Alton Brown's Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Crust

If you are tired of the same pie crust for your pumpkin pie then I suggest checking out the recipe created by my favorite Food Network star, Alton Brown. Instead of a regular pie crust, he created a crust made with gingersnap cookies.

📋 What's New In This Post (9/30/25) - Added additional details about the ingredients used.

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Jump to:

• A Pumpkin Pie Revelation
• 📋 Ingredients
• 🥧 Crust
• 💡 Tops Tips
• 🍴 Alternative Recipes
• Alton Brown's Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust

📋 Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make Alton's pie.

Crust

• Gingersnap cookies - Stauffer Ginger Snap cookies are my go-to. They are the best tasting ones with tons of ginger flavor and are perfectly crisp. They make for an excellent crust.
• Dark brown sugar - Alton also calls for dark brown sugar. You can use light brown sugar in the same proportion. However I like richer molasses flavor of dark brown sugar.
• Ground ginger - My favorite ground ginger is the Buffalo Ground ginger from Burlap & Barrel. I wouldn't sub fresh ginger because it has moisture in it that could throw off the crust.
• Butter - I only buy salted butter, so I am ok using it in this recipe and any other recipe even when they call for unsalted butter. I have never thought the end result was too salty.

Filling

• Fresh pumpkin puree - If you can use fresh pumpkin that will be the best option. I will share more on that below.
• Half and half - Heavy cream would be too rich and milk on it's own wouldn't be rich enough, that is why half and half is perfect.
• Freshly grated nutmeg - Buy whole nutmeg and grate it yourself with a Microplane grater or similar. Trust me it will make a huge difference.
• Kosher salt
• Dark brown sugar
• Large eggs - One of the eggs you will only use the yolk. You can save the white for another use.

I wanted some spices in my pie that Alton didn't call for. So I added ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves to the filling. I can't imagine a pumpkin pie without these. They are optional thought just not in my house.

🥧 Crust

Alton forgoes the traditional crust in favor of one that combines crusted up ginger snaps with brown sugar, ginger, and butter. The crust was pretty easy to make. I love it. My wife prefer a traditional crust. Some years we will make two pies during the holiday season so that we are both happy.

The crust is easier to make than a traditional pie crust since you don't have to roll out dough. But that doesn't mean it isn't without it's pitfalls. In the above photo, you can see I tried to get the crust to climb up the pie pan but I had mixed results. The crust doesn't have the strength to hold it together like a dough pie crust. Fat is the only thing holding it together, you aren't creating any gluten. So don't worry if your crust is only adhering to the bottom.

💡 Tops Tips

Here are some of my top tips for making this pie.

• This recipe calls for homemade pumpkin puree, not the stuff out of a can. Alton gave instructions on how to make the puree. For more details, read my post on the puree.
• The filling was also pretty easy to make. Be careful not to burn your pumpkin puree when you are heating it up. Mine was pretty thick already, so I just warmed it before adding the half and half. Speaking of which, I like that he used half and half instead of the condensed milk that most recipes call for. We don't need no can anything in our pumpkin pie recipe!

• My wife likes her pumpkin pie with a lot of cloves, so I added them even thought they weren't in the recipe.

My favorite cloves come from a single origin spice company called Burlap & Barrel. I also add a little bit of cinnamon (about ½ teaspoon).

• The cooking time is suppose to be between 45-50 minutes. The center of the pie should be jiggly while the outsides pretty set. For me at 40 minutes the center was pretty well set, not jiggly at all. But we like out pumpkin pie to be on the firm side in this household so I wasn't disappointed.

🍴 Alternative Recipes

You can make these into mini pies. Alton said that you could get 5 mini pies from this recipe. His pies were made in 5 inch pie tins. Bake time should be around 25 minutes. Again the pie should be jiggly in the center while set on the outside.

For a real modern twist on this recipe you try making individual sous vide pies in mason jars. I did and I absolutely loved it. It's more of an inverted pie as the topping goes on top after the filling is cooked.

Learn How to Make Sous Vide Pumpkin Pie - Based on Alton Brown's recipe.

Every year we make this pie and every year it gives rave reviews. Thanks Alton Brown for starting a tradition in our home.