Maple Cream Pie is similar to coconut cream pie or chocolate cream pie but is made with a simple, homemade maple pudding. It’s a delicious New England twist on cream pies.
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Gluten Free Maple Cream Pie
You guys – this Maple Cream Pie just might be one of my favorite cream pies! It’s super unique and probably unlike any pie you’ve had before.
I was trying to think of a different type of holiday pie to make this year, you know – something other than Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, or Pecan Pie.
I came across a few kinds of maple pies during my research but nothing I really had in mind. And during my research, I discovered that maple cream really isn’t what I thought it was.
What You Need To Know About This Maple Pie Recipe:
I decided it was probably best to just come up with my own maple pie anyway and I’m sure glad I did! This pie is nothing like traditional maple cream and is more like a Coconut Cream Pie or a Chocolate Cream Pie.
The base of it is made from a homemade maple pudding with pure maple syrup. What?!
I’ve lived in New England my entire life and I’ve never had or heard of maple pudding or maple custard before and I can’t believe it’s not something more popular here in Connecticut.
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This maple pudding pie is a cool, creamy delight that’s perfect at any time of the year. It’ll make a great new addition to your Thanksgiving desserts!
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Key Ingredients for Maple Cream Pie
- Pie Crust – This recipe calls for 1 9-inch pie crust. I use my gluten free pie crust recipe but a store-bought crust will work too. If you don’t need gluten free, use a regular crust. Just make sure you fully blind-bake it before adding the pudding.
- Pure Maple Syrup – do not use pancake syrup. It’s crucial you use the real stuff here.
- Half & Half – I use half & half but a combination of cream and milk will also work.
- Butter – a small amount of butter whisked in at the end gives the pudding a little richness and cuts the sweetness a bit.
Equipment Needed to Make Homemade Pie
- Pie Plate – I use a 9-inch ceramic pie dish for this recipe. It blind-bakes beautifully with an evenly browned and crisp crust.
- Pie Weights – When blind-baking, it’s essential to line your pie crust with parchment paper and then top it with Pie Weights. It keeps your crust in shape and the parchment paper prevents the weights from baking into the crust.
- Sauce Pan – I use a medium-sized pan.
- Standard Kitchen Tools – whisk, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and a spatula.
- Paper Goods – Parchment paper for blind baking and wax paper for covering the pudding (or plastic wrap).
How to Make Maple Cream Pie
Step 1. Make and blind bake your pie crust. Let the crust cool completely before filling.
Step 2. Add the maple syrup, half & half, eggs, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a medium saucepan. Whisk all of the ingredients together until completely combined.
Step 3. Heat over medium-low heat and whisk (almost continuously) until the custard is thick like a pudding. This step may take 20 minutes (or even longer depending on your stovetop). When the custard is thick, remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and butter. Continue whisking until the butter is melted.
Step 4. Transfer the pudding to the cooled pie shell and place a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper directly on top of the custard to keep a skin from forming. Do not cover the crust, you don’t want condensation to form which will make your crust soggy.
Step 5. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight so the pudding has time to chill and firm up.
Step 6. To make the whipped cream, use a handheld mixer to whip the heavy cream, bourbon, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar together. Evenly spread the whipped cream over the maple pudding.
Step 7. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving after topping with the whipped cream and up to 2 hours.
Tips for Making Maple Cream Pie
- Give yourself enough time to let the crust cool and the pie chill before serving. You don’t want to rush it because the longer your pudding has to set, the better it will slice.
- Don’t over-cook your pudding. Maple syrup is like sugar so if you cook it too long, it can start to crystalize.
- Wipe your knife with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel after every cut to get nice clean cuts.
- To prevent your first piece from falling apart, cut it twice as big as you normally would and make sure you cut all the way through the crust. Then, once the large piece is on a plate, cut it in half to turn it into 2 pieces or if it’s big enough 3 pieces.
- This Maple Pudding recipe is great on its own too when you don’t want to make a whole pie.
Other Maple Desserts To Try
- Vermont Maple No-Bake Cookies – use gluten free oats
- Old Fashioned Maple Walnut Fudge
- Maple Frosting
- Paleo Maple Walnut Sugar Cookies
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Gluten Free Maple Cream Pie
Ingredients
For the Pie
- 1 9- inch pie crust blind-baked (see notes)
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 cups half & half
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
For the Bourbon Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1-2 tablespoons Bourbon see notes
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make and blind bake your pie crust, then cool completely.
- Add the maple syrup, half & half, eggs, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a medium saucepan and whisk all of the ingredients together until completely combined.
- Heat over medium-low heat and whisk (almost continuously) until the custard is thick like a pudding. This step may take 20 minutes (or even longer depending on your stovetop). When the custard is thick, remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and butter. Continue whisking until the butter is melted.
- Transfer the pudding to the cooled pie shell and place a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper directly on top of the custard (to keep a skin from forming) but do not cover the crust.
- Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.
- To make the whipped cream, use a handheld mixer to whip the heavy cream, bourbon, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar together. Evenly spread the whipped cream over the maple pudding.
- Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving after topping with the whipped cream and up to 2 hours.
Notes
- I used my Gluten-Free Pie Crust recipe.
- Click here for directions on Blind Baking a pie crust.
Cook time does not include baking the pie crust. - Do not use pancake syrup for this recipe, only pure maple syrup will work.
- 1 tablespoon bourbon yields a whipped cream with a small hint of bourbon. Use 2 tablespoons for a more pronounced bourbon flavor. You can also omit the bourbon completely and use 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract instead of ½ teaspoon.
- Leftover pie must be refrigerated and is best within 3 days.
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information
Disclaimers
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Facts are estimated and aren't always accurate. Please consult a doctor or nutritionist if you have special dietary needs.
Did you make this recipe? Leave a star rating and let me know in the comments! You can also leave a photo/comment on this pin for others to see.
I made this for Thanksgiving as a surprise for my dgt in law who loves maple. It was delicious!! I used plain whipped cream, though. My only question is the next morning the pan looked like it had small amounts of the maple syrup leaking from the pudding in the leftover pie. Don’t know why…it set up beautifully. But I would make it again.
This was great! We didn’t need a large pie, so I halved the pudding mixture and used a store bought graham cracker crust. Since i used half of it, the pudding mixture didn’t come very high in the pie dish, but once I added the whipped cream it was “normal” size pie and the perfect size for a small family. If I was making it for a larger group or a party where I needed it to be flashier, I would have used your same amounts. Also, the pie doesn’t have a ton of maple flavor because true maple is subtle. A lot of people will probably want to add maple extract. Thanks for the recipe!