – and because my food processor is somewhere in the depths of my basement, I put the cookies (one bag’s worth, minus two) into a big zip-lock bag and bashed them all up with a wine bottle.
It’s baked in a springform pan, making it look like an extra deep cheesecake, but it’s all pumpkin pie. A few recipe notes: I used canned pumpkin puree rather than messing with whole fresh pumpkins, and used one and a half of the big (28 oz/796 mL) cans, which would have been the same as three 14 oz (398 mL) cans. And I used two cans of sweetened condensed milk – each can is close enough to a cup, so it didn’t make sense to measure out two cups. And it took an hour and a half to bake – it will firm up like a cheesecake, getting less jiggly in the middle when it’s done. Make sure you run a thin knife around the edge as soon as it comes out to keep it from cracking as it cools, but keep the sides on the pan until it does. Then pop it in the fridge for up to a few days. When you’re ready to serve it, whip some cream – and sweeten it with a little maple syrup to match the crust.
Nice idea! Like you, I’ve never found pumpkin pie worth writing home about. It’s about as boring as pie can get; heck, pumpkin is used as bland filling to thicken jams and other things, so how bland can it be? However, I might just have to try that variation, even though I do not like those maple cookies (I know, shocking for a French Canadian, but it’s exactly why I don’t like them: they taste like some fakey approximation of maple flavour). I may have to play around with substitutes such as maple sugar mixed in with butter and graham crackers if I find the taste of the maple cookies overwhelming. But this is very much worth playing with. And good luck with the kitchen reno thing!
Sometimes I find that pumpkin pies can be a little too….squidgey if you know what I meant. But this – this looks like perfection! And a dollop of cream instead of frosting works a treat I’m sure *wants pumpkin pie at ten in the morning….* And the spice mix, mmmm! Maybe even add some freshly grated ginger for a bolder flavour, I’m silly about ginger really, can use it in so much!
I hope you have a lovely Sunday 🙂 x
Hey Jules@wolfitdown: *wants pumpkin pie… in the morning*? Nothing wrong with that! Pie is the best breakfast. You’ve got most of the food groups represented there. And this one looks absolutely stellar.
Julie, I love everything about this recipe! The picture of crushing the cookies made me smile. Best idea everrr.
I am very intrigued by the cardamom and the condensed milk. I always find pumpkin pie seems to taste the same no matter what you do to it. We made a recipe this year where you spread apricot jam on the crust before adding the filling. There was a subtle difference. With the maple cookies on the bottom and the cardamom, maybe, just maybe this will stand out.
“Smash it with a wine bottle” is why I like you so much!!!
Julie, your photos are a knockout! I meant to write that a few posts ago,
I love those maple cookies btw.
Heidi
Aw thanks you guys! And wow – apricot jam under the filling? Brilliant! Re spices – you can add whatever you like, of course – pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, ginger.. whatevs!
OMG! Delish! Made it, ate it fantastic!
I was all set to make “Perfect Pumpkin Pie” from Epicurious, and then I saw this recipe. Change of plans! Made it last night, and am serving it to guests tonight. It looks fabulous, and I am thinking it will taste fabulous, too. (although my kids were pretty upset when they found 2 empty boxes of maple cookies in the recycling)
And the verdict is……delicious. Rave reviews from our company tonight. Definitely a keeper.
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This makes pumpkin pie look edible! I’ll have to try it!
Love, and can’t wait to try your recipes! They are so wonderful…the ingredients, directions, photos, and amour. I will post back on my happiness and delight! Your amazing! Thank you so much xo
I made this pie yesterday. There was no sugar in the recipe and I looked through your blog and didn’t see that you added any. However, it was so anticipated as a dessert and even my 4 year old grandson declared it to be “worst dessert ever.” Looking at my Libby’s pie recipe, there is sugar added, so will try again adding sugar next time. Pie crust was a big hit though!
Paula – it’s true, there’s no actual granulated sugar in the recipe, but there are two cans of sweetened condensed milk, which is so sweet it provides a perfect amount of sweetness. Everyone who ate it around here loved it – so sorry your grandson didn’t agree!
“mashed sugar pumpkin”?? I’ve only ever bought ‘pure’ pumpkin, no spice or anything. Is there something I am missing?
Brigitte – It’s just cooked sugar pumpkin – which are those smaller, sweeter ones – mashed. But you can use canned pumpkin instead!
This is a picky question – since you left the filling in the cookies, do I still need to add the butter to the crust making part? Or will the cookie filling goo be enough to make the crust perfect? I don’t think I could word this more awkwardly do you?
Thanks and oh thank you, thank you for the reading pleasure you’ve given me over the past few weeks. I have read every post, enjoyed every picture and tried a lot of your recipes. You have inspired me – thanks Julie.
Sorry for the slow reply Susan! I know exactly what you mean… I’m not sure the icing inside the sandwich cookies is enough to make a crumb crust.. but then again even a crumbly mixture should work its way out in the oven. Give it a go and let us know what happens!
Hi Julie! Do you think this crust would be stable enough to go up the sides? I’m trying to replicate a pie that’s my moms favorite and it seems a lot like this recipe! Except the ones she cherishes has crust around the sides of the pie. I figure I might have to double the ingredients for the crust to make this work, but I want to make sure it would be strong enough too. What do you think?
Thank you!! So excited to try this out!
Hey Bryce! I think it would! And if memory serves, it made quite a bit.. I don’t think you’d even need to double it! Give it a try and let me know how it works! Now I’m intrigued by your mom’s favourite pie!
I don’t have a food processor… what can I do instead? No blender either…I want to make this for Thanksgiving.
I made this for Tuesday’s Food Bank volunteer appreciation lunch – it got rave reviews