No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

How to Make a No Bake Pumpkin Pie

Help yourself remove some potential holiday season prep stress knowing you won’t need an oven to make a tasty and easy pumpkin pie! Let’s talk through how to make this simple recipe come together and you can find the full detailed instructions below:
Make the Crust: In a bowl, knead together Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough with graham cracker crumbs until well combined, then press firmly into your pie pan. We recommend a standard glass pie pan. Place the crust in the fridge so you start to firm up the crust and chill it right away.

Make the Filling: Using an electric hand mixer to blend cream cheese and powdered sugar makes easy work of getting this mixture smooth. Be sure to use canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which has added sugars and spices. We’re already adding those in ourselves, so no need for more, you've got the flavors covered! Add the canned pumpkin to the bowl along with pumpkin pie spice (a premade blend of warm spices that are perfect for pumpkin pie, including cinnamon and nutmeg). Blend everything together, then fold in whipped topping until a fluffy, creamy filling forms.

Assemble and Chill: Spoon and spread the pumpkin filling into the cookie crust. Cover the pie tightly with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours, up to overnight. This ensures the crust and filling are fully set, and the flavors have time to meld together.

Slice and Serve: While the pie is still cold, top the pie your favorite way and slice into servings, or slice and then top each serving—either way works! Check out our simple garnish ideas in the Kitchen Tips section below. Store any leftover no bake pumpkin pie in the refrigerator as directed below in the How to Store section.

Pumpkin Pie Texture

There is no shortage of opinions when it comes to pumpkin pie, and texture is often at the top of the list. While some love the dense richness of a classic pumpkin pie, others prefer a light, fluffy-as-a-cloud filling.
In the case of this bakeless pumpkin pie, we aim for a combination of the two to satisfy every kind of pumpkin pie lover. While you won’t get the exact density of a baked version here, this recipe incorporates cream cheese to add creaminess and yield a thicker texture than other no-bake pumpkin pie recipes you might find.

This recipe also calls for whipped topping, which is folded into the filling. Unlike whipped cream, whipped topping is designed to stay lofty and fluffy, and when gently added to this simple pumpkin pie filling, you get a perfect balance of sweetness, lightness and creaminess with all the flavors of pumpkin pie in each bite. (Bonus: You can top your finished pie with any leftover whipped topping just before serving.)

How to Store

This easy pumpkin pie recipe is unique in that we use safe-to-eat, raw sugar cookie dough as the crust, which adds to the flavor of the pie. (Pie + cookies in one recipe? Yes, please!)
Storing No-Bake Pumpkin Pie: Because it is a safe-to-eat-raw cookie dough crust, and the filling is made with dairy products, we recommend storing this pie, covered, in the refrigerator at all times when it is not actively being served. This not only keeps the pie at a safe temperature, but the pie is easiest to cut when the crust and filling are cold.

Serve It Fresh: While traditional baked pumpkin pie is a breeze to freeze, we do not recommend freezing this pie, as the filling does not maintain its ideal texture once frozen. But it can be made up to 2 days ahead, to take even more heat off your feast preparations.

If you’ve garnished the top of your pie before serving and you need to refrigerate leftovers, you can create a “tent” of foil to cover the pie without touching the decorative topping.

Make-Ahead Tip: Since this unbaked pumpkin pie needs several hours to chill before serving, we recommend making it at least the morning of the day you plan to serve it, and no more than 2 days before you plan to serve it.