Joe's Incredible Bacon Pumpkin Pie

In the spirit of fall here in the Pacific Northwest, here is a recipe of my friend Joe's own design! He sought to bring bacon to the dessert menu, and hunted for a pie media capable of sustaining a bacon infusion while retaining deliciousness. Pumpkin (perhaps rhubarb) is the only one he could think of. I offer this recipe to all you bacon lovers out there. Remember though, you might steal this recipe to publish it and make dirty millions, but the true bacon lover cares not for cash but only for cholesterol. Enjoy bacon lovers of America!

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
• Calories: 597 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 ½ cups cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup cubed fresh pumpkin
• 2 (10 inch) prepared graham cracker pie crust
• 16 slices maple-cured bacon

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Step 2

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil; add the pumpkin and cook until soft enough to easily pierce with a fork, about 10 minutes. Drain.

Step 3

Mash the cooked pumpkin with a potato masher in your favorite large bowl. Mix the cream cheese and brown sugar with the mashed pumpkin. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla, half-and-half, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves; stir until you have a thin batter. The batter should be slightly thinner than pancake batter. Pour the batter into the pie crusts.

Step 4

Place bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until evenly brown. Trim soft, fatty bits from strips. Press 7 pieces of bacon into the batter of each pie with a fork.

Step 5

Bake the pies in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Decrease the heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Top each pie with 2 pieces of cooked bacon and bake another 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow pies to cool completely before serving.