Few foods are connected to the fall season and Thanksgiving day as pumpkin pie. As North America's most famous native squash, pumpkins have long been an important part of the fall harvest season dating back over 9,000 years ago when Native Americans in Mexico were known to have collected and cultivated the plants for food. Here in the garden, celebrating this rich history through a hand's on cooking activity is a meaningful way to connect students to this amazing plant and all of the traditions it has inspired for centuries. If you're serving this any time in November, you'll also have a great tie in to Native American heritage month.
Typical pumpkin pies take quite a bit of time to make and access to an oven, both of which are hard to come by in a garden, so we like to use this fantastic shorthand recipe. Whether your are outside in a garden or inside sitting at desks in a classroom, this fun activity is easily adaptable to any setting. You'll only need a handful of ingredients and just a few materials to make it all come together into a delicious, seasonal treat for your students to enjoy.
In our garden, we like to save the Pumpkin pie in a bag recipe as a prize for students who won our annual scarecrow contest. Each year we have the entire school vote on their favorite scarecrows and then declare one winner for each grade. It's a great opportunity to still connect to the season and local produce while introducing students to another cooking opportunity. If you're ready to make this delicious recipe, let's get started!
This recipe includes amounts for 25 students, but I'll also include a variation that you can use to make an individual recipe instead.
Ingredients you'll need for a full classroom (about 25 students):
- Graham crackers (13 full sheets broken into halves)
- Jell-o Instant vanilla pudding mix (5.1oz box)
- 1 16 oz. canned pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 cups of cold milk (we use oat milk so that everyone can participate)
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 cans of whipped cream (we include a dairy option and a coconut option for allergies)
Ingredients for an individual serving size:
1/4 cup cold milk
1TBSP instant pudding mix
1/8 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP canned pumpkin puree
Equipment you'll need:
- Plastic sandwich bags (1 per student)
- 1 1-gallon zip freezer bag
- Small paper cups (1 per student)
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- Scissors
- Small spoons for eating (I use these wooden ones to reduce plastic waste)
- Spatula or extra spoon for adding pumpkin
Directions:
First take your small plastic bag and add half a graham cracker. Seal your bag well and then use your hands, fists, rolling pin, or whatever else you have on hand to pound your graham cracker into small crumbs. If you're doing this lesson with a class, it makes things much easier if you already have the graham crackers sealed in bags ahead of time so that you can just pass them out to students before you get started.
Now transfer your graham cracker crumbs into your small cup, this is your pie crust. You can discard your small plastic bag.
To make your pumpkin pie filling take your plastic freezer bag to serve as your mixing bowl. This is a great time to have the students help make the recipe if you're in a classroom as you can call them up one at a time to help add individual ingredients. First, measure and add your cold milk followed by the box of instant pudding mix.
Add your 1/2 tsp ginger and 1 tsp cinnamon (or more if you like a stronger cinnamon flavor). Once you get to this point, seal your bag and knead it with your hand while holding the top of the bag upright.
Now that it's mixed, open it again and add the entire can of pumpkin puree using your spatula to scrape it out.
Now reseal your bag and, holding the top firmly knead the bottom with your hands. You can go around the room and have the students mix the bag a few times each so that everyone has had a chance to participate.
Now your pie filling is ready. You'll use the ziploc bag just like an icing bag. Cut a small opening in the corner of the bag and squeeze small amounts of the filling into each cup until everyone has some.
Top it off with your choice of whipped cream and voila! You're ready to eat!
Common questions:
Can I use this recipe in place of a regular pie recipe?
Yes! You can fill a regular homemade pie crust or store-bought pie crust with this filling and put it in the fridge to set.
Can I use pumpkin spice instead of cinnamon and ginger separately?
Yes, this recipe can be adapted to whatever spices you prefer to use.
Got any good pumpkin facts that I can use when teaching this lesson?
Why yes, I'm so glad you asked.
Pumpkins are part of the family of vining plants called Cucurbitaceae that includes cucumbers, squash, gourds, melons, and others. If you know how to grow a cucumber, you can use your knowledge to grow pumpkins too as they require similar growing conditions.
Pumpkins are botanically considered a fruit.
Even though we think of pumpkins in the fall, they're usually planted in July because they need the summer sunlight to grow. Pumpkins take about 100 days to mature so they are usually harvested in the fall.
Pumpkins are often incorporated into a traditional 3-sisters garden often grown by many first peoples. The 3-sisters are squash (pumpkin), corn, and a native bean plant that tastes similar to lima beans. The beans grow up the corn stalks, and feed the soil for the pumpkins whose large leaves block out weeds and keep the roots of the plants cool and moist.
The world record for the largest pumpkin was set in Half Moon Bay, California and weighed 2,749 lbs.
The Purple Coop 2024
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