Pumpkin Pie with Heirloom Wheat-Cream Cheese Crust

Why stop enjoying pumpkin pie once Thanksgiving has passed? For us at Cooks Without Borders, the November holiday simply marks the start of pumpkin pie season.

We go traditional with the spicing (who doesn’t love classic pumpkin spice?), and spike the filling with a touch of rye whiskey or brandy (Cognac or Armagnac are fantastic). For the crust, we turned to Roxana Jullapat’s Mother Grains for inspiration, and fell in love with her Sonora Wheat Pie Dough, which includes cream cheese along with the butter, and features whole-grain Sonora wheat flour for wonderful nuttiness.

READ: Cookbook Review: Roxana Jullapat’s ‘Mother Grains’ has all the makings of a new classic

Our friends at Capay Mills in Northern California are a great source for Sonora wheat flour; you can also find it at Grist & Toll, Hayden Flour Mills and Barton Springs Mill. Jullapat’s dough can be made with any hard red or hard white wheat heirloom flour, though. If you don’t have access to one, you could try a combination of 80% unbleached AP flour and 20% whole wheat flour. Just make sure the whole wheat flour is fresh (give it a good sniff; it turns rancid quickly if not stored in an airtight container in the freezer). You’ll need a 9-inch glass pie pan and either pie weights or dried beans, along with a pie-crust ring (either purchased, or cut from foil) to protect the edges from over-browning.

Note: The dough for the crust may be made up to two days in advance and kept refrigerated, or up to a month in advance and kept frozen.

Makes one 9-inch pie.

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST:

7/8 cup (123 grams) Sonora wheat flour, plus additional for rolling

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar