This maple cream pie has a flaky brown butter pie crust base filled with a rich, maple flavored custard, then topped with maple leaf pie crust cutouts for a simple, but delicious fall dessert!
I love adding this maple cream pie to our Thanksgiving dessert spread along with my classic pecan pie and purple sweet potato pie!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make this brown butter maple cream pie!
Pie Crust - Since this maple cream pie isn't baked after filling, you need a fully baked and cooled pie crust. I use a brown butter variation of my homemade flaky pie crust for this recipe. You can check out this blog post for all my pie crust tips and tricks! However, you can always use your own homemade pie crust or store-bought pie crust if you prefer.
Pastry flour - I always use pastry flour in my pie crust because it yields a lighter, more tender crust. However, all purpose flour will work great if that's all you have!
Brown butter - This pie crust calls for brown butter instead of regular unsalted butter, because I just love the extra toasty flavor it adds! Make sure to check out my guide to making brown butter if you aren't sure how!
Cornstarch - This is what helps thicken the maple custard.
Egg Yolks - Using just yolks adds a super rich flavor the custard filling. I also love using yolks because I always have leftovers from making macarons.
Pure Maple Syrup - If you do nothing else, please use REAL maple syrup for this pie! It can be a little pricey but the flavor is unmatched! Use dark maple syrup for the most robust flavor!
Maple Extract - This is optional, but I like adding a little maple extract to the filling for an even deeper maple flavor.
Vanilla Bean Paste - I prefer to use vanilla bean paste in my custard recipes because it has a much stronger, richer flavor! However, you can easily substitute pure vanilla extract.
Half & Half - I like using half & half in the custard for the added richness, but you can also substitute whole milk.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Brown Butter Pie Crust
I use my homemade flaky pie crust for this recipe. You can check out this blog post for all my pie crust tips and tricks!
Chill the brown butter in the fridge until firm, then roughly cut into small chunks. [If you don't want to use brown butter, regular unsalted butter is fine!]
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add in the cold, brown butter and use your hands to press it into the flour mixture until you get pea sized crumbs.
Add cold water and combine until dough forms a nice ball but is still slightly sticky.
Take the formed ball of dough and separate into 2 equal sections and shape into slightly flattened disks. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This is important to keep the butter from melting so that the crust will be nice and flaky. The chilled dough is also much easier to work with for rolling out and creating designs.
Form into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Remove 1 disk of pie dough from the fridge and on a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to about ¼ inch thick and about 2 inches wider than your pie pan. Roll the pie crust into the pie pan and be sure to poke the bottom a few times with a fork to allow air to escape during baking. Cut away any undesired excess crust and crimp, curl, or decorate the edges however you like!
Chill the pie crust in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before baking (if you skip this step, the pie crust will shrink). While the crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 425°F.
Place a piece of parchment paper or heavy duty aluminum foil inside the pie crust and fill with pie weights (uncooked rice or dry beans also work great).
Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Carefully lift the parchment paper and pie weights then return the pie crust to the oven to bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown.
Let the crust cool completely before filling with the maple custard.
How to Make Maple Cream Pie
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until smooth and set aside.
Add the half & half to a microwave safe bowl, then heat until very hot but not quite boiling (about 2 minutes).
In a large sauce pan, combine the cornstarch, brown sugar, nutmeg, and salt.
Over medium-low heat, slowly add in the hot milk about ½ cup at a time while whisking constantly.
As the filling begins to thicken, add in another ½ cup of hot milk and continue whisking.
Once all of the milk is adding, mix in the maple syrup and continue to cook until the filling has thickened enough the coat the back of a spoon. Then remove the pot from the heat.
Pour about ½ cup of the filling into a glass measuring cup and then slowly drizzle it into the beaten egg yolks, whisking constantly until fully combined and smooth.
Pour the egg mixture back into the pot with the rest of the filling cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the filling has thickened to a pudding consistency.
Stir in the butter, vanilla, and maple extract until smooth.
Pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer to remove any lumps.
Cool the filling for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, before pouring into your cooled pie crust. Cover and chill in the fridge overnight (or a minimum of 4 hours) to let the filling set.
While the pie is chilling, make the fall decorations!
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Lightly flour your surface then roll out the remaining pie dough to about ¼ inch thick.
Use your favorite pie crust impression cutters to cut dough into cute little designs (like maple leaves). Place the cutouts onto the sheet pan.
Bake at 350°F for 8-12 minutes or until fully cooked and just beginning to brown.
Let cool completely to room temperature. Then use to garnish the chilled maple cream pie!
If desired, top with homemade whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Tips for the Best Pie!
For all my pie recipes, I like to use my classic flaky pie crust! I have a whole blog post with tons of tips and tricks for perfect pie crust, but the most important are listed below. Be sure to check out the rest of our pie recipes too!
Keep it cold! The secret to a super flaky pie crust is keeping the dough cold at every step. Use cold butter and cold water while making the dough, and try to keep the dough as cold as possible while working with it. I often refrigerate my pies for at least 10-20 minutes after each step so that the dough stays as cold as possible. You want very cold dough going into a very hot oven for the best results!
Use a metal pie pan! Not all pie pans are created equal! Most pie pans on the market are either metal, glass, or ceramic. Overall, metal pie pans are the best of the best because they keep the crust very crispy and they're also the most durable and affordable. A fun alternative to classic aluminum pie pans that yields the same results is a cast iron skillet! I know ceramic pie plates certainly are pretty, but unfortunately the bottom crust just never gets crispy so I just don't recommend them.
Brush the crust with egg wash before baking! Brushing the crust with an egg was (just a beaten whole egg) before baking, gives a beautiful, glossy, golden brown appearance! For savory pies I like to sprinkle with flaky sea salt and for dessert pies I like to sprinkle with sparkling sugar.
Par bake for extra crispy crust! For pies with more runny fillings (like a berry pie or custard based pie), par baking the crust before filling helps ensure a super crispy bottom! It also helps prevent overcooking the filling. Place a piece of parchment paper or heavy duty aluminum foil inside the pie crust and fill with pie weights. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Carefully lift the parchment paper and pie weights then return the pie crust to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is just beginning to brown. [Note: unfortunately this won't work with double crust pies]
Let it rest! Letting the pie rest for a bit after removing from the oven helps the filling thicken up and prevents a runny pie. For pies that you want to eat immediately while they're still hot, it's still best to let it rest for 20-30 minutes before cutting so that the filling can thicken up slightly. But for fruit pies or custard pies, letting the pie rest for at least 4-6 hours is ideal!
Recipe Notes
The most important step in making the maple custard is tempering the eggs. I know that sounds scary, but I promise it's not that hard! Tempering just means that you'll slowly add a small amount of hot liquid to the beaten eggs so that the temperature rises slowly and they don't scramble (trust me, you don't want scrambled eggs in your custard!
Once the filling mixture is scalding hot, you'll remove about ¼ cup and place it into a glass measuring cup (the best for pouring hot liquid). Then slowly drizzle the syrup into the beaten eggs while whisking. Then you'll add the warm egg mixture back into the rest of the custard. Easy peasy!
Recipe FAQ's
This maple pie will keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
No, you can use regular unsalted butter instead! I just love the way the flavor of the brown butter pairs with the maple cream.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Maple Cream Pie
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Brown Butter Pie Crust
- ¾ cup unsalted brown butter, cold
- 2 cups pastry flour, substitute all purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup water, cold
Maple Custard
- 2 cups half & half, substitute whole milk
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, substitute vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon maple extract, optional
Top With
- homemade whipped cream
- nutmeg
Instructions
Brown Butter Pie Crust
- I use my homemade flaky pie crust for this recipe. You can check out this blog post for all my pie crust tips and tricks!
- Chill the brown butter in the fridge until firm, then roughly cut into small chunks. [If you don't want to use brown butter, regular unsalted butter is fine!]
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add in the cold, brown butter and use your hands to press it into the flour mixture until you get pea sized crumbs.
- Add cold water and combine until dough forms a nice ball but is still slightly sticky.
- Take the formed ball of dough and separate into 2 equal sections and shape into slightly flattened disks. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This is important to keep the butter from melting so that the crust will be nice and flaky. The chilled dough is also much easier to work with for rolling out and creating designs.
- Form into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove 1 disk of pie dough from the fridge and on a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to about ¼ inch thick and about 2 inches wider than your pie pan. Roll the pie crust into the pie pan and be sure to poke the bottom a few times with a fork to allow air to escape during baking. Cut away any undesired excess crust and crimp, curl, or decorate the edges however you like!
- Chill the pie crust in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before baking (if you skip this step, the pie crust will shrink). While the crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Place a piece of parchment paper or heavy duty aluminum foil inside the pie crust and fill with pie weights (uncooked rice or dry beans also work great).
- Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Carefully lift the parchment paper and pie weights then return the pie crust to the oven to bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown.
- Let the crust cool completely before filling with the maple custard.
Maple Custard
- In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until smooth and set aside.
- Add the half & half to a microwave safe bowl, then heat until very hot but not quite boiling (about 2 minutes).
- In a large sauce pan, combine the cornstarch, brown sugar, nutmeg, and salt.
- Over medium-low heat, slowly add in the hot milk about ½ cup at a time while whisking constantly.
- As the filling begins to thicken, add in another ½ cup of hot milk and continue whisking.
- Once all of the milk is adding, mix in the maple syrup and continue to cook until the filling has thickened enough the coat the back of a spoon. Then remove the pot from the heat.
- Pour about ½ cup of the filling into a glass measuring cup and then slowly drizzle it into the beaten egg yolks, whisking constantly until fully combined and smooth.
- Pour the egg mixture back into the pot with the rest of the filling cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the filling has thickened to a pudding consistency.
- Stir in the butter, vanilla, and maple extract until smooth.
- Pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer to remove any lumps.
- Cool the filling for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, before pouring into your cooled pie crust. Cover and chill in the fridge overnight (or a minimum of 4 hours) to let the filling set.
Pie Crust Leaves
- While the pie is chilling, make the fall decorations!
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour your surface then roll out the remaining pie dough to about ¼ inch thick.
- Use your favorite pie crust impression cutters to cut dough into cute little designs (like maple leaves). Place the cutouts onto the sheet pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 8-12 minutes or until fully cooked and just beginning to brown.
- Let cool completely to room temperature. Then use to garnish the chilled maple cream pie!
- If desired, top with homemade whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Joanna says
Made this for thanksgiving and it turned out pefect! The flavor was sooo good
Morgan says
I might have missed read something but I’m planning to make this for Thanksgiving and I do not own a pie dish so I went to order one but realized I didn’t know what size you used. What size do you think I should get?
Kyleigh Sage says
A regular 9 inch pan (not deep dish) is perfect. My favorite is this one from USA Pan.
Caroline says
Delicious! As are all of your recipes! But, somehow I yielded a very small amount of filling. It didn't even fill up the pie halfway. What did I do wrong? 😔
Kyleigh Sage says
How deep is your pie dish? Most standard pie dishes are only about an inch deep, so a deep dish pie pan could be the problem! — but that’s a great reminder for me to add a note about that to all my pie recipes!
Caroline says
Aha! That was in fact the problem 🤦. I made this recipe again and I was going to use the correct standard pie dish, buuuut... It was so yummy I decided to use the deeper dish again and double the recipe instead. Unnecessary because it was just for me and my husband? Maybe. Worth it? Absolutely 😁! So good!!! Love your recipes!