One of the best things about sugar cookie bars or even Texas sheet cake is the sheer amount of treats that you can get from one pan with only having to pour the batter once instead of having to roll out a bunch of cookies or individual treats. This pumpkin slab pie takes the same concept but with pumpkin pie. So instead of making one or two small pumpkin pies that don’t feed many people at all (especially if you have pumpkin lovers in your family like I do), you can feed a whole crowd at once! It’s a little bit more complicated to make than no bake pumpkin pie but about the same as regular pumpkin pin. And like I said, it feeds a lot more than a standard pie! I personally am not a lover of traditional pumpkin pie, but I love this delicious pie. I don’t know if it’s the silky smooth filling, the thicker crust, or just the flavor but it really is the best pumpkin pie recipe I’ve made. I could eat the entire thing! And I do, pretty much all fall season long!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy as pie – if you’ve ever made a homemade pie before, it’s not much different than that other than using a jelly roll pan instead of a pie pan! It’s a similar process of rolling out the pie crust then adding the pumpkin pie filling to the pie crust then baking. Perfect to make ahead – this pie is good both at room temperature and chilled, which makes it perfect to make ahead of time (to save your oven for the sausage stuffing and fresh homemade crescent rolls). Serves a ton – if you go with decent size slices, this serves 15. If you go with even smaller slices or mini pumpkin pies, this can serve even more! And since you’re cutting it into squares instead of into slices, it’s actually easier to cut into more pieces!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Pie crust – I used store-bought pie crusts for this recipe but you could also use your favorite flaky pie crust recipe. Just double the recipe and use it in place of the store-bought. Brown sugar – I like to use dark brown sugar but light brown sugar works as well if that’s all you have or can find.Heavy cream – this is best with the rich heavy cream (that you use in homemade whipped cream) but if you’d prefer to go a little less fat content or you don’t have heavy cream, whole milk or half and half can be used as well. Pumpkin puree – make sure you’re using pure pumpkin puree for this recipe. Canned pumpkin pie filling is totally different and won’t work. Pumpkin pie spice – you can use either store-bought pumpkin pie spice or your favorite homemade pumpkin pie spice as well. Decorator’s sugar – if you want to add pie crust decorations on top with the extra pie crust, you’ll need some decorator’s sugar (or raw sugar) to add that touch of sweetness! You could also use regular sugar, but it’s not nearly as pretty. If you don’t want to decorate the top of the pie, you could make these pie crust cookies instead!
If you’ve like a complete list of ingredients and measurements, make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full recipe card!
How to make pumpkin slab pie
If you’ve ever made a homemade pie before, whether it’s pumpkin pie or even homemade apple pie, the process is similar to that!
1 – Prep the Pie Dough
Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. To prepare your work surface, lightly flour a clean surface. Next take three pie crusts out of the package and stack them on top of each other then roll dough out into a 12×18 inch rectangle. This doesn’t have to be perfect, but try to get it close to this size so it fits into the jelly roll pan correctly. Put the pie crust that you just rolled out into 10×15 inch jelly roll pan. Note that this is different than a baking sheet you’d normally make cookies on. It’s also not the same as a half sheet pan, which is smaller. From here, form the dough around the inside of the pan. Any excess crust can be trimmed off and crimped around the edges with something like a pie dough crimper. Or just cut, that works too. Once that’s all put in and cut, set the pie crust aside while you make the pumpkin filling. If you’re not making the filling right away, you can put the pie crust dough in the fridge so that it doesn’t dry out.
2 – Make the Pumpkin Pie Filling
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, heavy cream, evaporated milk, eggs, vanilla, cornstarch, pumpkin spice, and salt until they are all mixed together and smooth. You can add these all together at once, just make sure to whisk them until they’re completely combined and smooth. You don’t want random clumps of brown sugar or salt in a piece of pie. Pour the large bowl of pumpkin pie mixture into the pie crust and smooth out the top. I use a rubber spatula to smooth it out and get it even across the bottom of the crust.
3 – Bake the pumpkin Slab pie
Place the pie into the oven and bake for 28-32 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the pie to cool completely still in the pan on a wire rack (to allow the air to flow through to cool down the bottom of the pan). While the pie is cooling, you can make some festive crust decorations if you want like I did for mine. These are totally optional but make this the perfect pumpkin pie to impress your family and friends!
4 – Make the Pie Crust Decorations
While you have the pie in the oven, unroll the last pie crust on a lightly floured surface. cut out the dough with fall themed cookie cutters, or whatever shape you want your cut outs to be! If you’re super artistic this could also be done by hand with a small knife. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Place the fall cutouts onto the lined baking sheet. Beat the egg and a splash of water together and lightly brush the egg wash over the pie crust cut outs then sprinkle the cut outs with decorator’s sugar. Once the pumpkin pie comes out of the oven, put the sheet of cut outs into the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until they are golden brown. Let them cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet.
5 – Decorate the Pie
After the pie has cooled to room temperature slice the pie and top each piece with one of these fun fall pie crust cutouts. It’s an easy way to really elevate this pumpkin slab pie recipe to something that not only tastes delicious but looks amazing as well! Serve at room temperature or chilled with whipped cream, Cool Whip, caramel, vanilla sauce, chocolate sauce, or even homemade hot fudge. Oh and of course ice cream is always a good option!
Expert Tips and Storage Info
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days. Serve leftovers chilled directly from the fridge or allow it to come to room temperature before eating. Don’t put it back in the oven or the microwave to warm up again! Freeze this pie for up to three months by placing it in a freezer safe container and freezing. I like to cut this into smaller pies or slices and freeze then just defrost however much you want of the pie when you’re craving pumpkin pie throughout the year!
More Easy Pumpkin Desserts
If you like to serve pumpkin desserts at your Thanksgiving dinner, make sure to check out these yummy recipes to go along with this delicious pumpkin pie recipe!
Pumpkin magic cake – layers of delicious pumpkin flavor topped with a cream cheese frosting! Pumpkin cupcakes – the most moist and delicious pumpkin cupcakes topped with a cheesecake frosting. Pumpkin crunch cake – this is the cake that I make for Thanksgiving every year (including last year). Pumpkin delight – this layered pumpkin dessert has layers of pumpkin, cream cheese filling, and a graham cracker crust! Pumpkin cheesecake bars – creamy and delicious bars full of pumpkin and cheesecake flavor!
