Pumpkin pie: a flavor profile so popular it forces Trader Joe’s to replace roughly half its stock with pumpkin-themed products every fall (those “Pumpkin Walks into a Bar” bars are delicious, though) and makes Starbucks start serving PSLs in September. There are countless ways to make the dish, but what if your oven is too busy roasting a turkey? As long as you’re not too hung up on traditions, you can have your pie and eat it (or drink it), too.
In the microwave
OK, this recipe from The Kitchen isn’t for a true pumpkin pie, more like a deconstructed pie. You melt butter in the microwave, mash in some ginger snaps, then mix together pumpkin puree, egg, milk or cream, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice and stick it back in the microwave. It may not be like what Grandma made, but it’s closer than a pumpkin spice latte and it works well if you don’t want to make a whole big dessert for a small gathering. If you want something closer to a traditional pie, check out this recipe.
In the dishwasher
Mason jars and Thanksgiving go together like mason jars and weddings, right? Anyway, lots of people rave about cooking salmon in the dishwasher, so why not pumpkin pie? What do you know? We found a recipe over at The Country Chic Cottage. Again, you’re not going to stick it in a regular pie dish — too soggy. Instead you do layers of different ingredients, sort of like a pumpkin pie trifle.
In the slow cooker
While microwave and dishwasher pumpkin pie recipes were few and far between, slow-cooker pumpkin pie is pretty popular. There are several with no crust, a few with crust, one for a pumpkin pie pudding, and another for a cake. And if you’re still craving the flavor the next morning, you can try pumpkin pie oatmeal.
In the blender
If you’re looking for something closer to Cold Stone than straight out of the oven, you can try a pumpkin pie milkshake. KitchenAid has a recipe that sounds like a meal in itself. Or you could probably just take a slice of pie your mom made and put it in the blender with some ice cream. We’ll get back to you on that one.
