The One Reason Alton Brown's Pumpkin Pie Is the Best Ever

Here's a hint: It’s all in the crust.

I am a huge pumpkin pie fan, but my favorite recipe ever, the one from Flour Bakery, requires nearly seven hours to make. The flaky pate brisée crust, melt-in-your-mouth rich with butter, milk, and egg yolk, is the culprit for much of this prep time. To mix the ingredients, cream the butter into the dough, chill the dough, and blind-bake it takes at least six hours!

For an easier and yet still tasty alternative, I recently discovered the gingersnap cookie crust. Crumb crusts are far faster and easier to make than pastry crusts. You just stick the cookies in a food processor with some sugar and melted butter, and the crust is ready to go!

My favorite version is from Alton Brown. For his Best Pumpkin Pie, he spikes his gingersnap cookie crust with an extra teaspoon of ground ginger. This gives it a delightful boost of spice and enhances the flavor of the nutmeg-spiced pumpkin filling. A tablespoon of dark brown sugar boosts the gingersnaps’ molasses notes. The whole effect feels very autumnal yet yields a delicious and quick-to-make pumpkin pie!

I’ve prepared this crust several times, so I think I really have it down now. I’ve even added some tweaks of my own to make it a surefire success.

Tips for Making Alton Brown’s Gingersnap Crust

• Grind the gingersnaps to fine crumbs: I initially tried crushing the gingersnaps in a zip-top bag with a rolling pin. However, for this recipe, you really need a food processor to make the gingersnap crumbs small enough for the butter to bind them together.

• Add enough butter to bring everything together: Although I love its flavor, Brown’s crust calls for just two tablespoons of melted butter. That relatively small amount made the crust too crumbly and hard to pack down, and it ended up a bit soggy after adding the filling and baking it. I add an extra two tablespoons of butter to bring the crust together and keep it crisp.

• Use a measuring cup to press down the crust: A measuring cup with a flat bottom is my favorite tool for packing down a loose crumb crust. Start by patting an even amount up the sides of your pie tin before packing down the bottom. Slowly keep working your way around the sides and bottom until you have a neat, firm crust.

• Bake the crust on a baking sheet to reduce mess: Brown suggests baking the crust (and the pie itself) on a baking sheet, and I highly recommend you don’t skip this step! The crust is fairly crumbly, and adding a baking sheet underneath will help catch any stray crumbs, keeping your oven neat.

With this crust recipe, and my extra intel, you can turn out holiday pies in no time! And I don’t know about you, but I love this crust so much that I intend to try it out for icebox pies with summer fillings in the warm months, too.

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