I don't waste food. Unless it's been slobbered on, dropped on the floor, or otherwise turned inedible, any leftovers get saved for later use. This week I had half of a big can of pumpkin puree in the fridge and some gingersnaps left from my Pumpkin Caramel Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust. I knew I could put the two together somehow, in something other than cheesecake, so I put my thinking cap on and came up with plain old pumpkin pie on top of a super-easy gingersnap crust.I thought the gingersnaps would soften a little, but stay a bit crunchy. Boy was I wrong...and pleasantly surprised! The gingersnaps softened just enough to taste and feel exactly like gingerbread! Did you know they could do that?? I was totally shocked.
Gingerbread Pumpkin Pie
(pumpkin pie filling recipe from the back of a Libby's can)
2 big handfuls of crunchy gingersnaps (I'd say it's about 20-25 of them)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
15 ozs pumpkin puree
12 ozs evaporated milk
- Arrange gingersnaps in the bottom of a pie plate, as shown. You don't have to be very careful with this, because they'll move around a bit when your pour the filling in.
Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl.- Beat eggs in large bowl.
- Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture.
- Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
- Gently pour onto gingersnaps.
- Bake in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes.
- Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.
- Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
We like our pumpkin pie, whatever the crust may be, cold. Whipped cream is nice, but this gingerbread crust called for a scoop of eggnog ice cream. Yum.
I love how you can see the individual, moistened cookies on the bottom.
Hooray for food science!
