I love pumpkin pie but for some reason, I never think to make it except at Thanksgiving. Now that I have found a recipe that includes ice cream, I will definitely make pumpkin pie more often!
For this recipe, you will need ginger snaps, margarine, pecans or walnuts, orange peel, canned pumpkin, packed brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice (or ground cinnamon can be used as a substitute), whipped cream, and a pint of ice cream. For the ice cream, you can use vanilla but you can also change the taste of the pie by adding something different like butter pecan or cinnamon ice cream.
To prep for this recipe, crush enough ginger snaps to make one cup. If your pecans or walnuts are not finely chopped, you will need to chop enough of those to make 3/4 cup. The orange peel should also be finely shredded.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. To make the crust, mix the 1 cup of crushed ginger snaps with 1/4 cup of melted margarine. Stir in 3/4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts and 1 teaspoon of shredded orange peel. Spread and press your crust into a 9-inch pie pan then bake in the oven for 4 minutes. Sit aside to cool.
To make the filling for the pie, place the pint of ice cream in a large chilled bowl. Using a wooden spoon, stir the ice cream until it is slightly softened. Add 1 cup of canned pumpkin, 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice (or ground cinnamon). Once that is mixed well, fold 1 cup of whipped cream into the mixture. Fill the crust with the pie filling. Place the pie in the freezer for 3 hours (or until it is firm). Let the pie stand for about 20 minutes before serving.