We get a lot of pies for dessert. Here's my ongoing pie matrix which includes

• pecan pies (my favorite),
• pumpkin pies,
• chocolate creme pies,
• and sweet potato pies.

Last updated: 2026.01.08

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quadrantChart
    title Pie Matrix
    x-axis Filling
    y-axis Crust

    quadrant-1 Best pies!
    quadrant-3 Worst pies...

    Hannaford Pecan Pie:::pecan: [0.7, 0.5]
    Trader Joes Pecan Pie:::pecan: [0.35, 0.23]
    Whole Foods Pecan Pie:::pecan: [0.85, 0.7]
    Costco Pecan Pie:::pecan: [0.9, 0.6]
    Sara Lee Pumpkin Pie:::pumpkin: [0.7, 0.2]
    Sara Lee Sweet Potato Pie:::spotato: [0.8, 0.3]
    Market Basket Pumpkin Pie:::pumpkin: [0.8, 0.57]
    Sara Lee Chocolate Creme Pie:::cc: [0.75, 0.42]

    classDef pecan color:#7332a8
    classDef pumpkin color:#a86632
    classDef spotato color:#38ba54
    classDef cc color:#2776c0

Hannaford Pecan Pie: Pie filling was not very sweet, very light, and nice and soft. The caramelized pecans on top of the pie were nice and crunchy. The crust itself is crumbly but nothing very notable - possibly slightly too burnt.

Trader Joes Pecan Pie: ABYSSMAL PIE. Much heavier than the Hannaford one (in terms of the actual weight of the pie) so I thought it might just be much denser, but it actually just has super mushy and liquid-y pie filling. Filling taste was okay. The pecans that were on top of the pie were just regular salted pecans - it felt like they just threw them on top without baking them in (or putting sugar on top so it's not caramelized at all). Crust was way too thick and cakey. Pie overall was way way too sweet.

Whole Foods Pecan Pie: This one's really good! I think this pie, compared to the Hannaford and Trader Joes pies, is the best baked. The crust was flaky and actually has some impact on the pie (instead of being boring and generic pie crust, it felt like it melded well with the pie filling) whereas the aforementioned ones didn't really care too much to make a good crust. This pie's pecans were super caramelized to the point where it was a little bit of a struggle to cut into. Pie stuck to teeth and top of my mouth too much, but the flavor was really good. A little bit too rich to have if you were to serve this after a pretty hefty meal.

Costco Pecan Pie: Super good! Very rich with nice caramelized pecans on top. The crust was very short and crumbly which was nice, but I wish it had a little more crunch or something. Filling wasn't very wet which was good and held up nicely. Also, the pie was not very sticky.

Sara Lee Pumpkin Pie:

Note: This is a pie that comes frozen, so you must bake it in your oven.

Not great! The pie filling itself didn't really taste like pumpkin at all. It was primarily cloves, nutmeg, and ginger. You can feel the pumpkin texture ... but no taste of pumpkin can be found. The pie crust was completely burnt (or at least TOO easy to burn). Tasted like charcoal. The burnt crust could be due to us baking it for too long, but we baked according to specifications on box. The picture below doesn't look very burnt... but trust me... it was extremely burnt and chalky.

Market Basket Pumpkin Pie: A staple in my household for pumpkin pie! It's nicely spiced but not overwhelming (i.e. no cloves, nutmeg, or ginger overpowering it). There's a nice creamy pumpkin flavor. It's a pretty nice and light pie that isn't too sweet. The crust is standard crumbly pie crust, not much to note there.

Sara Lee Sweet Potato Pie:

Note: This is a pie that comes frozen, so you must bake it in your oven.

A surprisingly good one! I don't really eat sweet potato pies (we got this because we were trying to find pumpkin pies around Thanksgiving which proved to be difficult for apparent reasons), so this was a pleasant surprise. It's very light and not very sweet, tastes very similar to a baked sweet potato with a light sweetness. The crust had the same issue as the Sara Lee Pumpkin Pie where it was almost completely burnt to the point of being black.

Sara Lee Chocolate Creme Pie:

Note: This is a pie that comes frozen, so you must bake it in your oven.

This one is a nostalgic childhood one for me. It's very good, but a little too sweet at times.