Pumpkin Cream Pie with Gingerbread Crust

Preheat your oven to 325 F.

In the bowl of your food processor, place the gingersnap cookies. Pulse until completely ground up (it should look like sand). Take about 1/4 cup of the ground cookie crumbs out of the food processor and set them aside for garnish later on.

Into the food processor with the rest of the crumbs, add the melted butter, pinch of salt and confectioners’ sugar. Pulse again until the ingredients come together.

Pour the gingerbread crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie dish/pan. Press the crumbs firmly onto the bottom of the dish and halfway up the sides. Bake at 325 F for 12-15 minutes or until the crust is set and browned slightly. Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely.

To prepare your filling, combine the already prepared vanilla pudding, cornstarch mixed with cold water, half-and-half and 1/2 cup heavy cream in a large saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Whisk to combine. Add the vanilla extract, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice and whisk again to combine. Bring the mixture a boil, stirring continuously with a heavy wooden spoon. Once the mixture has reached a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and continue to stir until the mixture has thickened substantially. Add the pumpkin puree and stir again until all of the pumpkin has been incorporated. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

While your filling mixture is cooling, combine the remaining 2 cups of heavy cream and 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with whisk attachment fixed. Beat on medium speed for 5-6 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Divide the whipped cream in two.

Place half of the whipped cream in an airtight container and refrigerate for later. Set the other half aside to fold into your pumpkin mixture.

Once your pumpkin mixture has cooled completely, fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture. Once thoroughly combined, pour the mixture into the cooled pie crust. Spread the filling to cover the crust then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours.

Once your pie has chilled and set, top with your reserved whipped cream (the whipped cream you placed in the fridge). Top with the reserved gingerbread cookie crumbs. Keep cool until ready to serve.

This can be made a day or two ahead of time. Just keep the whipped cream (for the top) and the pie separate until you are ready to serve. Enjoy!