Streusel Topped Rum Pumpkin Pie Recipe

I needed a brain break last week. I wanted to be creative and I also wanted some pumpkin pie. I feel like pumpkin pie is similar to candy corn. You either love it or it’s garbage. I could eat candy corn by the fist full and I would argue that a good pumpkin pie might be in my top 5 favorite pies. (dutch apple, Sweetilicous berry pie, banana cream pie, Russ’ peppermint pie and pumpkin pie).

I made an exciting discovery in the kitchen last week that I think will serve me well into my baking future… making a streusel topping on it’s own. I made my standard streusel topping of oats, sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon and instead of baking it on top of the pie, I baked it solo on a sheet of parchment paper. I then crumbled it up once it cooled and drizzled it over this pie. Then I thought… over ice cream, oatmeal, cookies…. the possibilities are endless. I didn’t get to try it with anything else because I ate the left over streusel that didn’t make it onto the pie with a fork.

The most frustrating thing about pie is the crust. I tried three different recipes for homemade crust and they all turned out horrible. After three crusts, waisted time cooling and rolling and flour… I used a pre made pie crust. I KNOW I KNOW. But something just wasn’t clicking with me that day and I didn’t want to ruin my filling with a bad crust. I will attempt it again when I have more patience.

One other addition to this pumpkin pie is rum. I mixed in two tablespoons of rum into the mixture and it was the perfect warm compliment to the nutty pumpkin flavor. For this pie I used a can of organic pumpkin puree. I did make my own pumpkin puree but it was very dry. I might use it for something else.

I baked the pie in the crust for about 25 minutes and then turned off the oven heat, sprinkled on my baked streusel and cracked the oven open for about another 20 minutes. I let cool to room temperature before eating and it came out perfect. I read that if you blend your pie filling in a blender or a food processor you’ll get a fluffier pie. I don’t have anything to compare it to but this was a nice and light filling. I took this filling from some of my favorite pie resources:
Sweetie-licious pies, First place pies, and sister pie

Each pumpkin recipe in these books had different ingredients and ratios for their base. I took the rum from first place pies and the streusel from Sister Pies Buttermilk pumpkin pie and voila! This delicious pumpkin pie with rum and streusel.

Here is what you need for the pumpkin pie:
1 pre made pie crust, thawed
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin
1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 egg
2 tbsp rum

Here is what you need for the streusel:
1/2 cup of flour
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 stick of cold butter
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 cup of rolled oats
pinch of salt

To make the streusel:

Put all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Cut the cold butter into small squares and mix in with a fork or pastry cutter until the butter is pea size or smaller. Put on to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. It does run together but can be broken up once cooled. Keep a close eye on it because some ovens might bake faster.

To make the pie:
preheat your oven to 350F. Place the pie crust in the pie pan and poke with a fork along the bottom. Set aside.
In a blender place the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and give a little spin. Then add in the pumpkin and sweetened condensed milk, egg and rum. Blend until just mixed and pour into crust. Bake at 350F for 25 – 30 minutes until set. Crack the oven open and slide out pie, top with streusel and return to oven with the door still cracked open. Turn off the oven and let cool for 2o minutes before removing completely to cool on counter. Enjoy!