Pie, pie, me ooooooh myyyy. Oh muh goodness. Stop the presses. Stop the Senate. Go ahead and shut the White House front door. It’s that official – this pie is scrumptious beyond measure. And it has no crust. I know, right? How can a pie with no crust (in essence…no pants) be that awesome? Well, if the title didn’t clue you in, because: chocolate. That’s correct, my fellow pie addicts. Chocolate and pumpkin have come together in glorious matrimony just in time for the Big Feast!
Not having to worry about a crust is at least one less step in this recipe. The brownie portion, however, or at least part of it, does kind of act like a crust, so the first step is to pre-bake some of it.
To do that we’ll start with a whole bag of these yummy guys and gals. Or, maybe a small handful less, for taste testing purposes.
How this is gonna go down my friends is: we make one seriously delicious brownie batter. First, delicious things are melted down, including the chocolate. The eggs get quickly whisked in one at a time to prevent and scrambling.
Delicious vanilla extract is added, which intensifies the delicious chocolate.
Finally, the dry ingredients are added in and…suddenly it’s beginning to look a lot like something you should ferret away with a spoon and utterly devour!
If you were able to resist said devouring, into the pie plate some of the batter goes to become the base for this incredible pie.
Once that is baked, the pumpkin pie filling gets its turn. We added some extra pumpkin pie seasoning to ours. Be sure to dip a small fingertip in and taste yours, too, and make sure it’s how you like it.
Now this is the part where I wished there was a video demo for this recipe. How did they get such a thick brownie batter to swirl so nicely in their pie? The pumpkin filling is much, much looser and the brownie batter pretty much just fell to the bottom. To the brownie that was already in the pan. Making a thicker brownie layer. Hmm.
This is what the pie looked like prior to even a quarter of it getting swirled with the tip of a knife.
And this is what it looked like after I swirled it completely. I am raising my right hand as I type this: I did not over-swirl the pie. And do be careful, by the way, not to drag the knife through the already baked brownie portion. But as said above, the dollops of batter that were supposed to “swirl” pretty much just sank. I dunno about you, but maybe I need more swirling practice…which means I need to make this pie again! See, there’s a positive to every swirling disappointment.
Those wispy tendrils did at least stay at the top of the pie, so looks-wise, all was not completely lost. So now we move on to the taste portion, which is, thankfully, a million times better. This is a deceptively simple-looking pie because it is decadent and rich and utterly scrumptious. The brownie layer is a little fudge-y in texture and taste. It’s not too, too dark a chocolate flavor, but just right. The pumpkin layer was creamy in comparison and perfectly pumpkin in flavor. That’s with homemade pumpkin puree, too! We were worried how easy it would be to get it out of the scalloped pie dish, but if you run a knife between it and the pie plate, it worked great. This is getting made again and it’s going to be a star at the end of our Big Feast!
Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie
by The Food Network Kitchen via FoodNetwork.com
Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: about 1 hour Level: Easy Serves: 8-10
For the brownie filling:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the pie plate
- 1 12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the pumpkin filling:
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and side of a 91/2-inch deep-dish pie plate. Make the brownie filling: Heat the butter, chocolate chips and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the butter and chocolate are melted. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until combined.
Pour about one-third of the brownie batter into the prepared pie plate; set aside the remaining batter. Bake until just starting to set and the top is shiny, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the pumpkin filling: Combine the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, egg, granulated sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl; whisk until smooth.
Pour the pumpkin filling over the warm brownie layer. Stir 1 tablespoon water into the remaining brownie batter, then spoon the batter (in about 6 scoops) onto the pumpkin filling. Use the back of the spoon to pull the brownie batter into the pumpkin filling and create a swirled pattern. Bake until the pie is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Notes:
Remember to check the pumpkin filling and adjust the pumpkin pie spice to taste if necessary. We added more than called for, probably more like a teaspoon and a half.
It’s possible my pie dish wasn’t deep enough, but we had a lot of brownie batter leftover after assembling the pie. We certainly didn’t want to waste it, so we sprayed mini muffin pan wells and made mini brownie bites. They baked at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. They were also delicious!
