Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie
Since we are going out of town for Thanksgiving, I decided to make my pumpkin pie a week early. I have been making this pie for three years in a row now, since it is the best-tasting gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free pumpkin pie recipe I have found. I’ve served it to family members who are unable to tell the difference from a regular pumpkin pie.
Amaranth Pie Crust
The pie crust is adapted from a Bob’s Red Mill recipe using amaranth flour and almond meal. For the almond meal, I ususally just grind up a handful of raw almonds in the coffee grinder. This recipe also calls for arrowroot starch, but I use cornstarch instead because arrowroot is expensive and can be difficult to find. Here’s how I make it:
Ingredients:
3/4 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 T olive oil
3-4 T filtered water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and brush a 9-inch pie pan lightly with olive oil. Combine the dry ingredients and whisk together. In a small bowl, combine the 3 T olive oil and 3 T filtered water and whisk with a fork. Pour the oil/water mixture into the dry ingredients and stir. It will be very dry and crumbly. Add a bit more water, 1 tsp at a time, until you can make a ball out of the dough. On a floured surface, flatten the ball with your hands and either roll it with a rolling pin or press into the pie pan with your fingers. Once you have the crust shaped into the pie pan, take a fork and prick the bottom of the crust and use the tines to press the edges (you might have to dip it into some warm water to keep it from sticking). Bake the crust for 3 minutes, then fill it and finish baking.
Pumpkin Pie Filling
Now, for the filling. This part I’ve adapted from another recipe I found online. It’s listed several places and I’m not sure where the original is, but you can find it on solae.com here. This recipe is dairy-free, using blended tofu instead of evaporated milk. It calls for honey, but I use agave nectar instead. I also use less tofu than the recipe calls for.
Ingredients:
1/2 package firm tofu
2 cups canned or cooked fresh pumpkin
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tsp gluten-free vanilla
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Blend the tofu in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Blend the pumpkin along with the tofu (you may have to do this in portions, depending on the size of your food processor). Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in the honey, vanilla and spices, and mix thoroughly. Pour into the prepared pie shell and bake at 400 degrees F for one hour. Cover with aluminum foil for half the baking time. You can tell it is done if you stick a toothpick in it and it comes out clean. Cool and serve.
For a sweeter taste, drizzle a little more agave on top when serving. This time it turned out so delicious, I may have to make another one at my brother’s house next week. Happy Thanksgiving!
No. 1 — December 6th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
[...] before, my sister-in-law and I had baked pies. She made a traditional apple pie, and I made my gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free pumpkin pie from my pre-mixed bag of flour. (Not a huge fan of tofu, she was amazed at how normal a pumpkin [...]
No. 2 — August 15th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Love your pumkin pie recipe, I am new to this problem do you publish a cook book I am having difficulty locating one Wheat free, gluten free, dairy free & light on the egg. Thank you Maura Pope
No. 3 — August 15th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Maura, thanks for visiting my blog! Unfortunately I don’t have a cookbook yet but I have several recommendations in the left side panel if you scroll down. Good luck & happy cooking!
No. 4 — October 14th, 2009 at 7:03 am
[...] Angie’s Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie [...]
No. 5 — October 14th, 2009 at 7:47 am
This looks delicious!
No. 6 — October 21st, 2009 at 3:05 pm
This looks great! I have decided to go sugar/dairy/gluten free, but soy is also a problem for me including Tofu…what else can I use in order to firm the recipe?
No. 7 — October 21st, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Nadia, hmm…eggs and coconut milk are coming to mind. Eggs to firm the recipe and coconut milk to make it creamy. Not sure what amounts to use, I’m going to have to try it to experiment! Let me know if you try it what works!
No. 8 — October 22nd, 2009 at 11:16 am
Hi Angie,
Thanks that’s great! Both eggs and coconuts are good for me, so I will try it that way and let you know how it goes…great website by the way!
No. 9 — November 24th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Hi Angie! I was wondering if you tried out the recipe with eggs and Coconut milk, and if it worked out. I want to make this pie tomorrow! Love the site!!!
No. 10 — November 27th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Hi Mac! Sorry, I haven’t tried it with eggs & coconut milk, but I hope yours was delicious! Happy Thanksgiving!
No. 11 — December 21st, 2009 at 11:04 am
Hi Angie,
I finally had an opportunity to try the recipe, but made a boo-boo and put too much coconut milk into it which took the pumpkin flavour away, and drowned out the spices too much. I’m going to try it again this week, and put a bit more pumpkin in (2 cups doesn’t seem enough to fill the shell), use brown rice syrup as a sweetener (did you know Agave isn’t a very good substitute and blood sugar problems over time?), and about half the amount of coconut milk and see how it turns out! The pie crust turned out great btw!
No. 12 — December 22nd, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Hi Nadia, glad the pie crust turned out great and better luck on your coconut filling! And yes, I have been reading recently that agave has some problems…have you had better luck with rice syrup? Someone told me that more unprocessed natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup may be the way to go. Tell me how your next pie turns out!
No. 13 — February 2nd, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I am on a (RAW) no pasteurized dairy, no sugar, no gluten diet for the next 3 months. As you may know raw dairy is hard to come by in the state of Oregon. Organic animal lard would be the way to go for the crust. I am working with a nutritionist and Agave is worse then many other sweeteners. I am told all sugars are not good for any of us as it is added in almost all our foods. Take a look at the sugar content on a can of beans or corn and you will be surprised. So taking care when indulging in anything sweet is a challenge. I have tried different brands of Stevia and they all are disappointments. I tried adding cooked mashed yams in my last pumpkin pie and it wasn’t a bad substitute for sugar.
No. 14 — February 4th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Hi Littlebit, yes agave is not all it’s cracked up to be. I am trying to use it less in recipes, substituting honey or maple syrup, only cutting the amount in half because it is so much sweeter. Yes, most canned and processed foods contain added sugar, among other things - that is why I recommend avoiding them at all costs! It is much healthier (and simple, if you have a crock pot) to cook your own dried beans from scratch. (And if you do not have fresh corn, buy a bag of frozen kernels, it is much better for you than canned.) If you are cooking your own whole foods, the amount of your sugar consumption will be drastically reduced. Then you can treat yourself once in awhile to a little natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup, if used sparingly.