The Best Maple Pumpkin Spice Pie Recipe

For as long as I have been making them, the feeling of satisfaction when pulling a pie from the oven never goes away.

Whether their all-butter crust is perfectly crimped or not or whether they are filled with seasonal fruit (my preference) or topped up with custard – any pie is reason to celebrate.

How long have I been making pie? It wouldn’t be a stretch to reply, “as long as I can remember”. I had been making them well before my dear parents bought me a pie cookbook for my twelfth birthday.

Perhaps they were trying to improve their chances of eventually getting a flaky crust (I tended to let my enthusiasm for baking get in the way of delicate pastry execution) or maybe they were gently encouraging me to expand my repertoire of apple pie, peach pie, and wild Saskatoon berry pie. Not that there’s anything wrong with those options.

Regardless, branch out in my pie-making I did, as my stained and tattered cookbook bears witness. Let’s see, there was the lattice-topped orange cranberry pie, which inspired one of our favorite Christmas-time desserts, Cranberry-Orange Pie with Cornmeal Streusel Topping.

And I remember plenty of orchard apple pies with cheddar crusts, a favorite still, only now I live in Quebec and sweeten my apple pies with maple syrup.

My teen years of angst were not helped by the occasional memorable pie-making disasters. I once saved my allowance just to buy high-quality chocolate for a three-tone chocolate mousse pie that ended up being a total flop. Suffice it to say, white chocolate and I are still at odds over that one.

Over time, I learned to make the perfect buttery pie crust, bake a meringue that doesn’t weep, and serve up a slice of custard pie that holds its shape when transferred from pie pan to plate.

Perhaps one of my best takeaways from my cherished and well-worn pie cookbook, however, was learning to pair maple syrup with roasted pumpkin in a dreamy, creamy autumn pie.

Forget cups of sugar and cans of condensed milk; a really good pumpkin pie needs pure maple syrup and thick cream to stand out on the dessert table and I’m convinced I have found the best Maple Pumpkin Spice Pie recipe.

I recently recreated my childhood pumpkin pie with our own farm fresh eggs and an impossibly fragrant homemade pumpkin spice blend* that I grind every fall. It was sweetened with organic maple syrup that we get from friends of ours who own a sugar bush. The sugar pumpkins were slow-roasted, then the puree** drained for a few hours to remove some of the water and intensify the flavours.

Wow, just wow. I’m both completely biased and utterly honest when I say this was the best maple pumpkin spice pie recipe I’ve ever made (or, ahem, tasted). Texturally it is smooth and yielding; the perfect recipient for pillowy whipped cream. The fresh ground spices make all the difference, nicely complementing the dark maple syrup, and enhancing the mild pumpkin flavour.

A few weekends ago, I brought two of the pies to our family Thanksgiving dinner, where my father-in-law carved up slice after slice and declared that it was the best pumpkin pie he’d had in 20 years. I didn’t disagree!

A quick query on my Facebook page proved that people are still wild about pumpkin pie, especially at this time of the year when the leaves on the trees match the rusty orange colours in the pie.

If you need any encouragement at all, I beg you: please make this pie and share it with someone you love. And don’t forget the whipped cream.

Now, here’s the best Maple Pumpkin Spice Pie recipe, as promised, with a few notes.

*You need this spice blend. Grind it, then store the blend in a small jar in the freezer and add to your baked french toast, spice snaps, gingerbread, overnight oats, apple butter, pumpkin granola, and anything else that needs a little punch of flavor.

**You don’t have to worry about making your own pumpkin puree, if that seems like work (really, it’s not much).

Best Pumpkin Spice Pie with Maple Syrup

Forget the sugar and canned milk, this decadent pie brings together maple syrup, warm roasted pumpkin, thick cream and fresh spices for a fall dessert that is truly the best of its kind.
4.47 from 32 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Desserts
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 350kcal
Author: Aimee

Ingredients

  • 1 9-inch pie crust prepared but not pre-baked
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree homemade if possible
  • 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 Seeds of 1 vanilla bean scraped, or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 Tablespoon pumpkin spice blend
  • 1/2 cup Sweetened whipped cream for garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350F. Keep the pie crust chilled in the refrigerator while you mix up the pie filling.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and cream together until blended. Add the pumpkin puree and the maple syrup and again whisk well.
  • Finally, add the vanilla, salt and spice blend to the pie filling and combine.
  • Remove pie shell from the fridge and place on the middle rack of the oven. Slide the rack out carefully a couple of inches and pour the filling into the pie shell. Slowly, slide the oven rack back in place, taking care not to spill the contents of the pie shell onto the bottom of the oven.
  • If you find yourself with a little extra filling, simply pour it into a couple of ramekins and bake them alongside your pie until they are set. Chill, top with whipped cream and enjoy them as pumpkin custard.
  • Check pie after about 30 minutes and rotate, if necessary, to ensure even browning of the pie crust.
  • When the center of the pie has puffed up, and jiggles only slightly when the pan is moved, the pie is ready. This will take about one hour.
  • Remove pie from oven and cool on a wire rack. When the pie is room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • Pie will keep, covered in the fridge, for up to three days, or well-wrapped and frozen for up to 8 weeks.

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 135mg | Sodium: 444mg | Potassium: 230mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 6555IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 1.8mg

Have you made a pumpkin pie yet this fall?

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




97 Comments

  1. This is perfect. I don’t use processed sugar and it’s nearly impossible to find a pumpkin pie recipe without granulated sugar and canned milk! I’d make up my own recipe but I’m too afraid of ending up with the wrong consistency, so thank you for sharing 🙂

  2. 5 stars
    Great recipe. Unlike most pumpkin pie recipes, this one is not too sweet and the flavor of the maple syrup complements the pumpkin and spices nicely. The filling texture is smooth and creamy like a custard. I cooked mine for significantly more time, close to 1 hr 45 min. It took this long for the center to rise up – yes, it really became like a dome despite some splits in filling around the edges after an hour – and the filling to firm up a bit.

  3. I’m going to make my first pumpkin pie. Checking out all the various recipes online and I’m gravitating towards this one. Now, most recipes I see call for a couple eggs. What does using 4 do? Is it a fluffier result?

    1. 5 stars
      Just following up. It was fantastic. We killed it that pie real good last weekend. Only change I made was to substitute one egg. Great recipe, thanks!

  4. 4 stars
    This was nice but maybe a bit eggy. I doubled it and maybe next time if I double it again I’ll lose one egg. I’ll also add more spice next time. Overall a good recipe. Thanks!

  5. An excellent recipe! Couldn’t stop eating. I don’t need to keep trying to cobble together ones that use maple syrup, no condensed milk, are gluten free ….. – and a fabulous spice mix!! Kudos for that in particular! Thank you.

  6. 3 stars
    For a maple syrup only recipe I guess this is okay?? But the filling took almost 2 hours to set up and was incredibly wet still. The flavor was okay, but oh my heavens – don’t know if it was the type of flour I used, the crust recommended for this recipe was entirely inedible. Seized up almost immediately and because you don’t par-bake it, it wasn’t done at all(even after two hours!!)

  7. 5 stars
    This IS the BEST pumpkin pie I’ve ever made. Thank you !!! I used a “Nantucket Long Pie Pumpkin”that I grew this year. I bought the seeds from Baker Creek.
    Happy Holidays

  8. 5 stars
    This is absolutely magnificent, scrumptious, delicious, super yummy pumpkin spice pie with maple syrup. Definitely I will prep it on the weekend for my family. Btw I prefer pumpkin – it may reduce cancer risk, protect the skin, boost your mood and other! Thx for sharing!

  9. 4 stars
    I baked it for an 1:10 minutes. It came out more like custard pie. The crust was not cooked enough, so I will bake it first next time. It was also a little too salty for for my husband & me, so I will use less salt next time. Other than those things, I liked the taste but hopefully with the changes that I mentioned it will make a difference.

  10. Amie, thank you. Perfect pie.?????
    Made exactly as you instructed except for reduced salt. I’ve been making pie crust with tender flake and robin hood cake and pastry flour for fifty years. This pastry produces a perfect flaky crust so used that as always.
    Fabulous way to use our local eastern Ontario maple syrup,.
    My family will love this pie. I will be making another for the Thanksgiving family feast next week.
    Thank you!!!!

    1. 4 stars
      I’m wanted to LOVE this pie but… should have really reduced the salt. Too salty. The only other change I made was to swap the heavy cream for canned coconut milk. Same consistency as heavy cream. It worked beautifully. I was impressed. I will make this again with less salt.

    1. Hi Robin, Thanks for stopping by and for your enthusiasm. However, please do not repost my original recipe on your blog. Feel free to share it with your readers by linking to my post, but the actual recipe remains

  11. 2 stars
    I made this last night and put in a teaspoon of salt like it said. Ack. WAY too salty. Also, 4 eggs? It made it more like custard. I would say turn down the salt to a quarter tsp. and maybe leave out the egg

  12. pumpkin spice pie tasty and healthy.i make it at last night everyone liked it.
    cream coconut milk are heavy and tasty.
    it looks so beautiful.
    i love it

  13. 4 stars
    great ! hearty chicken pumpkin soup is delicious and useful for health.pumpkin provide vitamin A and vitamin C, and chikcen low fat protein.

  14. 2 stars
    Followed the instructions to a “T” and the end product was soggy, overly eggy, and had a wet, spongy texture. I was hoping for something more solid and creamy in texture. This was more like an egg custard, not pumpkin pie. I think it needs a lot less egg and more pumpkin. Going to keep searching for that perfect recipe.

    1. Just curious, have you found a perfect recipe yet? I really want pumpkin pie sweetened with maple syrup but I don’t want it to be eggy. Thanks!

  15. 5 stars
    I used goat milk and didn’t have the pumpkin pie spice, so I intended to put replacement spices (cinnamon, nutmeg etc.), however I got distracted. I didn’t even realize I forgot my spices until I ate it. However it wasn’t even until I reread the recipe. It was really really good just with the vanilla. I would’ve never done that on purpose but it was a nice change. Great recipe

  16. 5 stars
    Absolutely delicious. I’ve never eaten pumpkin pie before, being in Australia, so I can’t compare it to other versions, but I thought this had great taste and texture, and was really easy to make for a pie novice. Thank you!

  17. 5 stars
    Fir someone who can note eat sugar this is an excellent alternative. I am so thankful to have this recipe! Thank you

  18. 5 stars
    Made this to celebrate the first day of fall and found my new favourite pumpkin pie. Made recipe as written and thought it was delicious. Love that this recipe uses maple syrup and cream. Makes for an extra luscious filling. Yes the filling is more custard like than the standard pumpkin pie, however that is what makes it so dreamy. Thanks for the recipe ☺️