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Sourdough Pumpkin Pie

The Pantry Mama
Sourdough Pumpkin Pie is a delicious twist on this Thanksgiving classic. A flaky and buttery sourdough pie crust filled with velvety smooth pumpkin filling that's thickened with sourdough starter!
4.34 from 3 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 day 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 10
Calories 2801 kcal
SOURDOUGH PUMPKIN PIE - RECIPE FEATURE IMAGE
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Equipment

  • Pie Dish 1.4L / 1.47Q

Ingredients  

Sourdough Pie Crust

  • 250 g All Purpose Flour
  • 5 g Salt (or to taste)
  • 10 g Sugar (optional - see notes)
  • 230 g Unsalted Butter (must be COLD)
  • 200 g Sourdough Starter (or Sourdough Discard)
  • 10 g White Vinegar (or Apple Cider Vinegar)
  • 50 g Iced Water (just in case)

Pumpkin Pie Filling

  • 3 Eggs
  • 425 g Pumpkin Puree (15 oz can)
  • 240 g Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 60 g Milk (any milk is fine)
  • 5 g Vanilla Extract
  • 175 g Brown Sugar (light brown sugar)
  • 4 g Salt
  • 50 g Sourdough Starter (you can use 8g of cornstarch if you prefer)
  • 2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice (use more if you like it spicier)

Instructions 

Prepare the Sourdough Pie Crust

  • This recipe makes enough pie crust for 2 pumpkin pies. You can double the filling to make 2 pumpkin pies, or put the second disc of sourdough pie crust in the freezer to use another day. Alternatively, your pie dish may take more pastry. Either way it's nice to have options.
  • Add all purpose flour, salt and sugar to a large mixing bowl and stir together until well combined. Set aside for now.
  • Grate the cold butter into a bowl. If the butter starts to melt or is very soft once grated, place the bowl into the freezer. This will help to firm the butter up and make the next step much easier. I cannot stress enough how important it is for the butter to be COLD.
  • Place the cold, grated butter into the bowl with the flour, salt and sugar and use a spatula, pastry cutter or simply your finger tips to coat the butter in the flour. You want the butter to stay cold, so try to touch it as little as you can.
  • Now, add the sourdough starter or discard and vinegar and bring the mixture into a dry, shaggy dough. It's best just to use your hands to squeeze the pastry dough together. It will be a rough, dry dough.
    If the dough really isn't coming together at all, add a little iced water until you are able to bring it together.
  • Tip the rough dough out onto the counter, divide the dough into two pieces and bring each piece into a rough ball. Wrap each ball of pastry dough in parchment paper and squash it down into a disc shape. Wrap each disc in cling wrap and place both discs into the fridge.
    If you prefer to just refrigerate as one ball, that's fine too. You can just divide the pastry into two pieces when you want to roll it out.
  • Leave the dough a minimum of one hour to fully hydrate and become cold. You can leave the dough in the fridge for up to 48 hours before you use it.
  • When you are ready to use the sourdough pastry to make a pie crust, take the dough out of the fridge and unwrap it. Dust the dough lightly with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to your desired size.
  • Gently place the sourdough pie crust into your chosen pie dish and gently push the pastry down to make it fit.
  • Once your pie crust is fitted inside your pie dish and you're happy with it, place a piece of parchment paper on top of the pastry and then weigh down with pie weights. Blind bake the pie crust for 10 minutes at 190C (375F).

Preparing the Pumpkin Pie Filling

  • While the sourdough pie crust is blind baking, prepare the pumpkin pie filling.
  • Whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs and brown sugar until they are well combined. Then add cream, milk, sourdough starter and spices and whisk until foamy. Set aside until the pie crust is par baked.

Baking the Pumpkin Pie

  • Once the sourdough pie crust has been par baked, remove the pie weights and fill the pie crust with the pumpkin pie filling. You want the filling to come up around 75% of the pie crust. It will rise while baking.
  • Return the pie to the oven for around 50 minutes to 1 hour. You want the middle of the pie to remain wobbly once it's done as it will firm up as it cools. If the crust is over browning before the filling is done, shield the edges of the pie with aluminum foil.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to sit at room temperature for around 2 hours before placing in the fridge to fully cool.

Notes

PIE CRUST

BUTTER - The butter MUST BE COLD. Frozen, grated butter is best. If you have time, grate the butter and place it into the freezer 30 minutes before you want to make the dough.
 
SUGAR - You can leave the sugar out if you prefer but I think you'll get a better colored crust if you leave it in.
 
FERMENTATION TIME - You don't have to ferment this pie crust. You can use it after it has been in the fridge for just one hour, but you will get a flakier, more flavorsome pie crust if you leave the dough in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 48 hours.
 
SOURDOUGH STARTER OR SOURDOUGH DISCARD - You can use either active, bubbly starter or sourdough discard (unfed) in this recipe. Make sure whatever you use is 100% hydration. You'll get the best results using sourdough starter that has been fed within the last 24 hours, but you can use discard that's up to a week old.
 

PUMPKIN PIE FILLING

PUMPKIN PUREE - In this filling, I have used homemade pumpkin puree made from butternut pumpkins. For this reason, the color of my pie is a darker brown, rather than orange, even though my puree is bright orange before it goes into the pie. It still tastes pumpkin-y though!
SOURDOUGH STARTER - you can use sourdough starter, sourdough discard or corn starch to thicken the filling, it's up to you. I've tried it both ways and I find I like the flavor from sourdough starter the best.
 

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE

I've added a small amount of pumpkin pie spice because I like to taste the pumpkin, but it you prefer more spice, then totally add more. If you want to make your own pumpkin pie spice (like me) then use this blend - it makes around 5 tablespoons:
  • 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
 

Nutrition

Calories: 2801kcal Carbohydrates: 244g Protein: 33g Fat: 190g Saturated Fat: 119g Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g Monounsaturated Fat: 49g Trans Fat: 8g Cholesterol: 495mg Sodium: 1972mg Potassium: 327mg Fiber: 8g Sugar: 16g Vitamin A: 5748IU Vitamin C: 0.1mg Calcium: 95mg Iron: 12mg
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