Take your classic pumpkin pie and give it a little upgrade with decadent swirls of rich Nutella.  Plus, tips for the best pumpkin pie you’ve ever made, whether you go classic or try this Nutella Swirled Pumpkin Pie.

Oh, hey.  Did you realize that Thanksgiving is next week?  It sure snuck up on me this year!  Do you know what you’re making?

If you don’t have your dessert menu set yet, I highly encourage you to switch up your normal pumpkin pie with this nutella swirled pumpkin pie.

That’s right.  A classic, spicy pumpkin pie… swirled with decadent nutella.

I know you guys love the pumpkin and Nutella combination.  I probably get more emails/texts/facebook comments about my Nutella Swirled Pumpkin Bread than any other fall recipe.

So why not take that delicious, winning combination and transfer it to your holiday pumpkin pie?  Nutella swirled pumpkin pie, to be exact.

“But wait!” you might be saying.  “I’m a traditionalist!  I can’t mess with pumpkin pie!”  I hear you.  Really, I do.

That’s why this is 95% classic pumpkin pie… 5% swirled Nutella. (Okay, I didn’t do the math.  It might be more like 85%/15%).

This is a pumpkin pie with just a hint of Nutella.  Trust me on this.  I love pumpkin pie.  I do not love chocolate.  And I loved this Nutella swirled pumpkin pie.

(If, like my husband, you don’t really like pumpkin pie, the swirl of Nutella will not win you over.  In that case, save the pumpkin pie for me and make yourself this Flourless Gooey Chocolate Brownie Pie for Thanksgiving.  You’re welcome.)

How to Make a Perfect Pumpkin Pie

I’ve made a couple (dozens? hundreds?) of pies in my life, so let me share a few of my favorite secrets for a perfect pumpkin pie:

1. Blind bake your crust.  This is pretty easy and helps prevent your crust from getting too soggy.  Your pie crust will be crisp and flaky, and your pumpkin pie won’t be overcooked.  (Note that this is unnecessary for all pies, but I highly recommend it for pumpkin pie!)
2. Use sweetened condensed milk.  Pumpkin pie recipes tend to fall into two categories: sweetened condensed milk or brown sugar and heavy cream.  Both are delicious, but the former is prettier: I’ve found that pies made with condensed milk don’t crack the same way the heavy cream/brown sugar mixture pies do.  Now, in this particular case, you’ll see some cracks do appear along the Nutella swirls; that’s a factor of mixing in the Nutella, which is a different density than the rest of the pie.  But should you opt to omit the Nutella part, this is still my favorite pumpkin pie recipe – and it will give you a gorgeous, uncracked, smooth surface!
3. For a super smooth pumpkin pie, mix ingredients in a food processor.  You’ll see I don’t do this for this recipe — I like pumpkin pie just fine without it.  But if you want the smoothest, creamiest, practically drink-through-a-straw kind of custard, give everything a whirl in the food processor instead of whisking.
4. Take the temperature of your pie to determine doneness.  Don’t mess around with a knife inserted into the pie one inch from the crust, or jiggle.  Just trust science: an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the pie should read 175 °F.  Science never lies, people.

Add Nutella Swirls to Pumpkin Pie

Great, so we’re all squared away on how to make a perfect pumpkin pie.  How do we upgrade this to a Nutella swirled pumpkin pie?  Easy peasy!

Heat half a cup of Nutella in the microwave to soften it up so it’s easy to swirl.  Dollop it on top of the pie and spread it around with a knife.  I like to stick the knife straight down into the pie and swirl in an S pattern in both directions.  That’s it!

(And if you don’t like Nutella, feel free to skip – or replace it with something else.  Would a cashew butter pumpkin pie work?  I think it would indeed!)

I’m enough of a traditionalist that I keep this Nutella swirled pumpkin pie in a standard pie crust (this no-fail pie crust, to be specific), but if you want to play up the chocolate, I think would be DELICIOUS baked in an Oreo cookie crust! Or a graham cracker crust, too.

Egg Yolks for Smooth Custard

You’ll notice that thisi recipe calls for 1 whole egg and 3 egg yolks. Why are we adding so many egg yolks to this pumpkin pie? The answer, of course, can be explained by my favorite subject… kitchen chemistry!

Kitchen Chemisitry

Egg yolks are natural emulsifiers due to their high content of lecithin, a type of phospholipid. Lethicin helps stabilize the mixture by forming a barrier between water an fat molecules, preventing them from separating. When combined with the pumpkin puree and evaporated milk, the egg yolks aid in creating a smooth and creamy filling.

So what are you going to do with your leftover egg whites? The simple answer is add them to your scrambled eggs, but I also have some delicious recipes that call for egg whites without the yolks. You can store the egg whites in a container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze the egg whites for up to 3 months before using them in any of the following recipes:

• S’mores Cupcakes
• Berry Pavlova
• Lemon Meringue Cake
• Rainbow Layer Cake
• S’more Bundt Cake

Recommended Tools to Make Pumpkin Pie

• 9-inch Pie Plate: A 9-inch ceramic fluted pie plate is my go-to for the pies I bake.
• Pie Weights: If you bake a lot of pies, I like having dedicated pie weights instead of using dried beans.
• Mixing Bowls: My favorite set of stackable glass mixing bowls!
• Whisk: A sturdy whisk helps keep the pumpkin pie filling smooth and creamy.
• Pie Shield: If the crust starts to get too dark while the pie is baking, cover the crust with this pie shield.
• Instant Read Thermometer: Take the guess work out and use a thermometer to check if your pie is done.

More Nutella Desserts:

• Nutella Bundt Cake
• No Bake Nutella Pie
• Nutella Swirl Cupcakes
• Nutella Pumpkin Bread
• Banana Nutella Cake
• Nutella Banana Bread
• Ultimate Nutella Brownies