How To Make Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

This is a delicious twist on the classic pumpkin pie recipe, and even easier to make. The only baking in this recipe is for the crust. This is a great dessert to serve at a Halloween party, as dessert (or one of the desserts) at Thanksgiving dinner, or for any other time that you have a taste for pumpkin.

Ingredients:

CRUST

1 ? cups ginger cookie crumbs
? stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
FILLING
1 quart vanilla bean ice cream
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
? teaspoon ground ginger
(optional) assorted dried fruit for decoration

1. Heat the oven to 350?F. In a 9 inch pie plate, combine the ginger cookie crumbs and melted butter. Once the butter is evenly distributed throughout the cookie crumbs, press the crumbs into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a ? cup measuring cup to press into the cookie crumb crust to even out the thickness of the bottom and sides of the crust.

2. Bake the ginger cookie crust for 5 minutes at 350?F. After the 5 minutes, remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool completely.

3. While the crust is cooling, take the ice cream out of the freezer and allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Once the ice cream has become softened from sitting out, scoop it into a large mixing bowl. Stir the ice cream with a spoon until it becomes broken up, then add the pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices. Stir the the mixture until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the ice cream.

4. Pour the pumpkin ice cream mixture into the cooled crust. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.

5. If you are making this pie for a Halloween party or gathering, decorate the pie with a variety of dried fruits to create a jack-o'-lantern face. Let the pie sit out at room temperature for about 10 minutes prior to slicing, so it will be easier to slice.

6. Serve and enjoy this delicious pumpkin ice cream pie!

Makes 8 servings.