As the days get shorter and the temperature gets colder, we always find ourselves craving the smooth, rich, delectable treat that is pumpkin pie. Sure, you could drive over to the store and pick up a pre-made pumpkin pie that comes in a plastic container, but it’ll be missing one key ingredient: love. And besides, those crinkly plastic containers are always too loud, everyone will be able to hear you opening it when you sneak to the kitchen at 2am to grab a piece of delicious pumpkiny goodness. So, skip the store-bought stuff. Make your own pumpkin pie filling, and that way, when you’re creeping into the kitchen to grab some in the late hours of the night, nobody can judge you. You’re the one who made it, after-all!
No Pumpkin Pie is Complete Without Homemade Whipped Cream
If we’re going to be making pumpkin pie filling, we’ll absolutely need some rich and flavorful whipped cream to go along with it. Since the whipped cream is a little easier to make, we’ll cover that first.
How to make homemade whipped cream by hand
Homemade whipped cream is an easy treat to “whip” up, you can have it done in 20 minutes, easy. For the purpose of this recipe, I’ll assume that you don’t own a stand-mixer.
What you’ll need…
Ingredients for homemade whipped cream include…
- 1 pint (2 cups) of refrigerator-cold heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup of powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- Alternatively, you can substitute vanilla extract for other flavors like almond or peppermint to add in a little “pizzazz”
- A large glass or metal mixing bowl
What you’ll do…
- Place your mixing bowl in the fridge for about 30 minutes before you begin the process. This will allow the cream to stay chilled while you’re mixing it, giving you a better end result.
- Once your bowl has chilled out for a while, add all of the ingredients to the bowl (cream, sugar, flavor extract).
- Using a wire whisk, firmly whisk the mixture until stiff peaks form. As Bob Ross used to say, “really beat the devil out of it”. Depending on your strength and speed, this can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. You’ll know that you’re done once you hold up the whisk and the cream stands up on its own, like soft serve ice cream.
Easy peasy! You’re done. You’ve got yourself some delicious, homemade whipped cream that tastes better than anything that you can get in a can. If you’ve got a piping bag, you can transfer your whipped cream into there to make fancier toppings.
Onto the Main Event; How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Pie Filling in a Jar
Now, normally, you would serve pumpkin pie, you know, as a pie. However, this is Jar Store, and we like to eat our desserts a little differently. Today, we’re going to show you how to make a fantastic pumpkin pie dessert in a jar, (but you can also use this recipe as normal pumpkin pie filling, if you’re more traditional).
How to make homemade pumpkin pie filling
Hope your arm isn’t too tired from whipping that whipped cream, ‘cause you better believe that this pumpkin pie filling is getting whisked too! Very similar to the whipped cream, we’re just going to be dumping our ingredients in a bowl, and whipping them until they all get to know each other.
What you’ll need…
- 1 can of pumpkin puree
- 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon*
- ½ teaspoon of ground ginger*
- ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg*
- ½ teaspoon of salt*
*Note, you can choose to forgo the ingredients marked with “*” above, and simply use a pumpkin pie spice blend. Personal preference, we like to mix our own, but some people swear by the spice blends.
What you’ll do…
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
- In an oven-safe, ceramic bowl, pour in your pumpkin puree, condensed milk, eggs, and spices
- Get that whisk back out and mix until smooth (maybe with your left arm this time, if your right one is still sore from the whipped cream)
- If you’re using a pie crust, now would be the time to pour your mixture into it
- Lightly tap the bowl on the countertop 5-10 times, to remove air bubbles and reduce the risk of your pie cracking
- Place your bowl in the oven on the center rack and bake for 15 minutes
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for an additional 40 to 45 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean
- Let the pie filling cool
Let's Make it All Come Together
Now, you’ve got your pie filling. You’ve got your whipped cream. You’re probably staring at them sitting on your counter thinking “But Jar Store, what do I do with these?!”.
We’re so glad that you asked.
Let’s make delicious pumpkin pie in a jar. What’s the worst thing about pumpkin pie? It’s not portable. You can’t pick up pumpkin pie and eat it in your hands, you need a plate! Forget the plate. We’re ditching the plate. It’s jar time.
What you’ll do…
- Take your cooled pumpkin pie filling and set it on the counter
- Take some 8 oz, straight sided mason jars and press the open side into the pumpkin pie filling, cutting out a circle that will fill the inside of the jar.
- If your pie filling isn’t deep enough to get a sufficient amount into the jar this way, you can press the jar into the filling multiple times, or just spoon the filling into the jar.
- Tamp the pumpkin pie filling down into the bottom of the jar, and cover with crushed graham crackers
- Once you’re ready to serve, spoon your homemade whipped cream onto the top
There you have it! A delicious pumpkin pie in a jar. Portable, convenient, and just as delicious as the regular pie. You’ve got your graham crackers, your whipped cream, and most importantly, your delicious pumpkin pie filling.
Did you make our recipe? Let us know!
If you followed this recipe, we would love to see it, (especially if you used one of our jars)! Give us a shout on social media! You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
