Joe's Incredible Bacon Pumpkin Pie

In the spirit of fall here in the Pacific Northwest, here is a recipe of my friend Joe's own design! He sought to bring bacon to the dessert menu, and hunted for a pie media capable of sustaining a bacon infusion while retaining deliciousness.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
• Calories: 597 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 (10 inch) prepared graham cracker pie crust
• 16 slices maple-cured bacon
• 0.5 teaspoon ground cloves
• 0.5 teaspoon ground ginger
• 0.5 teaspoon ground allspice
• 0.5 cup cubed fresh pumpkin
• 1.5 cups cream cheese, softened

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Step 2

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil; add the pumpkin and cook until soft enough to easily pierce with a fork, about 10 minutes. Drain.

Step 3

Mash the cooked pumpkin with a potato masher in your favorite large bowl. Mix the cream cheese and brown sugar with the mashed pumpkin. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla, half-and-half, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves; stir until you have a thin batter. The batter should be slightly thinner than pancake batter. Pour the batter into the pie crusts.

Step 4

Place bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until evenly brown. Trim soft, fatty bits from strips. Press 7 pieces of bacon into the batter of each pie with a fork.

Step 5

Bake the pies in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Decrease the heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Top each pie with 2 pieces of cooked bacon and bake another 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow pies to cool completely before serving.