Saturday, November 14, 2026

A Crack-Free Pumpkin Pie 🎉 Plus: Five Ways to Get Ahead This Weekend

Friends, good morning 🥧

About this time last year, I went on a quest to figure out why my pumpkin pie always cracks and how to prevent it. The most common culprit, I learned, was over-baking. One solution I found said to use an instant-read thermometer to test the pie's temperature and remove it when it registered between 175ºF and 200ºF. The pie, I read, should look jiggly in the center.

Hopeful, I made a pie and diligently tested it with my Javelin every 5 minutes starting at the 45-minute mark, pulling it out when it reached 175ºF. The center was wobbly.

The pie cracked.

A few days later, I made another pie, trying another suggested solution: cooling the pie slowly in the oven with the door ajar. The pie cracked.

I shared my troubles with you, and many of you suggested simply lowering the oven temperature from 350ºF to 325ºF or even 300ºF. Some of you also suggested being gentler with the mixing so as not to whip too much air into the batter. A few of you also suggested baking the pie in a water bath, which I was so tempted to try but worried might make the crust soggy.

Yesterday, after re-reading the comments on the post, I parbaked my pie dough, roasted a butternut squash, then gently mixed my batter. When the parbaked crust was ready, in went the batter, then into a 325ºF oven went the pie. I also baked the pie directly on the rack instead of on a sheet pan.

I kept a close watch and removed the pie when the center still looked a little jiggly but mostly set. It took over an hour. When I set it on the cooling rack and spotted no cracks, I did not get my hopes up, because I've seen those crevices emerge 20-30 minutes after removal from the oven.

When an hour passed, I breathed a sigh of relief and my heart danced a little jig. The lower temperature worked! And the pie, dolloped with gently sweetened, nicely salted whipped cream, made me so very excited for the big feast ahead. Thank you for the help 🙏

Friends, I'm wishing you all a wonderful weekend of shopping, planning, and prepping. Below, you'll find five ways to get ahead this weekend.

Butternut Squash Pie (AKA The BEST Pumpkin Pie)

PS: A note of encouragement from one of you (hi Diane) last year 🧡

"I’d like to suggest that you give up trying to prevent the crack in the pumpkin or squash pie, and embrace its artistry. One less thing to stress about. Yours looks like a leaping reindeer — so festive and seasonal!"

Thanksgiving 2026

A platter of oven-roasted fingerling potatoes.

We are less than 2 weeks away from Thanksgiving. The countdown is on. Here are two Google Docs you can copy and adapt to your own needs/schedules:

Here's my annual Thanksgiving Post. As always, it's mostly the same as last year's, but there are a few updated notes, and I'll keep updating it as I think of things.

You'll find recipes for my favorite stuffings, potatoes, pies, rolls, sauces, sides, and more 🦃

Thanksgiving Menu 2026

Review of the Week

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Classic Bread Stuffing

"I just made your bread stuffing and baked the bread beforehand.
This truly is the best stuffing I have ever made. I think baking your own bread and using that is the key to success. My husband keeps saying yum, this is so good. He is eating it out of the pan and cannot stop."

—Julie

Note: This peasant bread is the bread she is referring to. I've shared a double recipe for it below. It, along with the stuffing, freezes beautifully.

Five Ways To Get Ahead This Weekend

If you have time this weekend and would like to get ahead, here are a few recipes you can tackle:

Peasant Bread for Stuffing ... see proportions below for a double batch:

For 2x the peasant bread recipe, use the proportions below — for best results, use a scale to measure.

Note: I don't quite double the yeast for a double recipe. And for the salt, I use 3% the weight of the flour, which is standard for bread and pizza dough. Seems like a lot, but it's just right 👍

1024 grams flour, bread or all-purpose (8 cups)
30 grams salt
16 grams sugar (4 teaspoons)
12 grams instant yeast (1 tablespoon)
908 grams water (4 cups)

Mix the dough in a large bowl. I love this one for all sorts of Thanksgiving prep:

It is so nice having 2-gallon-sized Ziploc bags on hand this time of year:

Roasted Turkey Stock — It is the best feeling having a supply of rich, flavorful stock on hand before heading into Thanksgiving week. (I use it in nearly everything: the stuffing, the potatoes, the other potatoes, the gravy.)

Foolproof Flaky Pie Dough: Make a double batch today, freeze it till a few days before Thanksgiving.

Classic Bread Stuffing: Make it today, freeze it till Thanksgiving.

Kale and Caramelized Onion Stuffing: Make it today, freeze it till Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Menu 2026

Farm Share Friends:

Somehow, the season of ALL the greens, herbs, radishes, and more has come and passed. Here are the last two posts from previous years of The Farm Share Newsletter: