Pumpkin Pie

1. Make the dough for the crust and fit it into the pie dish

2. Make the filling

3. Fill and bake the pie

4. Make the cookies while pie bakes

5. Decorate finished pie with cookies

Easy shortbread crust for one 9” pie plus extra cookies:
This can be doubled tripled and quadrupled without any sacrifice in texture. I usually triple it and use the extra dough for for cookies. This is a no roll crust. You simply press it into the pie dish. When/if you want to roll it to make cookies, you will add a little more flour to keep it from sticking.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour, plus extra to roll out the cookies

• 2 sticks melted butter

• 1 cup powdered sugar or 3/4 cup regular sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

• Powdered sugar for dusting cookies

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Make the dough: Add the melted butter to a bowl with the flour and sugar blending with a fork until all the butter is incorporated. It should have enough flour to hold together, but will feel wetter than a normal pie pastry. It should hold together when pressed in your hands. Separate dough into two parts leaving one part larger, 2/3 of the dough. The larger piece will become the bottom crust. Form the smaller dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap. This smaller piece will become the cookies. If the dough feels dry, wet your hands with water when pressing it into the pie dish.

• Place the larger piece of dough into the pie plate and press it into shape making sure it is even along the bottom and sides of the pie dish. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to press it neatly and get the crust even on the bottom and the sides. If you need more dough, take some from the smaller disc. There will still be enough dough for cookies.
  
  The filling. This is a variation of the traditional Libby's recipe. I will admit I can drink this filling on its own so before I mix in the eggs, I complete a serious tasting of the batter. Once the eggs are in, please don’t taste it again. The eggs don’t add flavor so if you are happy with the seasoning before the eggs are added you will be happy after you add them. I substitute the sugar in the traditional recipe with sweetened condensed milk (SCM), which also helps to solidify the batter. I use 2 eggs instead of 4 because using the SCM is like a binder, similar to making a flan (that’s where I got the idea of the SCM and the evap. milk to solidify the custard).
  
  Pumpkin Pie Filling for one 9" pie:
  - 1 15 oz can of natural, unsweetened pumpkin
  - 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or spices according to your taste, including; cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla
  - 1/2 can / 6 oz of regular evaporated milk
  - 1/2 of a 14 oz can / 7 oz of sweetened condensed milk
  - 2 eggs

Note: I don’t like leftover canned goods so I will make two pies, which will use the canned milks. One more can of pumpkin will be required for two pies, and double the crust.

Mix all the ingredients together, adding the eggs last. Taste batter before adding the eggs to make sure you are happy with the amount of spice you added. Whisk until smooth and pour into the crust. Make sure you fill it all the way to the top so that it doesn’t sink when cooled. Note: If I have any leftover filling, I add it to custard dishes and bake it as a crust-less pumpkin custard.

Anecdote: I sometimes use a large pie dish that came from a pie shop in Guadalupe, CA named Josie’s. Back in the day, we would buy one of her fabulous pies which came in a 12 inch glass pie dish, no disposable aluminum for Josie. You paid a deposit on it and when you returned for your next pie (we always did) you would return the old dish and get a new one with your pie purchase. I’ve had this particular pie dish for years. I can still see remnants of paint on the underside bearing her name and the address of the pie shop. Talk about a leaving an impression.

Bake the 9 inch pie for about 60 minutes, but depending on your oven check at 50 minutes. The middle of the pie should be just wobbly. A toothpick, when inserted, should come out clean. It will continue to firm up as it cools.

Making the decorative cookies:
While the pie bakes make the cookies to decorate the finished pie.

Take the reserved dough and roll it out on a generously floured surface. It should be about 1/4” thick. I use small cookie press/cutters from William Sonoma. They are the shape of leaves and leave an impression of veins in the leaf shape. This would take so much time to do by hand and the result, at least by me, would not be nearly so lovely. This is a gadget I love and use every year. The press/cutters I use have a spring release. I release them right onto the baking sheet. If the dough is sticking, add more flour.

They can bake in the oven with the pumpkin pie on the bottom rack. Set your second timer for 9 minutes.

Take them out when they are a light golden brown.

Release them with a spatula from the tray and onto a cooling rack then put in the next batch if you have more.
After the pie has come out of the oven and has cooled, place the cookies on top of the pie using your imagination.

Dust with powdered sugar. I like my pie covered with cookies because it’s like having a double crust. Cool the remaining cookies and dust with powdered sugar (pictured above).

The extra cookies are great with coffee. Enjoy!