Pie Ideas for the Holidays. Pumpkin Pie Recipe for Thanksgiving.

Pies and the Holidays go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly, so when I was in charge of bringing Pies to Thanksgiving this year, you know I wasn’t going to just bring some plain looking pie….I had to WHIM it, WHIM it good!

If you love to entertain or the Holidays, make sure to check out my Kids Gingerbread Party and Pumpkin Waffle Breakfast Board. Love to get crafty with food? Make these Snow Globes with the kids!

Here is how to pie decorating like a boss and wow your friends and family!

Funny saying as decoration on a homemade pumpkin pie

Pie Decorating can be SO easy! Here is how I did mine this year.

Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Project Whim Pumpkin Pie

Disclaimer: Rex said this was the best Pumpkin Pie he has ever had!

You can find my recipe at the bottom of the post.

Make your pumpkin pie like you normally would. You put it in the oven for half the baking time and then you will pull it out to place the letters on the top. While your pie is cooking in the oven for the first half is when you can cut your letters. They make these really cool letter cutters that you can use and that would make this even easier and faster. You can find them HERE. I didn’t have those, so I just used a good old fashioned steak knife and hand cut out my letters. I like how organic looking this pie decorating idea is. When you pull your pie out of the oven after the first half of baking you will gently place the letters on the top. Pop back in the oven to finish its baking.

Easy as Pie 🙂

Project Whim Apple Pie

Next up…the classic Apple Pie!

You can find the recipe for this one at the bottom of the post.

I found these super cute leaf cutters like the ones HERE. The girls had so much fun using these and they produced perfectly cut leaves. I did a wide basket weave on the top of my pie and then took all the tiny leaves and layered them around the edge. This pie decorating instantly made my pie look fantastically eclectic. The leaf cutters are great if you want to get the kids involved.

Homemade apple pie with cutout leaves for decoration

Here are my recipes for this years Thanksgiving Pies.

Project Whim Pumpkin Pie

2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
12 oz can evaporated milk

Beat all the ingredients in a bowl and pour into a prepared pie pan. Cook 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then lower your oven temp to 350 degrees and continue cooking for another 40 minutes.

Project Whim Perfect Apple Pie

6 large apples (4 granny smith and 2 honey crisp)
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. Saigon Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat over to 425 degrees. In a large sauce pan, mix all ingredients together and on medium low heat cook, covered for 15 minutes. Pour mixture into a prepared deep dish pie pan. Cover with your top layer of crust. Cook for 40 minutes in the oven.