Chai Pumpkin Pie

Hey y’all!  I’m back today with a chai pumpkin pie recipe, which is the first pumpkin recipe featured on this site. How is that possible? Well, at any point if I have to choose between sweet potato or pumpkin, I’m always going to be #TeamSweetPotato.

Disclaimer 

You can absolutely use store bought crust — no one cares. The filling is so easy to put together and the addition of chai spices takes this pumpkin pie to the next level.

So this is a departure. And honestly it only happened because I was organizing my pantry stock and realized that I had a can of pumpkin that was expiring soon. You’re probably wondering why I, the self proclaimed Sweet Potato person even had a can of pumpkin. My dog June Bug has a wheat allergy, but pretends like she can eat whatever she wants. Typical beagle behavior.  Having cans of pumpkin is a survival tactic to ward against random bouts of upset puppy stomach.  I digress. No one wants to know about this but look at this face. 

Anyway, back to the chai pumpkin pie. My husband loves pumpkin pie but I never make it. So I had a can of pumpkin and an extra disk of vodka pie crust.  I figured I would give it a try.  Nothing to lose.  

Ingredients

Canned pumpkin — I’ve noticed lately that the canned pumpkin section is empty in the grocery stores near me. I googled it but didn’t find a definitive answer on if there is a pumpkin shortage. The latest article that I could find is from 2021. I’m curious though– is it available where you live? 

• Sweetened condensed milk. We’re getting a two for one here — milk + sugar. Easy, peasy. 
• Eggs. No comments on the eggs.  
• Vanilla extract 
• Bourbon, I used a healthy dose of Woodford Reserve. 
• Salt 

Chai spice mix.  I make a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, cloves and white pepper in bulk.  And add it anywhere a recipe calls for cinnamon & nutmeg. You can find the breakdown of the mix here. 

Pie crust. You can make a pie crust from scratch — I’ve been making the same vodka pie crust for YEARS.  As I said above– store bought pie crust is fine.  When I buy store bought, I grab the ones in the freezer section that are already in the pan.  A total time saver.

Notes:

Since I'm not by any stretch of the imagination an expert on pumpkin pie, I modified the recipe that comes on the back of the canned pumpkin.  I made three changes: 

• chai spice mix instead of cinnamon & nutmeg 
• A splash of bourbon for good measure 
• Blind baking the pie crust. 

The chai spice mix is a no- brainer because I love cardamom.  That’s literally all.  Cardamom over everything. A word of caution: if you have a sentimental attachment to pumpkin pie, think very carefully about whether or not Chai is right for you.  

Bourbon because Bourbon.  That should be self explanatory, but just in case, the flavor from the bourbon aged in an oak barrel adds a nice contrasting flavor to the warm spices and the sweetness of the custard.   But mostly, I put bourbon in everything that I can. 

I decided to blind bake my pie crust because I used homemade crust and could not imagine how disappointed I would be if the crust I spent all that time making turned out soggy. 

The result: One extremely happy husband and the realization that I might not hate pumpkin as much as thought.

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