Kisses&Carrots

Healthy Pumpkin Pie

Pies terrify me. It isn’t the filling that scares me, I’ve been making a mean pumpkin pudding (pumpkin pie without the crust) for decades. It’s utterly delicious, and has no dairy or refined sugar. It’s healthy enough to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! But crusts on the other hand, I’ve only made a handful of those my entire life. I avoid them like the plague. I find rolling the dough out evenly and then maneuvering it into the pie pan in one piece to be very daunting. Usually, it’s not a problem—my hubby’s aunt always brings the pumpkin pie to Thanksgiving. But this year, she was feeling under the weather and wasn’t up to making one. So, I volunteered. I figured, I had recently seen all kinds of cool healthy crusts on Pinterest that I had been wanting to try, how hard could it be? Hahahahahahahaha!

Well, after failing miserably to make a decent healthy crust, I was commiserating with a couple friends. I figured I’d pick their brains to see if they had any ideas. Both of them are excellent cooks. But it turns out they don’t like to make crusts either. Then, they had the brilliant idea of using my sugar cookie dough as the crust. So, that is what I did, and it is divine. The best part is that my Almond Flour Cookie Dough Crust is gluten free, sugar free and oil free. It is super healthy and comes together in a snap in the food processor.

Almond Flour Cookie Dough Crust

a gluten free pie crust that tastes like cookie dough
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Freeze Time 15 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Equipment

  • food processor
  • 1 Gallon Size Plastic Bag
  • Rolling Pin
  • Pie Dish

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups blanched almond flour
  • 1 TB arrowroot powder (or tapioca starch or cornstarch)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tsp real vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup real maple syrup

Instructions
 

  • Dump all dry ingredients (almond flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder and salt) into the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
  • Add maple syrup and vanilla to food processor.
  • Process on low speed until everything forms a smooth ball. It should take a minute or so. Dough will be smooth but very sticky. It should have the consistency of marzipan.
  • Put dough in a gallon-size plastic bag and seal. (Using the plastic bag allows you to work with the dough without it sticking to everything.)
  • Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out smooth until it fills nearly the entire bag. It should be about ⅛-¼ thick.
  • Place bag in the freezer on a flat surface and freeze for 15 minutes.
  • Grease a glass baking dish.
  • Remove dough from freezer and immediately rip the bag down the sides to open all the way.
  • Press (dough side down) the dough into the pie plate. Remove the plastic bag. It should be easy to remove because the dough is still mostly frozen.
  • Shape the edges of your pie crust to make it look pretty.
  • Fill the pie and bake according to pie instructions.
Keyword almond flour pie crust, gluten free pie crust, healthy dessert, oil free pie crust

I hate to sacrifice a plastic bag to the baking gods, but using one makes this recipe 10 times easier, helps avoid stickiness and makes cleanup super simple. So, it may not be green, but it is highly practical. (I tried avoiding the bag and just placing the dough between two sheets of silicone baking liners: three words—don’t do it—or you’ll be cursing me for the sticky mess.) Also, don’t skip the step of freezing the dough—it makes it so much easier to work with. The amount of time spent in the freezer is very flexible: you can make this crust ahead of time and leave it in the freezer for several days. Or, you can freeze it just while you are making the pie filling in the blender. Either way works well. And with that as a segue, here is the recipe for the Healthy Pumpkin Pie filling.

Healthy Pumpkin Pie

a healthy twist on pumpkin pie
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 55 mins
Total Time 1 hr
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Pie Plate and Crust
  • Oven

Ingredients
  

  • 1 can 100% pumpkin (unsweetened)
  • ¾ cup coconut milk*
  • 2 TB real maple syrup
  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ⅛ tsp nutmeg
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425°F.
  • Dump all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.
  • Pour into pie crust.
  • Cover edges of pie crust with foil so they don't burn.
  • Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes.
  • Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 35-45 minutes.

Notes

*This is another one of those recipes that combines well with my Coconut Maple Whipped Cream. One can of refrigerated coconut milk can easily be used for both these recipes: the cream for the Coconut Maple Whipped Cream and the leftover/reserved milk for the Healthy Pumpkin Pie.
Feel free to add more spices. My eldest daughter has a mild allergy to cinnamon, cloves and other spices, so I tend to use them very sparingly in my recipes. No one wants to have benedryl be their beverage of choice at Thanksgiving!
Pies are finicky. Depending on your altitude and your oven, you may need to adjust the times accordingly. And if the pie crust isn’t getting baked all the way through, try blind baking it for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees before filling it.
Keyword clean eating, dairy-free, easy to make, gluten-free, healthy dessert, healthy Thanksgiving dessert, paleo, refined-sugar-free

That’s really about it. The pie is even more delectable when combined with my Coconut Maple Whipped Cream. And I love that between the food processor and the blender, the cleanup is super easy. Plus, your pie is so healthy that you don’t even have to feel guilty for letting your kids eat it for breakfast on Black Friday!

Happy baking, and Happy Thanksgiving!