Caramel Cream Pie

Looking for the perfect holiday pie? This Caramel Cream Pie is delicious, and has an easy homemade crust! Creamy caramel cheesecake filling, topped with whipped cream and dulce de leche.

Love dulce de leche? Try our easy alfajores cookies (filled with dulce de leche)!! Give our cherry pie recipe a try next when you’re looking to bake up something perfect.

Why This Pie is Best

If you’re looking for something different to bring to the holiday table this year, you’re going to LOVE this caramel cream pie. It just might become a new tradition!

• Dulce de leche pie – Caramel and cream cheese come to make the sweet, tangy cream filling.
• Flaky pie crust – This super simple recipe takes the guesswork out of making great tasting flaky pie crust from scratch.
• Make ahead dessert – Make it the day before and let it chill in the fridge overnight. You can spend more time with your guests and less time in the kitchen.

Love cream pies? Try our banana cream pie or coconut cream pie recipe next!

Ingredient Notes

• Crisco baking sticks – One of the secrets to tender, flaky pie crust! You can use any brand of all vegetable shortening but we like the convenience of premeasured baking sticks.
• Ice cold water – The cold temperature keeps the shortening from melting before it goes into the oven resulting in the flakiest possible crust.
• Dulce de leche – A thick caramel sauce that comes in cans. It’s mixed into the filling for a rich caramel flavor, then drizzled on top for a beautiful presentation.
• Cream cheese – This gets blended with the dulce de leche and heavy cream to provide the structure, richness and tang that enhances the caramel flavor.

Confession time: It took me a long time to master making pie crust from scratch.

For years, I relied on refrigerated pie crusts. I still use them for recipes like cherry hand pies and mini apple pies.

But for today’s dulce de leche pie, it’s well worth the little bit of extra effort it takes to make your own pie crust!

How to Make Pie Crust

STEP 1. Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Use a pastry blender or fork to cut shortening into the flour mixture until it forms coarse crumbs.

STEP 2. Stir in the water a tablespoon at a time just until the dough holds together.

STEP 3. Shape the dough into a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until you’re ready to make your pie.

STEP 4. Roll dough into a circle that’s about 2 inches larger in diameter than your pie plate.

STEP 5. Transfer dough to the pie plate. Trim edges of dough hanging over the edge of the plate and fold over to form an edge. Use a fork to poke a few holes in the bottom center of the crust.

STEP 6. Bake crust in a 425 degree oven on a lower rack for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool completely before adding the caramel filling.

Tips and Tricks

• Test the dough for moisture. Pinch off a section of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, you’re good. If it crumbles, add more water, a bit at a time, until the dough holds together in a ball.
• Use a cold mixing bowl when making the caramel pie filling. This helps the cream form stiff peaks as you beat it for perfect consistency.
• Heat leftover dulce de leche in the microwave. It will soften to an ideal consistency for drizzling over the top of the finished caramel cream pie.

Recipe FAQs

More Pie Recipes

• Peach Hand Pies
• Sugar Cream Pie
• French Silk  Pie
• Peanut Butter Pie
• Pistachio Pie
• Dulce de Leche Banana Cream pie

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Caramel Cream Pie

4.71 from 27 votes

By: Aimee

Sweet Caramel Cream Pie with a delicious layer of dulce de leche!

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients 

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For the crust:

• ▢ 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ cup chilled Crisco Baking Sticks all-vegetable shortening
• ▢ 3-6 Tablespoons ice cold water

For the filling:

• ▢ 1 can dulce de leche caramel (divided) 13.4 ounce
• ▢ 8 ounce cream cheese softened
• ▢ ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 2 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar

Instructions 

For the crust:

• Blend flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture using a pastry blender (or fork). Stir in water, by tablespoon, until dough holds together (I used 4 Tbsp)
• Test dough for proper moistness by squeezing a marble sized ball of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, you’re good. If it crumbles, add more water (tablespoon at a time) until dough is moist enough to form a smooth ball.
• Shape dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (up to 48 hours).
• Roll dough from center outward into a circle on a lightly floured surface. You want the circle to be about 2 inches larger than your pie plate. Transfer dough to pie plate. Trim edges of dough, folding the edge under to flute dough as desired. Prick bottom of crust with a fork.
• Bake crust in a 425 degree oven (in the lower third of the oven) for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool completely.

For the filling:

• In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup of dulce de leche and powdered sugar. Set aside. In a clean and COLD mixing bowl, beat heavy cream with granulated sugar for a couple minutes until stiff peaks form. Remove about 1/2 cup of the whipped cream and reserve it for the garnish.
• To the remainder of the whipped cream, fold in the caramel cream cheese mixture until fully blended. With the remaining dulce de leche, reserve about 1-2 Tbsp for garnish. Spread the remainder in the bottom of your cooled pie crust. Top with caramel cream mixture. Top with reserved whipped cream. Melt dulce de leche in microwave and drizzle over pie. Refrigerate pie for 4 hours or overnight. Slice and enjoy!

Notes

• Test the dough for moisture. Pinch off a section of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, you’re good. If it crumbles, add more water, a bit at a time, until the dough holds together in a ball.
• Use a cold mixing bowl when making the caramel pie filling. This helps the cream form stiff peaks as you beat it for perfect consistency.
• Heat leftover dulce de leche in the microwave. It will soften to an ideal consistency for drizzling over the top of the finished caramel cream pie.

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 75mg, Sodium: 138mg, Sugar: 11g

Course: Pies and Tarts

Cuisine: American

Did you make this recipe?Mention @shugarysweets or tag #shugarysweets!

Creamy dulce de leche filling inside a homemade pie shell. The perfect caramel pie for the holidays or any special occasion!