Best Pumpkin Pie Ever

To make the Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Cut the butter in small cubes, then work it into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender or a fork, until the dough is crumbly and butter pieces are smaller than peas. Add the canola oil (or simply use all butter — 6 TBS in all).
3. Sprinkle the OJ over the dough and mix lightly by hand. Add ice water a little at a time, mixing lightly by hand until the dough hangs together when you grab a handful.
4. Wet your countertop, and lay out a big square of wax paper. Plunk the ball of dough on the wax paper, squish it a little, and top with a second square of wax paper, then roll out until it’s big enough to fit in an 8-9” pie pan.
5. Remove the top piece of wax paper. Turn dough upside down, holding the remaining wax paper, and fit the dough into the pan. Then remove the remaining wax paper.
6. Turn any overlapping bits of dough under the edges, and crimp with your fingers or with a fork, to make a nice edge. There is no “right” way. Be creative.
7. Poke holes all over the bottom of the crust with your fork, so the bottom won’t puff up during baking. Then bake for about 10 minutes, until crust is golden brown. You can make the crust the night before, if you’d like.

To make the Filling and Finish the Pie:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Cover edge of crust with tin foil, so it won’t overcook.
2. Separate eggs, with the yolks going into a large bowl and the whites into your mixer bowl.
3. Combine sugar and spices (last five ingredients) together in a small bowl.
4. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
5. Combine milk and pumpkin with the egg yolks. Add sugar-spice mix, and mix well.
6. Fold in egg whites. (That means to mix by turning over spoonfuls, as gently as possible, so all the fluffiness of the egg whites isn’t lost.)
7. Pour into pie shell, and bake for about 40 minutes, until a knife comes out clean. Serve as is, or with a dollop of whipped cream.