Pumpkin Pie Bars Recipe - Crunchy Creamy Sweet (2024)

FAQs

What makes pumpkin pie filling pull away from the crust? ›

If your pumpkin filling cracks or separates, it's probably overcooked. And that's not your fault: It can be hard to nail the perfect level of doneness for pumpkin pie, since most recipes have you pour the custard into an unbaked pie shell, and by the time the crust is perfectly golden brown, the filling is overcooked.

Dough that has been overworked or has gotten too warm will be tough and chewy like bread, not tender and flaky like pie crust should be.

They are the same product. Both canned pumpkin puree and pie filling are useful, shelf-stable ingredients that can help speed up your kitchen prep time. Just remember that puree is unsweetened, while pie filling contains sugar and spices. This will help you choose the right pumpkin product for your recipes.

Judging the Pies

Use a fork to check for crust flakiness. Slice a piece of pie with a knife, remove the slice of pie to your plate using a pie server, then check the appearance of the inside of the pie. Make notes, if needed, and assign points for overall appearance.

Sprinkle dried breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes, or other types of cereal, on the bottom crust before filling and baking in the oven. The layer will absorb moisture and prevent the filling from turning the crust soggy.

You can test the doneness by inserting an instant-read thermometer into the filling. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the internal temperature of pumpkin pie should be at least 180°F at its coolest point.

But don't dock it (docking is aerating the crust before baking by poking it with the tines of a fork). This will cause the custard to seep out into the bottom crust, defeating that whole "flaky" thing you were going for.

Blind Bake

The most common way to ward off a soggy pie crust is by a process called blind baking. Blind baking means you pre-bake the crust (sometimes covered with parchment or foil and weighed down with pie weights to prevent the crust from bubbling up) so that it sets and crisps up before you add any wet filling.

Sweetened condensed milk is also a little higher in fat, so pies made with it will be silky and dense, while pies made with evaporated milk will be a little fluffier. Luckily, you can find multiple pumpkin pie recipes geared toward either type of milk.

Pumpkin pie mix can be used as a substitute for pure canned pumpkin in some recipes. However, since it is already sweetened and flavored, you'll need to make some adjustments. In most dessert recipes, leave out the pumpkin pie spice and cut down on the sugar since the pumpkin pie mix includes it.

What is the best pumpkin for pie filling? ›

Sugar Baby Pumpkin

You'll find lots of sugar babies available at the farmers' market. Also known as Sugar Pie pumpkins, these thin-skinned squash are smaller (4-8 lbs.) and have a sweet, dense flesh with a fine-grained, smooth texture.

Pies with too much evaporated milk formed blisters on top.

Though the interior of the filling had a great, creamy texture. The flavor was ever-so-slightly muted and had a hint of milkiness to it.

The pie is generally flavored with pumpkin pie spice, a blend that includes cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves or allspice. The pie is usually prepared with canned pumpkin, but fresh-cooked pumpkin can be used.

While a wobbly, runny pie is a telltale sign that a pumpkin pie is undercooked, an overcooked pumpkin pie is a bit harder to spot. When you've overcooked a pumpkin pie, you may see: The filling separating from the crust. The filling has visible cracks.

A: Jim Dodge renowned pastry chef, cookbook author and senior vice president of New England Culinary Institute in Vermont says an egg wash technique can help prevent the filling from separating from the crust but he says the problem can usually be prevented in the first place by not overbaking the pie.

Maybe your recipe uses an extra-high amount of shortening or butter, or you rolled the crust too vigorously, or you didn't let it rest and chill before baking. Perhaps you used the wrong size pan, or not enough filling. The good news is all of this is controllable.

Use butter, not shortening

Pie crust made entirely with shortening will produce pie with a wonderfully crisp crimped edge, but also — potentially — a gap beneath the top crust. A pie crust based on butter is less likely to make a gap in pie than one made with shortening.

Pumpkin Pie Filling Separates from Crust

Nick says: Sounds like the pie has been baked too long and the filling is dry. Try gently roughening the surface of the crust with a fork (not deep enough to pierce through it) before pouring in the filling.