Easy recipe to recreate the famous Costco pumpkin pie with its perfect creamy texture, ultra-rich filling, and fall-themed spices and pumpkin flavors. Your favorite taste made at home.
Costco is known for its huge delicious pumpkin pies that fly off the shelf.
With this Copycat Costco Pumpkin Pie recipe you can make your own creamy pumpkin pie. Their pumpkin pies are 12 inches and this recipe makes a 12-inch pumpkin pie just like they sell.
This truly is the best pumpkin pie! And if you learn how to bake it, you can have it all year round right in the comfort of your house, but also experiment, and who knows, maybe your recipe will end up tasting much better than the original inspiration!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A perfect copycat recipe of your favorite Costco pie – with simple ingredients and steps you can make this tasty pie from scratch. I use the same pumpkins Costco uses!
- A quick and easy dessert for a Thanksgiving dinner
- Smooth texture thanks to the creamy canned pumpkins I use.
- Short prep time – barely 20 minutes and all the cooking time is done by the oven.
- Unlike the original recipe, this recipe is guaranteed to be safe for people allergic to nuts.
- Easy to make ahead and freeze.
Costco Pumpkin Pie Ingredients
For Pie Crust
- I use basic ingredients: all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salted butter, and water. You are likely to have it all at home already.
For Pumpkin Pie Filling
- Pumpkin puree (I used canned pumpkin – 1.5 cans of Libby Pure Pumpkin*)
- Eggs (full egg and egg yolks)
- Full-fat heavy cream and evaporated milk to create a smooth silky pie filling.
- Vanilla extract to make our pie smell amazing
- Store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves, all-spice).
*Libby uses special Dickinson pumpkin which is exactly what Costco’s pumpkin pies are made of!
Kitchen Equipment You’ll Need
- Cheese grater for grating cold butter
- 12-inch pie pan
- Pie weights (dried beans or rice can work too) for baking the crust while keeping its shape. We need around 2 cups
- Hand mixer
- Mixing bowls to prep the crust mixture and the filling
How to Make Copycat Costco Pumpkin Pie
1 – Making The Pie Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk the flour and sugar in a large bowl until combined.
- Grate in the cold butter with a cheese grater into the dry ingredients. Work it into the flour with a fork until pea-size crumbs form.
- Adding ice water bit by bit, start kneading the dough with your hands until it pulls together into a ball.
- Optional: Once the dough is kneaded, form a disk from the dough, wrap it with plastic wrap, and let it chill in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes or 15 minutes in the freezer. I often skip this step and the crust is still tasty.
2 – Baking The Pie Crust
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured flat surface and gently place it into a pie plate. It needs to cover the pie pan plus a few inches (3 max) for overhang.
- Trim off any extra dough and use a fork to crimp the edges.
- Blind bake* the crust by placing parchment paper or foil on the crust, and filling it with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the weight and bake for another 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool down.
- Once cooked, remove and set aside to cool.
*Blind baking means baking the crust without the filling, pre-baking.
3 – Preparing Pumpkin Filling
- Combine the pumpkin, eggs, heavy cream, brown sugar, evaporated milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine all the ingredients using a hand mixer until smooth.
4 – Baking The Whole Pumpkin Pie
- Pour the filling mixture into the pre-baked crust and bake for 55-60 minutes. The pie is done when the middle is just slightly soft and jiggly.
- Remove the pie from the oven to cool to room temperature.
- Once the pie is cool, refrigerate the pumpkin pie for at least 2 hours. Trust me – the texture and consistency will be so much better if you give it the time it needs to chill
- Top with whipped cream. Your preference – store-bought in a can, tub, or make your own homemade version.
Easy Substitutes & Serving Suggestions
- It is possible to use homemade pumpkin puree if you can find the right pumpkin type (Dickinson)
- Use sweet potato puree to make it a sweet potato pie. Another fall staple.
- To make it 100% vegan, swap milk and cream with vegan cream and plant-based milk (almond or coconut).
- Instead of whipped cream, serve a slice of the pie with ice cream, caramel sauce, apricot jam, cranberry sauce, maple leaf cookies, or meringue.
Storage
Costco’s pumpkin pie and leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.
The crust is easy to make ahead 1-2 days in advance, and it can be refrigerated overnight or frozen for 1-3 months.
The whole copycat Costco pumpkin pie can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
How Do You Heat Costco Pumpkin Pie?
To warm up homemade Costco pumpkin pie, you can use a microwave or oven.
- Oven: 325F-350F for 5-10 minutes per slice, up to 20 min for the whole cake, covered in foil.
- Microwave: 30-60 seconds per slice, covered.
Tips and Tricks To Re-Create The Best Costco’s Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin pie filling does NOT work for this recipe.
- You can use any pure pumpkin you like but Costco does use a puree that uses the same kind of pumpkin Libby uses. Using fresh pumpkin probably won’t help in the re-creation of the same taste though.
- Use any leftover dough from the crust to cut fun shapes with a cookie cutter. Place on top of the pie before baking. If they start to burn while baking – gently tent the edges (just the crust) with foil.
- This recipe works with store-bought pie crust – the refrigerated kind. Just work the two crusts in the box together to give you a large enough dough disk to fill the 12” pie plate.
- Cinnamon can be used instead of the pumpkin pie spice. Add black pepper to get the spice profile really pop when you bite in.
- If you make homemade spice mix, you should incorporate it well into the pumpkin puree. The easiest way to do that is to add both to a saucepan and warm up, stirring. Then cool down.
- Vanilla is not really for taste here, but more for aroma.
More Tips
- A smoother texture is reached when we use egg yolks and only 1-2 full eggs. Using more egg yolks also helps to thicken the custard-like filling.
- Brown and white sugar are interchangeable in this recipe without any big effect on the taste.
- Pre-baking the pie crust is the key to the best pie crust ever.
- Leftover pie dough can be cut out into shapes with cookie cutters and placed on top before baking to decorate the top of the pie.
- You can also use store-bought pie crust but you will need to use 2 crusts pieced together to fit into the 12-inch pan.
- It’s very important to ensure the right temperature of the ingredients.
- Watch the baking time and make sure not to overbake. The center needs to jiggle when the cake is done. If nothing moves – it is overdone. If you use a cake thermometer, your aim is 175-180F.
Popular Questions
How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree?
If you find fresh Dickinson pumpkin, you can make your own puree.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Wash and cut the pumpkin in half, and remove the seeds
- Remove all the flesh and bake it for 1 hour.
- Blend and the puree is ready.
Is Pumpkin Pie Mix The Same as Canned Pumpkin?
Canned pumpkin is usually only cooked pumpkin puree, while pumping pie mix often comes will spices matching pumpkin flavor (ground ginger, clover, cinnamon, etc).
Pumpkin pie filling also comes with spices and sometimes extra sugar.
This is why the recipe calls for canned pumpkin puree specifically. To make sure we can control the ratio of all ingredients.
What is Costco Pumpkin Pie Made Of?
Costco has been using the same pumpkin pie recipe since 1987.
The main ingredients listed on the Costco pumpkin pies labels are pumpkin, sugar, water, eggs, enriched wheat flour (it is wheat flour with ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), canola and/or soybean oil, nonfat milk, and corn syrup.
Then Costco pies also contain 2% or less of salt, spices, corn sugar, mono & diglycerides, and modified food starch.
There are also traces of peanuts and tree nuts.
The pumpkin Costco uses is not fresh, they receive canned pumpkins (Dickinson pumpkin) that are quite sweet and remind me of squash.
DON’T MISS THESE HOLIDAY E-BOOKS!
If you love this pie recipe, you’re going to love these other tasty pies too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!
More Great Pumpkin Desserts
Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cheesecake Filling
Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Roll Cake with Bourbon Caramel Sauce
CONNECT WITH YUMMI HAUS!
Be sure to follow me on my social media, so you never miss a post!
Costco Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter – cold – salted – 2 sticks
- ½ cup cold water
Filling
- 22.5 ounces pumpkin puree Libby Pure Pumpkin – this is one and a half 15-ounce cans (not pie filling)
- 5 eggs
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup evaporated milk
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Crust
- Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl.
- Grate in the cold butter with a cheese grater into the dry ingredients. Work it into the flour with a fork until pea-size crumbs form.
- Add the water and then knead the dough with your hands until it pulls together into a ball.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured flat surface and gently place it into a 12-inch pie pan.
- Trim off any extra dough and crimp the edges with a fork.
- Blind bake the crust by placing parchment paper on the crust, and fill it with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove and set aside to cool.
Filling
- Combine the pumpkin, eggs, heavy cream, brown sugar, evaporated milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice in a large mixing bowl.
- Use a hand mixer to combine all the ingredients until smooth.
- Pour the filling mixture into the baked crust and bake for 55-60 minutes or until the middle is just slightly jiggly.
- Remove from the oven to cool to room temperature.
- Once the pie is cool, refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Serve with whipped cream.
Notes
● Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
●You can use any pure pumpkin you like but Costco does use a puree that uses the same kind of pumpkin Libby uses.
●Cinnamon can be used instead of the pumpkin pie spice.
●Leftover pie dough can be cut out into shapes with cookie cutters and placed on top before baking to decorate the top of the pie.
●You can also use store-bought pie crust but you will need to use 2 crusts pieced together to fit into the 12-inch pan.
Nutrition
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Reader Interactions
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Share Your Thoughts