Pumpkin Pie for The Soul (and Body)

Now in the thick of ‘comfort food season’, I’ve begun stocking up on my personal staple dish for holiday and party gatherings, pumpkin pie. Naturally, making food for large groups of loved ones can be as challenging as it is fun, and my family also shares a number of allergies. So over the years I’ve developed a pumpkin pie recipe that is not only gluten free, sugar free, and dairy free, but is easy, doesn’t sacrifice flavor, and also won’t make anyone feel guilty for going in for an extra slice! 

Now pumpkin pie isn’t inherently an unhealthy treat as pumpkin puree and those holiday spices offer a plentiful serving of beneficial fibers, vitamins, and antioxidants that contribute to maintaining natural immunity and gut health. The problem is that the most traditional pumpkin pie recipes include sweetened condensed milk. The average 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk contains upwards of 210 mg of added, refined sugars. That’s nearly 10 times the limit recommended by the American Heart Association! But thankfully, there's work around…

In order to achieve that classic pumpkin pie taste and texture, you do need to include some kind of fat and sweetener and my answer is unsweetened, full fat, canned coconut milk and monk fruit sugar! Coconut milk and fat in itself is a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals and monkfruit sugar is a zero calorie sweetener that is extracted from the juice of monkfruits and doesn’t affect blood sugar levels! 

Using full fat coconut milk as a substitute:

You’ll find that most full fat cans of coconut milk come in a 13.5 fluid oz. This is definitely more than you need for a singular pie. When you open the can, you’ll likely notice that the fat and water of the milk have separated some, and it’s all that fat that you want! With a spoon, scoop out as much as you can into your mixture, plus perhaps a dash of the water itself. I’ve personally found that Thai Kitchen’s coconut milk produces the best separation for easy scooping! 

Additionally, If you’ve ever worked with coconut based ingredients when baking before, you’ll know that the initial result right out of the oven is a little different than some traditional methods. This is because coconut fat and oil remains melted in heat and won’t solidify until it cools. As a result, your pie will seem underbaked, but don’t worry, it definitely is. It just needs to settle first.

Using Monkfruit Sugar as a substitute:

Lakanto offers a number of monkfruit sugar variants that make substitution for refined white sugar very easy! You may find however that monkfruit sugar is even sweeter than the traditional options and you may want to lessen the portion to fit your tastes. The amount that my recipe below calls for, creates a more semi-sweet result with Lakanto’s “Classic” sweetener, but their “Golden” and “Brown’ options also make delicious substitutes! 

Crust
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups of crushed graham crackers of your choice (approximately 6 crackers finely crushed either manually or in a food processor). I personally use a gluten free option.
- 1/3 cup monkfruit sugar (Classic, Golden, or Brown)
- 6 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Fold all ingredients together and evenly press into the bottom of your standard 9x9 inch pie dish. 
3. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to fully cool before filling. 

Pie Filling:

Ingredients:
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin purree
- ½ of a 14oz can of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk (Make sure you collect as much of the condensed fat as possible. This will roughly be half of the can.)
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup classic monk fruit sweetener (try Golden or Brown for a richer flavor.)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 all spice
- A pinch of salt
- The fine zest of one orange sprinkled evenly on top

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven is 425 degrees fahrenheit.
   2. Gently whisk together all the ingredients. (Except the orange zest.)
   3. Slowly pour over the cooled pie crust and garnish with orange zest. Add a touch more cinnamon on top for fun!
   4. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 min.
   5. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 45 min. Note again that the pie will appear ‘under cooked’ still, but this is because of the coconut base.
   6. Allow to cool completely at room temp and the filling will thicken to a nice creamy, but plenty firm texture!
   7. Top off with your preference of whip cream and enjoy!