Maple Pumpkin Pie

Growing up in Northern Vermont, maple was an every-season treat. There were maple creemees to be gobbled up before they melted in the summer heat. Winter was not complete without sugar on snow—a delicacy of freshly scooped snow topped with hot maple syrup that instantly hardened. And in the fall, maple in everything from fresh-pressed apple cider to pumpkin pie.

My great-grandmother grew up in Northern Vermont using maple in baked goods rather than granulated sugar. In early times, Native Americans crafted maple sugar from the sap as it was easier to store and transport. The maple sugar was used to season meats like venison, fruits and vegetables, and make herbal remedies more palatable.

Maple production was so important to the culture that it can be found in the language used to describe spring (Sogalikas, which translates to "time of maple sugar making," as well as in the stories passed down orally about Gluskabe, the Abenaki trickster who brought the process of diluting maple sap to the tribe.)

The technique of utilizing maple syrup rather than granulated sugar taught to my great-grandmother by her Abenaki ancestors was passed to me when I was a child spending summers on her farm in Northern Vermont. Tapping the maple trees to get buckets of sap we then boiled down in the sugar shack was a perennial favorite of my childhood memories.

Now that I live in Florida, I make her Maple Pumpkin Pie for our holidays. I even passed the recipe down three years ago to my daughter.

Ingredients for Maple Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin: You could always roast a sugar pumpkin, but finding the right one and then processing it adds time to your bake. A good can of pumpkin makes this recipe easy. You want to be sure you choose canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.

Maple Syrup: There is no substitute for real maple syrup in this recipe. It is more expensive than the pancake syrup alternatives, but as it’s your sweetener, you don’t want to scrimp.

Each style of syrup is identified by its color: golden, amber, dark, and very dark. The colors refer to when the sap is collected: Early sap is lighter in color graduating to very dark by late season.

I always go for Grade A Amber because it has a more robust flavor for baking and cooking applications. Grade A Golden is the most prevalent on grocery store shelves and is usually coveted for pancakes, ice cream, and waffles. It is more delicate in flavor, but would be a fine choice for Maple Pumpkin Pie. The Dark and Very Dark, have very concentrated flavors with less sweetness, more akin to molasses in flavor.

Do You Need to Refrigerate Maple Pumpkin Pie?

The FDA states pies with dairy and eggs should be refrigerated within two hours of baking, but if you’ve ever walked into the bakery section of a grocery store around Thanksgiving, you see mountains of pumpkin pies stacked on tables with no refrigeration in sight.

In this guide to Pies You Should Refrigerate, pumpkin pie is better tasting room temperature so if you’re serving it that day, keep it out. If it’s meant for a day or two later, best refrigerate and bring to room temperature before serving. You can also bake the pie ahead and freeze it!

Suggested Toppings for Maple Pumpkin Pie

Let's be real, Maple Pumpkin Pie is delicious on its own. But if you like a little something to accompany the pie, there are options. I always make a healthy serving of cranberry-orange sauce so I have enough to spoon over my pie. It is the sweet-tart complement to the spiced pumpkin custard.

A delicate quenelle of homemade whipped cream makes a light topping. Or you could go all in and serve with ice cream—there is nothing quite like the combination of this pie and a scoop of buttermilk ice cream.