A Gluten-Free and Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe

I use this pumpkin pie recipe every year, it’s super easy to make and tastes absolutely delicious.

No matter the time of year, I love making this pumpkin pie recipe, as it’s real easy and full of healthy ingredients. Of course I do normally reserve it for the season of Autumn, but really, you can enjoy it anytime throughout the year.

Though I normally one large pie, this time around, I decided to make small ones instead, using gluten free patty shells. I haven’t yet mastered the concept of making dough from scratch. So, I do cheat a little and use pre-made pastry shells or roll out pastry. I plan to keep practising this though, I mean how hard could it be to get dough right, right?

I originally chose this recipe from Food with Feeling as it was made with easy ingredients I can access here in Australia. Although Pumpkin Pie itself is a fairly uncomplicated and easy to make recipe. There are a few online which involve rather a lot of steps and ingredients. This one by Food with Feeling, was less complicated, minimal ingredients and was real easy to follow.

Though I did replace some of the ingredients and method for my version, just so I could pop my own stamp on this recipe.

For example, as mentioned earlier, I opted to turn my pumpkin pie into little tarts this year for something cute and different. The recipe also included maple syrup or golden syrup and vanilla. However, I opted for no vanilla and I used only a 1/4 cup of rice syrup instead, as it contains less sugar and my local supermarket was sold out of Agave.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2cups of pumpkin puree
• 1/3 of a cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 of a cup of rice syrup
• 3/4 cup of almond milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice (recipe below)
• 1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
• 3 tablespoons of cornflour
• gluten-free shortcrust pastry (I buy this pre-made, but you can make it from scratch if you prefer).

Now, Coles Supermarket do sell, at some locations, a canned Pumpkin Puree, which is free from everything and just plain pureed pumpkin. However, be mindful as you can purchase on their online store, but a lot of the stores don’t stock it in-store.

For my recipe, I purchased a full butternut pumpkin (uncut) as they are nice and sweet and just pulled the whole lot. Once boiled, you drain as much water as possible and then let it cool right down sitting in a strainer so as much water can drip out of the pumpkin.

Once the pumpkin has cooled, you can then puree it. I used a cloth to drain any additional water from the puree. Though, if you let it sit in a bowl whilst you’re working on the pastry part of this recipe, you’ll note a lot of the excess water will sink to the bottom of the bowl anyway, so you’ll be able to remove more before using.

For my Pumpkin Spice mixture, here’s what I used:

• 1/4 cup of ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons of ground nutmeg
• 4 teaspoons of ground ginger
• 1/2 tablespoons of allspice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground clove
• 1/2 teaspoons of cardamon

Mix up all the spices together and then keep in an airtight container. This spice can also be used in a pumpkin spiced latte, fruit mince pies for Christmas and any other recipe which calls for such delicious festive spices.

Alrighty, you’ve got your ingredients, including the spice mix and your pumpkin puree, you’re now ready to make the pie, and or tarts like me.

If making a pie, using a pie tin or glass pie dish (whatever style you prefer) and line it with the pastry you chose. You may need to think about rolling out the pastry at room temperature, so you can evenly spread out and line the cake dish (or tin). Depending on the type of pastry you have used, you may want to pre-bake (or blind bake as some call it) the pastry in the oven for no more than 30-minutes, to ensure the bottom of the pastry is cooked through enough. Especially if you’re using puff pastry.

If you are opting to make tarts like me, then you can use a cupcake tray. Line each cupcake section with your pastry and again, you can opt to preface for 30 minutes before popping in your filling. Otherwise, you can pour your filling in and bake right away.

Then using a food processor (of any kind), mix all your ingredients together. Yep, it’s seriously that easy. No fancy steps or methods. You literally just place it all in the bowl and mix. Once done, you simply just pour the pumpkin pie mixture into the pie or tart base and pop into the oven.

Cook for 60-minutes at 180 degrees (fan-forced). This of course can be changed depending on the type of oven you use. But I would keep the temp at no higher than 190 degrees, as you don’t want it to cook too quickly or burn. If you do notice the pastry is cooking too quickly, then cover with a sheet of foil and continue cooking.

After the 60-minutes is up, let the pie or tarts sit and cool to room temperature (around an hour) and then refrigerate for at least two hours. This cooling down period, especially in the fridge for at least two hours, helps to set the mixture and ensure a nice texture is upheld, and perfect for serving when it comes to eating – yum! This is incredibly important for vegan pumpkin pie recipes, as the texture of the mixture will be heavier than non vegan versions. So the setting part helps to settle and lock in everything.

Don’t rush the process, I know you can’t wait. But similar to that of mousse or jelly, you must let it set properly, or it will taste horrible – trust me. I made that mistake once before LOL.

Serve with whipped cream, or on its own. I enjoyed it without any additional toppings, but if you do want cream, but don’t do dairy – try a vegan one instead. Recipe below:

Refrigerate coconut cream whilst the pie is chilling. Then when the pie is ready for eating, take out the coconut cream from the fridge, place it into a bowl and whip. Add a dollop on the pie and sprinkle with some of your Pumpkin Spice mix. Absolutely delicious – enjoy.