4 Pumpkin-Pie Mistakes Everyone Makes

Ever pull a perfect-looking pumpkin pie out of the oven, only to come back an hour later to see that as it's cooled, a giant crack has formed down the middle? That's the result of overbaking, says McDermott; well-done egg proteins coagulate and shrink, causing those canyons to form. A pie will continue to cook as it cools, so to anticipate that, McDermott says to remove your dessert from the oven when a small circle (about the size of a silver dollar) in the middle of the pie still jiggles a little.