English Toffee Pumpkin Pie

Creamy pumpkin custard + soft toffee layer + buttery crust

This might be my most favorite pumpkin pie of all time. The soft toffee layer paired with the light pumpkin custard makes for a truly special pumpkin pie. Not to mention the extra flakey buttery pie crust. Try it this year and I'll bet you anything, you'll get raves all around.

Layers of deliciousness

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 2 1/3 (300g) cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp fine salt

• 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed (I like to cut it and throw it in the freezer while I gather other ingredients)

• 2 teaspoons of fine salt

• 1/4 ( 60mL) cup of ice water

  
  

For the Toffee Layer

(Bottom Layer Only)

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

• 2 tbsp heavy cream

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• Pinch of salt

  
  

This creates a soft, sliceable toffee layer under the pumpkin filling.

For the Pumpkin Filling

• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp cloves

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

  (Note: If you don't have all of these spices in your cabinet, a good alternative is pumpkin pie spice, about 3 teaspoons. However, the fresh spices give the best flavor. )

Instructions

1. Make the Crust

1. Whisk together the flour and salt.

2. Cut in the cold butter until the pieces of butter are pea-sized. You can do this by hand or in the food processor.

3. Add ice water gradually until dough just comes together.

4. Form into a disk, wrap, and chill 1-2 hours.

5. Roll out into a 13-Inch pie plate. Trim the uneven edges with scissors and roll the cut edge underneath. This makes a rather large crust or two smaller crusts so you’ll have some left over. Crimp the edges in any design you like.

6. Chill the prepared pie crust for about 30 Minutes before baking.
   

7. Blind-bake at 475 F:

   • Crumple up parchment paper and spread it out on top of the pie crust. Pour in pie weights if you have them or rice or dried beans.

   • Bake for 10 minutes.

   • Once par baked, let it rest on the counter while you prepare the filling.

     
     

2. Make the Toffee Layer

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.

2. Add brown sugar and cook, stirring, 2–3 minutes until glossy and bubbling.

3. Stir in heavy cream, salt, and vanilla.

4. Simmer 1 minute.

5. Pour immediately into the warm blind-baked crust, tilting the pan to coat the bottom evenly.

6. Chill 10–15 minutes so the toffee firms into a soft layer.

3. Make the Pumpkin Filling

Whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, spices, salt, cream, and vanilla until smooth.

Pour the filling gently over the set toffee layer. Note: you will probably have some left over. I wrote this recipe to have some extra filling left just in case your pie plate is bigger or deeper than mine.

4. Bake

1. Reduce oven to 350°F.

2. Bake 45–65 minutes, or until edges are set but the center still slightly jiggles. You should not see a wave through the pie, just a little jiggle in the middle. It's always better to over-bake than underbake this.

3. Cool completely before slicing (at least 3 hours). Pumpkin pie must set so unfortunately you have to be patient here.

Optional Garnish

• Whipped cream

• Crushed English toffee bits

• A light caramel drizzle

• Candied pecans

I hope you make this because it's so so good. As always let me know if you try it!