Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust

A slice of pumpkin pie with marshmallow topping on a small plate.

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Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust

This brown butter pumpkin pie has a spiced gingersnap crust and toasted marshmallow meringue topping! Perfect for Thanksgiving.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 15

Total Time1 45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: slices

Calories: 544kcal

Author: Ella Gilbert

Equipment

1 9" pie plate

Ingredients

Gingersnap Crust

1 ½ cups gingersnap cookie crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
pinch salt
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger

Pumpkin Pie Filling

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large eggs room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
15 oz pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
⅓ cup sour cream

Marshmallow Fluff Topping

2 large egg whites room temperature
7 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch kosher salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Make Gingersnap Crust

Preheat your oven to 350℉/175℃. Pulse the gingersnap cookies in a food processor until you have fine crumbs.
1 ½ cups gingersnap cookie crumbs
Mix the cookie crumbs with the melted butter, pinch of salt, light brown sugar, ginger, and ground cinnamon. Stir until the crumbs are evenly moist.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, pinch salt, 4 tablespoons light brown sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Pour the crumbs into a 9-inch pie dish (deep dish or regular!). Use the bottom of a measuring cup to press the crumbs into the bottom and sides of the dish. Use the back of a small spoon to help create a kind of corner, where the edge and bottom of the dish meets. This creates a rounded edge and it'll be easier to slice!
Bake in the preheated oven for 8-9 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Make Pie Filling

Brown your butter. Place the butter in a small saucepan on the stove over medium-low heat. Stir until the butter has melted. Soon it'll start to foam and sputter. Continue stirring, you'll see white milk solids at the bottom of the pan. After a few minutes, the butter will stop sputtering and the milk solids will turn golden brown. It will smell nutty and toasted. Take the pan off the heat and pour the brown butter (making sure you scrape out all the brown bits!) into a bowl. Let cool.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Keep the oven at 350℉/175℃ with a rack in the center of the oven.
Whisk together the eggs, sugars and vanilla. Add the pumpkin puree, spices and salt. Whisk in your sour cream, and heavy cream. Finally, stir in the brown butter.
3 large eggs, ½ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, 15 oz pumpkin puree, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves, pinch ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup heavy cream, ⅓ cup sour cream
Pour the filling into the crust. Tap on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Depending on the size of your dish you might have some leftover pie filling so keep that in mind! Place in the oven.
After 25-30 minutes, check on the pie. If the edges are looking brown I recommend placing aluminum foil on the edges so they don't brown.
Bake for 45 minutes and check it, the filling should be puffed but the edges should have set. You may need another 5 or 10 minutes! Note, depending on your oven you may need less time so keep an eye on it!
Open the oven door and keep it open a crack with the handle of a wooden spoon. This helps it cool down slowly so it is less likely to crack.
Once completely cool, take out of the now cold oven and let chill in the fridge for 2 hours before enjoying.

Marshmallow Topping

Place the egg whites, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl - I prefer using a metal bowl for this.
2 large egg whites, 7 tablespoons granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar, pinch kosher salt
Fill a saucepan with an inch or two of water on the stove and place over medium-low heat, so the water begins to simmer. Place the bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water.
Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves. It'll go from thick to frothy. To test, I like to lift the whisk up and rub the mixture between my fingers. Careful, it might be hot! You shouldn't feel any of the sugar.
Take the bowl off the double boiler and place it in your stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a handheld mixer). Add the vanilla.
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat on high speed for 5 minutes, or until you get stiff and glossy peaks. Frost your chilled pumpkin pie with the topping and use a blowtorch to toast it!

Video

Notes

My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams and cups. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. Just click on ‘Metric’ above the ingredients.

Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt.

Amount of Marshmallow: If you want even taller marshmallow topping, double the recipe and follow the instructions.

Crust: If you don't want a gingersnap crust, swap out the gingersnaps for graham cracker crumbs and increase the butter to 6 tablespoons (85 grams). You can also swap it out for a regular pie crust.

Broiler: If you don't have a kitchen blowtorch, I have tested toasting the marshmallow meringue under the broiler. Keep a very close eye on it as it can go from toasty to burnt very quickly.

Pie Dish: This recipe uses a regular 9"-pie dish, but you can also use a deep dish if that's all you have! Depending on the size of your dish, you may have some leftover pie filling so be careful when pouring it into the pie crust.

Storage: Cover leftovers tightly and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Nutrition