Introducing Praline Pumpkin Pie, AKA a new Thanksgiving must! Creamy pumpkin pie topped with crunchy, chewy brown sugar pecans for the perfect flavor and texture combination in every bite! Be the hero of Thanksgiving with this new twist on the comforting classics!
No Thanksgiving is complete without comforting, creamy pumpkin pie, or at least crazy popular Pumpkin Pie Dip. And no Thanksgiving is complete without nutty, brown sugar Pecan Pie. Every year, everyone has a favorite pie, and every year, multiple pies are made to appease everyone’s loyalties. But what if you could combine two favorites – would the pie become that much more delicious? The answer is a resounding yes! The answer is this Praline Pumpkin Pie.
To make this Praline Pumpkin Pie structurally sound and not too sweet, we can’t just pop one pie on top of the other. A traditional pumpkin pie isn’t sturdy enough to support an additional topping, so first we whisk pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves together in a medium saucepan then cook for 4 minutes. This additional 4 minute step is crucial, as it evaporates extra liquid in the pumpkin for a thicker, sturdier, more concentrated pumpkin filling.
Next, we remove the filling from the heat and whisk in in evaporated milk followed by eggs and vanilla. Finally, we pour our filling into our pie crust and bake for 40-50 minutes. We want the pie to be cracked around the edges (which will be covered by the topping), as the secret to the best pumpkin pie is a filling that is thoroughly set.
For the easy Praline Topping, we combine chopped pecans, brown sugar, vanilla and a small amount of corn syrup. We sprinkle this Topping over the Pumpkin Pie and bake another 20 minutes, just long enough for the pecans to roast and the topping to clump as the buttery browns sugar and corn syrup melt and coat the pecans. This super easy, simplified approach to the Praline adds a buttery, cinnamon, brown sugar crunch without all the work of boiling pecans with corn syrup for a sticky topping that may be too sweet when paired with Pumpkin Pie. This Praline Topping, however, is perfection.
With its creamy rich pumpkin custard base and crunchy brown sugar butter pecan topping, just one bite of this Praline Pumpkin Pie will conquer the great Thanksgiving table pie divide, and all will be united in Praline Pumpkin Pie love. Happy Pie Day!
Praline Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
PUMPKIN FILLING
- 15 ounces pure pumpkin NOT pumpkin pie filling
- ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Praline Topping
- 1 cup pecans finely chopped
- ⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon dark corn syrup may substitute light
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Instructions
Pumpkin Filling
- Add pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves to a medium saucepan and whisk to combine. Cook over medium-high heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and whisk in evaporated milk followed by eggs and vanilla. Pour filling into pie crust.
- Bake at 350°F for 40-50 minutes – UNTIL pie is cracked around the edges and the center barely jiggles.
Praline Topping
- While pie is baking, add pecans, brown sugar and salt to a bowl and stir until evenly combined. Add corn syrup and vanilla and mix until evenly moistened.
- Sprinkle Topping evenly over filling then evenly sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Return pie to oven (you may need to cover edges of crust with foil) and bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let pie cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours.
Make-Ahead
- Pie can be made and cooled 2 days ahead of time then wrapped in plastic and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
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Do you think this would do okay if baked in mini cheesecake pans? I’m going for a dessert charcuterie board and love this for my pumpkin element. Thanks!
That sounds like such a fun idea, Miriam! It should be okay to bake in mini cheesecake pans. I would follow this mini cheesecake recipe for the proper bake times.
we will need to make it again with adjusted times/temperatures as the pecans have all burnt terribly. can I double-check that it needs DARK brown sugar, I ask because even before it burnt the mixture looked far too dark to match the picture above?
Hi Stacey, if the pecans start to burn you can tent the pie with foil to help prevent that. We do use dark brown sugar and dark corn syrup for this recipe but you are more than welcome to sub the brown sugar for regular brown sugar if you prefer.
We didn’t love it. It was kind of bland so if I was to make it again, I would probably up the spices. The topping was liquid after I took it out of the refrigerator since we had baked it the day before. Is it supposed to be liquid? My son takes home ec so we decided to give this a try for Thanksgiving but unfortunately, it was just OK.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this pie Lisa. The topping should be more crumbly like the image, I can’t say for sure why yours had liquid. All I can think of is that liquid came from the pie itself. If pumpkin pie is overbaked it can weep on the top.
It’s very nice
Love your recipes!
❤️
I have never commented on a recipe, but, this is SO yummy I had to.
Everyone loved this, I am making two more right now.
I don’t even really like pumpkin pie but, this one!!!!!
It is yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for coming back and leaving a review Deb! So glad everyone loved this recipe. Happy Thanksgiving!
I thought this was very different and made this pie for the 2019 Kern County Fair in Bakersfield CA. I placed 5th in the pumpkin pie division. I’m from Taft CA
Congrats on placing Ruth! So happy to hear this pie was a hit :)
This recipe was a total bomb at my family‘s Thanksgiving dinner. The pumpkin filling was not sweet enough and was overly spiced. The best part about this pie was the topping. Will definitely not be making this again.
I am planning on making this pie for thanksgiving, and just wanted to clarify if this was a regular crust or a graham cracker crust?
For this recipe, we used a graham cracker crust Nikkia. :)
I baked few pies the last couple days so I can choose one for my Thanksgiving party. I baked this today and just had some. It was so delicious, my husband said this is the best pumpkin pie he ever had. This pie is the winner on my Thanksgiving table. Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you so very much Beata! I am so glad hubby and you have enjoyed the pie. I hope the rest of your family loves it too!
This pie looks delicious and would like to make it for Thanksgiving. Can I freeze the pumpkin pie? And should it be stored at room temperature?
Hi Beata, you can freeze this pie and bake closer to Thanksgiving.
I have had this dessert b4 and begged my boss for this recipe. He always forgot to send it to me. This looks exactly like the pie he brought in to work. Reading this recipe, it sounds like this is the same one. Sounds very decadent. Cant wait to try this!
You’ll really enjoy it I’m sure Missy!
Baking it now!! Taste tests already with the whisk and spoons tell me it will be delicious! No corn syrup here, but im going to put a Tablespoon of organic molasses…I think it will add to it. Thanks so much!!!! That, and our turkey, smell so good cooking…Merry Christmas to all!!
Let me know how it turns out Monica!
If using premade pue dough do you bake first? Or fill raw?
No need to bake the crust first. It’ll bake along with the filling. Enjoy Kelly!
I am currently baking this pie as I am typing this. :) I’m thinking about adding a tablespoon of butter to the pecan topping… Do you think it would still bake okay? Or should I forgo the butter? I’m a sucker for a buttery praling topping. :)
The filling seems to make too much, you’ll need to cut back on how much you pour into the pie crust in order to leave room for the filling.
Luckily I had only a huge steel pie pan that was made in Austria…..it still went to the top, but there was enough room for the topping. One may also put a cookie sheet under or on the next shelf down in case it boils over. Mine did just a bit. The backstrap molasses turned out wonderfully since I didn’t have corn syrup. My husband loved it (so did I). He almost ate a quarter of the pie even after eating a full turkey dinner. He never eats that much…..
What kind of pie crust is that in the picture?
the recipe says 115 oz of pumpkin. Is that suppsed to say 11.5?
This uses one 15oz can of pumpkin. :)
This was incredible! This is by far my favorite pumpkin pie.
I can’t wait to try your other recipes. Happy Thanksgiving!
YAY!! I’m so glad you loved it Alex! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too!
Is the pie above made with a graham cracker crust with added pecans?
Does not look like a regular pie crust in the pic.
You can use any crust you like for this recipe. Yes, that is a graham crust.
This looks sinful!! Thanks for sharing!