Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie

SERVES — Makes one 9” pie

The all-butter flaky pie crust never quite went with a pumpkin pie in my opinion– that’s better suited for a pile of apples, served warm. But a cookie crust, a la key lime pie, makes sense to me. The custardy filling melting slightly into the spiced cookie crust, softening where the two meet, giving way to a crunchy bottom layer– three glorious textures in one spectacular pie. Plus, the gingersnap cookies give you permission to pump the breaks on the spices in the filling, allowing the pumpkin flavor to truly sing. For most grocery store brand cookies, you could add an optional tablespoon of light brown sugar to taste (but likely won't need to!).

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 8 ounces spiced cookies such as gingersnaps, graham crackers, Biscoff
• 6 tablespoons/3 ounces/ 85g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar (optional, depending on your cookies)
• ½–1 teaspoon kosher salt (depending on your cookies)

For the Filling:

• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger or ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 large eggs
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving

Preparation

1. Make the Crust: Preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C (no fan).
2. Smash the graham crackers with your hands until you’ve got coarse crumbs (alternatively, use a food processor). You should end up with about 1 ½ cups crumbs.
3. Place crumbs in a medium bowl and add melted butter, brown sugar (if using) and salt. Using your hands or a spoon, mix well until you’ve got really moist crumbs, almost like wet sand.
4. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray (or grease it with softened/melted butter). Add crust mixture in an even layer, first pressing up the sides, then onto the bottom (a measuring cup is helpful here to make sure it’s evenly packed with nice edges).
5. Place pie plate onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the crust is baked through, set on the bottom, and starts to lightly brown around the edges, 12–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool (leave the oven on if continuing right away to the next step).
6. Make the filling: Reduce oven temperature to 325°F/162°C. In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin puree, both sugars, kosher salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, and whisk to combine. Add eggs and whisk until they’re fully incorporated, then add cream and whisk until combined.
7. Pour the filling into the prebaked crust, return the pie to the oven and bake until filling is no longer jiggling and appears set and slightly matte on top, 35–45 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let cool completely at room temperature before chilling. Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream, a bit of flaky salt and a crumble of a few extra gingersnaps (you can also serve from room temperature in a pinch, but will be much easier to slice if chilled)

DO AHEAD: Pumpkin pie can be baked the day before, kept in the refrigerator and chilled.

LEFTOVERS: No fancy ideas, just eating it the next day will bring you so much delight.