Looking for something specific?
Now that the practical details are out of the way, let's step back for a moment to appreciate where this pie comes from. Pumpkin pie is more than just a reliable holiday dessert. It is part of a much older story, one that begins in early American kitchens and continues today, especially here in Illinois, where pumpkins are still grown in abundance.
Pumpkin is a New World food and was not part of the European diet before the colonization of the Americas. Long before that, however, pumpkins and other squash were cultivated and used as staple foods by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. They were valued for their productivity, storage life, and versatility, and were prepared in many different ways depending on the region and season. But they weren't baked into pies.[source]
Pies are a very Old World dish.[source] When English colonists arrived in North America, they quickly adopted pumpkin into their own cooking. And while the ingredient itself was entirely new to them, the idea of baking food in a pastry crust was deeply familiar. Pie, after all, was a well-established part of English food tradition. In this way, pumpkin pie became a true meeting of Old World and New World cooking, combining a native American crop with a European technique.
Even the name reflects this layered history. The word pumpkin comes from older word pumpion, which traces its roots back through French and ultimately to ancient Greek, where it simply meant "melon."[source] While pumpkins and melons seem quite different to us today, both belong to the broader family of gourds, and the colonists classified them accordingly.
By the 1600s, pumpkins had become a regular part of the New England diet. Being a native plant, they were easy to grow, and were used in soups, stews, and early forms of pie. These first pumpkin pies were not the smooth custard we know today. Instead, they were often made by layering sliced pumpkin with spices inside a crust.
Over time, the recipe evolved. By the late 1700s, cooks began stewing or roasting pumpkin and combining it with eggs, cream, sugar, and spices to create a smooth custard filling.[source] This version proved enduring, and it remains the foundation of pumpkin pie today.
While pumpkin pie began in the kitchens of New England, its center of gravity has shifted over time. Today, the heart of pumpkin production lies firmly in the Midwest, and especially here in Illinois. And in case it was not enough that pumpkin pie is delicious and a Thanksgiving staple, it is also the official state pie of Illinois. Since 2015, pumpkin pie has held that distinction, recognizing the important role pumpkins play in the state’s agriculture.[source]
Illinois produces roughly 85 percent of the pumpkin consumed in the United States, much of it grown in the rich farmland of central Illinois. These pumpkins become the fillings of countless pies each year, connecting local fields to tables across the country.
So if you are from Illinois, enjoying a slice of pumpkin pie is more than just a seasonal pleasure. It is a small way of participating in a tradition rooted in the land itself. Baking it yourself, especially with fresh pumpkin and whole-grain gluten-free flours, continues that tradition in your own kitchen. Click the button below to see the full recipe and instructions.
The origins of pie stretch back into the mists of time, but the modern pie has its roots solidly in medieval England. The word itself harkens back at least to the early 1300's, and referred to a pastry filled with various fillings - usually meat or savory, as fruit pies did not become common until a few hundred years later. Some people also speculate that the word "pie" could be related to "Magpie," since the fillings can be as varied as the bird's collections.[source] Pie was entirely about the fillings in the Middle Ages, with the crust being merely a vehicle to contain, cook, and then get those fillings to your mouth.
In fact, the crust - referred to as the pie's "coffin" back then - was designed for sturdiness over taste. There was no fat and no pie plate involved. The base was flour and water, with possibly some salt or sugar, and saffron for color (if someone was writing down a pie recipe back then, it was for a lord on a special occasion, hence the use of expensive ingredients).[source] The modern hot water crust is the direct descendent of these early pie crusts, which were not for eating. They were designed to contain and preserve the filling inside, while looking suitably impressive.
Fat - lard or butter - came into use in crusts from the 16th century on, so by the time the English colonists brought their beloved pies over to the New World, they were closer to what we would recognize as pie today. They still made stand-alone crusts, but the use of dishes or pie plates was prevalent by the first half of the 1800's. Mary Randolph, in The Virginia Housewife from 1824 mentions putting your "paste" (pie crust) in a "shallow dish or plate."[source] We also have an advertisement from a Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper in 1853 offering tin pie plates as part of a "house furnishing set," suggesting that a dedicated pie plate was already a familiar part of any household by the 1850's.[source]
From there, pie and its crust continued evolving through the 1800's and 1900's into the desserts and hearty pies we know and love today. The crust, which began as a simple vehicle for preserving and carrying food became one of the most beloved parts of the dish. A good modern pie crust still does the old work of holding and protecting the filling - but now we expect more from it. We want flavor. We want tenderness. We want something sturdy enough to support the pie, but good enough to deserve a bite all on its own.
For centuries, pie crust was asked to be useful first and delicious second. These days, we get to ask for both. A good pie crust should support the filling, add its own flavor and texture, and make the whole pie feel complete. That is exactly what this gluten free pie crust is meant to do - bring buttery richness, dependable structure, and that satisfying homemade quality that turns filling into pie. And once you have a crust like that, the only question left is what to fill it with.
