My mom didn’t cook very often when I was a kid, and she almost never baked. It wasn’t that she wasn’t able–she is actually a very good cook. But, she doesn’t really enjoy cooking, where my dad does, so he took the cooking duties.
The holiday meals were the one thing she did enjoy cooking, and this pie always topped off our Thanksgiving dinners. This is one of my absolute favorites, although I have taking over the tradition of making it.
I have actually made it twice already this year, although Thanksgiving is still over a month away, and i am sure I will make it a few more before the holidays are done. I get a lot of requests for the recipe, so I decided it is time to share. 🙂
I have to be honest, pie crust is the one thing I hate to make. So, unless it is for a special occasion, I tend to use a refrigerated pie crust for this pie, but feel free to substitute in your favorite crust. (I doubled the recipe for the below pictures. The recipe that follows will make one pie.)

Combine the Remaining ingredients in a large bowl (I do this step by hand, but it can also be done with a mixer on low.)
That’s all there is to it! It is actually a really easy recipe, and usually takes less than 10 minutes before it is ready to go in the oven. The hardest part for me is waiting for it to sit in the refrigerator until it is cold! 🙂
Here is the full recipe:
Paradise Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:
For the Cream Cheese Layer:
- 8 oz. Cream Cheese
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
- Egg
For the Pumpkin Layer:
- 1 ¼ Cup Canned Pumpkin
- 1 Cup Evaporated Milk
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs, Slightly Beaten
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. Nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. Salt
For the Crust:
- Use your favorite single-crust recipe, or a store-bought pie crust
Directions:
- Roll the crust into a deep-dish pie plate and crimp the edges.
- Beat the cream cheese, ¼ cup sugar, and vanilla on medium-speed until combined.
- Mix in 1 egg on medium-high until smooth.
- Spread cream cheese mixture on crust.
- Combine the remaining ingredients, mixing well.
- Carefully ladle over the cream cheese mixture.
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour, until set.
- Let cool, then refrigerate.
How about you? Do you have a favorite autumn treat? A family recipe that you look forward to all year? Please share! 🙂