How to Make the BEST Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

CRUST

• 2½ cups flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1¼ cup (2½ sticks) cold butter, frozen is best
• ¼-½ cup cold water
• 2 tsp Amoretti® Vanilla Bean Paste
• 1 egg, for egg wash
• 1 egg white, for sealing the bottom crust

FILLING

• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 - 15 oz can pumpkin purée
• 10 fl oz evaporated milk (2 small cans)
• 2 tbsp Amoretti® Natural Pumpkin Spice Artisan Flavor
• 1.5 tsp  Amoretti® Vanilla Bean Paste

WHIPPED CREAM

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp  Amoretti® Vanilla Bean Paste
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

• standard pie dish
• pie weights

Directions

1. Make the crust by whisking flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Add the cold butter by grating it into the bowl. Wearing gloves is a good idea if you have them, just to protect against cutting your fingers on the grater.
3. Using a fork, mix in the butter.
4. Add ¼ cup of the cold water and Vanilla Bean Paste. Mix with your hands until the dough comes together. Don’t overwork the dough, some pieces of butter showing is good. Wearing gloves here is a good idea if you have warm hands, it will take a few minutes to come together. You can squeeze pieces of the mixture together as you go and eventually it will come together. If it's still too dry, add more water, up to the remaining ¼ cup, 1 tbsp at a time until the dough comes together.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for 30-45 minutes.
6. While the dough is resting, make the filling.
7. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy.
8. Add the pumpkin puree and mix, scraping the bowl.
9. Add the evaporated milk and Pumpkin Spice Artisan, Vanilla Bean Paste, scraping the bowl and mixing to combine.
10. Cover the bowl and set the mixture aside, using the filling at room temperature is best for baking.
11. Preheat the oven to 425℉.
12. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out to ¼-⅛” thickness that will fit your pie pan or dish. 
13. Tuck the edges of the dough under and crimp the edges.
14. Dock the bottom very lightly with a fork; don’t go all the way through the dough.
15. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights, pie chains, beans, or rice. If you don’t have any of these you can fill it with sugar. Use the baked sugar later for any baked goods.
16. Freeze the crust with the paper and weights for 15 minutes.
17. Par-bake the crust with the parchment and weights for 15 minutes.
18. Remove the crust from the oven, gently lift the parchment and weights from the crust and place them into a bowl to cool.
19. Return the crust to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. 
20. Remove the pie crust and brush egg white over the bottom. This will ensure no filling seeps out of the crust.
21. Pour the filling into the crust.
22. Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425℉ and then reduce the temperature to 350℉ and bake for another 45-50 minutes, until the center is set and a stick inserted into the pie comes out clean.
23. Remove the pie from the oven, let it cool completely.
24. Make the whipped cream by combine heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste into a medium sized bowl. Using a hand mixer beat this mixture until medium peaks. Fill into a piping bag with desired tip and dollop onto top of cooled pie.