Gingersnap Crust Pumpkin Pie

Are you looking for a new Fall treat? Try this twist on the classic pumpkin pie. Valley’s writer, Susannah Foos, entered in the annual Pumpkin Pie Contest at the Pumpkin Festival located in Enola, Pennsylvania. Her pie award winning pie had judges begging for one last bite. Her once secret pie is now public for the world to see. This indulgent pumpkin pie will surely have your taste buds going wild for pumpkin.

What you’ll need:

Gingersnap Crust
1 ¾ cup Gingersnap Cookie
¼ cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 tbsp. Flour
½ tsp. Salt
4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter (melted)

Pumpkin Pie
2 Eggs
2 cups Pumpkin Puree
1 ½ cup Evaporated Milk
½ cup Sugar
1/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground Ginger
½ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
¼ tsp. Ground Cloves
½ tsp. Salt
4 decent shakes of Pumpkin Pie Spice

Cream Cheese Topping
3oz. Softened Cream Cheese
¼ cup Softened Unsalted Butter
½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 cup Powdered Sugar

Caramel Topping
Half a package of soft chewy caramels
¼ cup Evaporated Milk

What to do:

Gingersnap Pie Crust
1. Preheat oven to 350º F
2. Place the Gingersnap Cookies in a food processor and blend until an even dust. Whist Gingersnap crumbs, dark brown sugar, flour, and salt into a large bowl. Slowly mix in the melted butter and continue stirring until well combined.
3. Press the mixture against the sides of the bowl to see if it sticks. If the mixture does not stick, add a dash of water and mix thoroughly.
4. Press the crumb mixture into the base and walls of any sized pie pan.
5. Chill in the freezer for 10minutes.
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 350ºF.

Pumpkin Pie
1. Increase oven to 375°F
2. Mix all pumpkin pie ingredients listed above together into a large bowl, mix well.
3. Pour mixture into pie pan and bake for 35-45 minutes at 375°F.
4. Once the filling is firm, take the pie out of the oven to cool and it refrigerate overnight.

Cream Cheese Topping
1. Place the cream cheese, softened unsalted butter, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar into a medium bowl.
2. Mix ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth.

Caramel Topping
1. Put a pan of water on the stove with a sauce pan resting on top.
2. Put the caramels and evaporated milk into the sauce pan.
3. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until all the caramels are melted and the liquid is even.

Assembly of the Toppings
1. Fill a pastry bag with the cream cheese topping and pipe it on top of the pie.
2. Take the caramel topping with the wooden spoon and lightly drizzle the caramel on top of the pie and cream cheese topping.