Pumpkin Pie Bars Recipe - Crunchy Creamy Sweet (2024)

FAQs

What makes pumpkin pie gritty? ›

As the egg proteins are heated, they begin to contract. Cook them hot enough, and they'll contract so much that they separate from each other into curds, giving your pie filling that grainy, wet texture. This recipe contains cream cheese in order to help the pie stay nice and smooth even if it's slightly overcooked.

Bake at the correct temperature.

A tip from Baker's Hotline at King Arthur Flour, make sure your oven is preheated and bake your pumpkin pie at the required temperature. It's a good idea to use an oven thermometer ($7, Target) to ensure the temperature is accurate. Cooling pumpkin pie too quickly also causes cracks.

Why this happens: The pie was underbaked, or the oven temperature wasn't high enough. This is another problem that can occur when you haven't baked a pumpkin pie long enough, or if the oven temperature wasn't high enough.

They are the same product. Both canned pumpkin puree and pie filling are useful, shelf-stable ingredients that can help speed up your kitchen prep time. Just remember that puree is unsweetened, while pie filling contains sugar and spices. This will help you choose the right pumpkin product for your recipes.

Often, blind-baking solves this problem. If you're making a single crust custard-filled pie, like a pumpkin pie, bake the pie dough first before adding filling to allow some of the moisture in the crust to evaporate. You can also totally blind-bake fruit pies.

If you do have the baking chops to make your own pumpkin pie, or at least apply your own glaze to a store-bought one, you, too, can adopt Costco's apricot jelly trick if you like a nice, shiny pie.

For better pumpkin pie, refrigerate the filling overnight

To that end, we've found that refrigerating pumpkin pie filling overnight before using it not only enhances the spices' flavors, but also mellows them. Any “sharp edges” disappear, and you're left with a smooth meld of complementary flavors.

Answer: A spokesperson for Libby's canned pumpkin says that the filling's shrinking away from the crust can be caused by the oven temperature being a little too high or the baking time a little too long. For best results, be certain the pie is baked at the recommended temperature in the center of the oven.

Although cracks don't affect the taste of the pie, they aren't all that pretty—and we all love to see an unblemished, smooth pumpkin pie.

Gently Nudge It

Similar to how you check a cheesecake for doneness, open the oven door and gently nudge, don't shake, the pie. The outer edges of the pie should be firm while the center will be a little jiggly, but not sloshy or unsteady.

Can you overcook a pumpkin pie? ›

According to the Libby's Pumpkin experts, if you see small bubbles in the filling around the edges of the pie, or if the filling separates from the crust, these are signs of overbaking. If either occurs, remove the pie from the oven immediately. Also, take care not to overbrown the edges of the pie pastry.

Don't use pumpkin pie filling in place of pumpkin purée.

Every can of pumpkin pie filling has a different amount of sugar and spices and if you add it to a bread or muffin recipe you might get a very sweet and not-spiced-enough loaf. Try this instead: Buy pumpkin purée!

Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

In this taste test, our Test Kitchen pros found that the biggest name in the pumpkin game does, in fact, make the best canned pumpkin on the market. Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin is a favorite among our culinary crew.

Canned pumpkin (labeled as "100% pure pumpkin") is a purée of pumpkin that is sometimes mixed with other kinds of winter squash. It is unsweetened and does not contain any added spices. Canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree are the same thing, and you'll often see the terms used interchangeably in recipes and cookbooks.

You have to get it right: If it's underdone, you have raw crust and gooey filling; if it's overdone, you have a cracked top and rubbery texture. And too much poking and prodding can make your lovely creation resemble the dark side of the moon by serving time.

This suggests the grittiness is lactose crystals (from the milk or from cooking at too high a temperature).

Curdling strikes a custard when the proteins in the eggs become denatured, the result of cooking the custard too fast or too hot. Pumpkin pie filling is a custard, and it, too, can have this issue, which is usually discovered once the pie is sliced, revealing filling that's lumpy with curds instead of nice and smooth.

Try to use a good quality brand that is fairly smooth and thick. Also we would mention that you should not use pumpkin puree that has been previously frozen as foods should not be thawed and re-frozen without cooking and also defrosted pumpkin puree can sometimes turn a bit grainy.