Pumpkin Pie Filling Recipe

Pumpkin Pie Filling …. A classic.  A tradition. Beloved by many. Thanksgiving is coming up in the United States which you KNOW means pumpkin pie galore… This pumpkin pie is a little twist on a great classic, and features a little bit of dulce de leche! It adds a perfect amount of sweetness and creaminess to the recipe!

Story Time

How many of you watch Friends AKA the very best television show made in the entire universe… (think I’m wrong? Change my mind in the comments.) Anyways, if you know Friends, you know about the Nesele Toulouse incident.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain. There’s this episode of Friends where Phoebe is trying to give Monica her grandmother’s famous chocolate chip cookie recipe. Phoebe’s grandmother is dead and she only has one singular cookie left, so they work together to create at least 22 batches of cookies to try to guess the recipe.

At the very end, the group is defeated as they haven’t figured out the recipe, and Phoebe mentions that it came from a distant relative… Nesele Toulouse. Or, if you pronounce it differently… Nestle Tollhouse.  

Monica throws Phoebe the bag of chocolate chips they’ve been using and they realize that it has been the Nestle Tollhouse recipe all along. 

My Family’s Pumpkin Pie Filling Recipe….

When I was content planning this year, I was going through all of my old recipes…. I found my pumpkin pie filling recipe and decided that it would be perfect to put on the blog! I wouldn’t need to recipe test, because I KNOW it works perfectly. 

My mom gave me the pumpkin pie recipe a looong time ago, so before I decided to post the recipe, I asked her where we had gotten it. I wanted to make sure that it was actually a family recipe and that I wasn’t plagiarizing from anyone else. 

My mom assured me that the pumpkin pie filling recipe belonged to my grandmother and that I could share it without any fear that I was copying it from anyone else. 

 …. Doesn’t Belong to Us

I set out on my merry way to the grocery store, ready to buy all of the ingredients that I need for (what my mother calls) my grandmother’s pumpkin pie recipe. I head over to the baking aisle, pick up a can of pumpkin, and look at the recipe on the back label.

There, plain as daylight on the back of the can, is “my grandmother’s” pumpkin pie recipe. Turns out it’s not my grandma’s after all, and had just been written down from the back of the can years ago. 

What’s In This Pumpkin Pie Filling? 

Thank God I noticed! So, instead of publishing that pumpkin pie filling recipe (I ain’t no copier!), I made up a different one. And this pumpkin pie filling recipe is made with smooth and creamy dulce de leche to add another wonderful level of flavor and texture to the recipe. 

The recipe also includes: 

Canned pumpkin 
Sweetened condensed milk 
Dulce de leche 
Eggs
Flour
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Sugar
Salt 

For full measurements and recipe instructions, see the recipe card at the bottom of the page. 

How to Make this Pumpkin Pie Filling: 

Mix all of your ingredients together and pour into a pre-prepared pie crust of your choice. 

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes

Reduce heat to 325 and cook for another 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 

History of Pumpkin Pie

As much of a shock as this might be, I have to share: pumpkin pie did not originate in America. Long before the first settlers came to America, England was making their own version of pumpkin pie.

The Native American settlers that helped the pilgrims survive their first winter in America at Plymouth colony were also very familiar with pumpkins.

Because of this, it can be assumed that pumpkin pie in some form was served at the three day feast that the pilgrims and the Wampanoag shared. 

It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving wasn’t always an American holiday. In fact, Abraham Lincoln only declared Thanksgiving a holiday in 1863.

At the time, many of the abolitionists were also campaigning for the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday, so in many of their abolitionist poems, etc pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving are mentioned.

Because of this, many Confederates in the 1860s thought that Abraham Lincoln was trying to push Yankee and abolitionist tradition on the people in the South when he announced the new national holiday.

Pumpkin pie has transformed over the years, with both the crust and pumpkin pie spice taking a while to reach the status at which we know them today.

Info credited to The History Channel

Is Pumpkin Pie Filling Supposed to be Runny Before Baking?

Yes! Your pumpkin pie filling will be pretty runny before it gets baked in the oven. It should pour very easily. Take care not to spill your pumpkin pie filling as you walk to the oven. I always put the pie tin on a cookie sheet while I walk, as a way to catch any spilled filling!

You will know your pumpkin pie is ready when a knife inserted into the filling comes out clean. 

Is This Recipe Gluten Free?

Typically, yes, pumpkin pie filling is gluten free. There is actually 3 tbsp of flour in this recipe, so my filling is not gluten free. However, you can omit the flour if need be and just cook the filling a little longer. This will successfully transform this pumpkin pie filling into a gluten free dessert (As long as it’s paired with a gluten free pie crust). 

Can Pumpkin Pie Filling be Made Ahead of Time?
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You betcha! This pumpkin pie filling would be very easy to make ahead of time. I would store it in a plastic container in the fridge and only pour it into the pie crust right before baking. Don’t forget to mix up the filling before pouring it into the crust! 

Phew, folks, that was a long one! But hopefully you feel a little more educated and a lot more prepared to make this Pumpkin Pie Filling Recipe. If you liked this, don’t forget to leave a comment letting me know what you thought! 

You might also like: 

• Papaya Pie Recipe from Antigua and Barbuda
• Fast and Easy Maple Cookies Recipe
• The Tiramisu Recipe I Learned While Living in Italy