Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie is a pumpkin pie with a cream cheese swirl that makes this dessert the perfect combination of pumpkin pie and cheesecake. Try my Pumpkin Cheesecake for another rich and delicious pumpkin dessert.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie
Fall is the perfect time to add a little (or a lot) of pumpkin flavoring to all of your favorite treats. And, why settle for a traditional pumpkin pie when you can add some cream cheese to the dessert? Plus, with a beautiful marble design in the pie, this dessert is as lovely as it is delicious.
What makes this pie different from Pumpkin Cheesecake? It is the purity of the flavors. In this pie, the pumpkin is the star and it complimented beautiful sweet bites with the cream cheese swirl. I have loved my Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe forever, but this one is a new contender for the favorite! I loved how each bite was a slightly different, but so pleasing, experience.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie Recipe
It all starts with my Homemade Pie Crust for this recipe. However, you can definitely use a store-bought pie crust if that works better for you. I also have an Impossible Pumpkin Pie that doesn’t even have a crust, if you want to try that, too!
Preparing the Homemade Pie Crust
Before we can get to making the pie, the homemade pie crust dough does need to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of one hour. We let the dough chill overnight for the best results. Let it come to room temperature before rolling it out. I will go into that more below.
Whether you make your own homemade pie crust or use a store-bought crust for this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie, it has to be baked for ten minutes first. Preheat the oven to 375°F and place the pie crust in a 9-inch pie pan. Next, cinch the edge of the pie crust to create your desired shape.
Then, before baking the crust, be sure to dock it. To dock the crust simply means to poke holes in the crust with a fork. This will help the crust to cook more evenly and prevent any pockets or bubbles from forming in the crust. (You may also want to add pie weights.) Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven to cool a bit before adding the filling.
Why Did My Pie Crust Fail?
Well, hopefully, you don’t need to read this part, but there are some reasons your pie crust may have fallen or shrunk. Sometimes the pie crust can fall during blind baking (such as during the 10 minutes of baking time before adding the filling). Here are some things to keep in mind so your pie crust turns out every time:
- Chill the pie crust dough for a minimum of one hour before working with it. In fact, we found the best results happened when we chilled the dough overnight. But, be sure to let the dough come to room temperature before working with it.
- Do not over-handle the dough when rolling it out.
- Dock the crust OR add pie weights before blind baking. Docking is simply poking holes into the crust to allow steam to escape. Don’t forget to dock up the sides of the crust as well. Adding pie weights is another way to blind-bake a crust. When adding pie weights, line the top of the crust with parchment paper or heavy-duty aluminum foil. Use pie weights, pennies, rice, or dried beans to hold down the crust when baking.
- Make sure the water is ice cold when adding to the dough.
- When trimming around the pie crust, leave a little extra over the edge to fold under for a proper border.
How to Store
Let the pie cool completely, then loosely wrap it in plastic. Refrigerate for 3-4 days. If the pie has been cut into, I prefer to store individual pieces in airtight containers.
Can I Freeze Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie?
Yes! To freeze the pumpkin cream cheese pie, wrap the completely cooled pie in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place into a freezer-safe sealable plastic bag or airtight container. Be sure to label and date. It will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
More Holiday Pies
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie
Ingredients
- 1 homemade pie crust, or 9-inch store-bought crust
- 2 packages (16 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Place the unbaked pie crust in a 9-inch pie pan. Cinch the edge of your pie crust to create your desired shape.
- Dock the crust (poke holes in the crust with a fork) before baking OR use pie weights. (See the section above for tips on making a perfect pie crust.)
- Bake the pie crust for 10 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you prepare the filling.
- In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and flour with a hand mixer on low speed until creamy.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the cream cheese mixture and set it aside.
- To the remaining cream cheese mixture in the large bowl, add the pumpkin. Then, add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, followed by the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Beat on medium speed until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the baked crust.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the milk and reserved cream cheese mixture. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Spoon dollops of the reserved cream cheese mixture onto the pumpkin mixture.
- Use a knife to swirl the cream cheese mixture into the pumpkin mixture in an S-shaped motion. Then, rotate the pie pan a quarter turn and repeat the S-shaped design. This will give the pie that beautiful marbled look.
- Bake the pie for 20 minutes. Then, cover the edge of the crust with aluminum foil and bake another 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool on the counter for 30 minutes.
- Transfer the pie to the refrigerator to let chill for 4-5 hours before serving.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
This recipe was inspired by Betty Crocker’s Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie with Cookie Crust.
I’ve made this four years running now; I love it so much. This was the first year that I didn’t have extra filling — and that’s because I was super careful to make sure I had no slumping when I blind baked my pie crusts (I watched the ATK Holiday Pies episode and followed their maneuvers). I do think I needed a little extra milk, because it was hard to swirl the cream cheese since my kitchen was cold maybe.
The only problem I have is that no matter what, my pie surfaces always crack, even if I’m careful to take them out when they still have a slight wobble, and even checked with a thermometer until the centers were just 165F. Does anyone have suggestions on how to avoid cracking? They still taste delicious, and my family doesn’t care, but once in awhile I like a perfect presentation.