pumpkin pie

What better way to acknowledge nature's attempt to announce the new season than to bake a pumpkin pie? It's fall! Or at least it is no longer 90 degrees outside. Enjoy the weather and this easy pie.

Pumpkin Pie

1 packaged (yes, I used packaged) pie crust (comes with 2 rounds)

1 cup (packed) brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ to ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 ¼ cup canned pure pumpkin
1 cup heavy whipping cream

For crust: 
Position oven rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Transfer crust to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold edges under and crimp decoratively. I cut out some leaves with a cookie cutter with the extra pie dough. Freeze crust 20 minutes.

Line crust with nonstick foil around the edges and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until crust is set, about 20 minutes. Gently remove foil and beans. Return crust to oven and bake until partially cooked and golden brown around edges, pressing down on crust with back of spoon if bubbles form, about 15 minutes. Cool crust on rack. Keep your oven hot.

For filling: 
Whisk brown sugar, eggs, sea salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and pie spice in medium bowl. Add pumpkin and cream and whisk until well blended and smooth.

Pour filling into crust. Bake pie until filling is firm, covering crust with foil collar again (I did this for sure) if browning too quickly, about 30 minutes. At this point I put the leaves around the border of my pie and stuck it back in the oven for nearly another 30 minutes. Adjust cook time according to your oven (center of pie should be set and not wobbly!)

Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.