Finding a healthy alternative to comfort foods or traditional holiday treats can sometimes be a challenge. Take pumpkin pie for example. You’ve probably enjoyed it with your family after a large Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Celebrating the holidays without it simply seems wrong.
Luckily, eating a healthy diet doesn’t mean never indulging. Enjoying a healthier alternative instead can often mean making your own desserts from scratch. That way you know for sure there are no preservatives or artificial ingredients hidden in your dessert, and you can control how much sugar gets added.
Making desserts from scratch can also accommodate allergies or dietary sensitivities more easily.
Below is a recipe shared by Stephanie Weaver from Recipe Renovator.
Suitable for:
vegan, gluten-free, low-sodium, reduced-sugar diets
Not for:
migraine diets
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour mix sifted (140 g)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder sifted (25 g)
- 1 tsp psyllium husk powder
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil corn, canola, safflower, sunflower oil
- 1/4 cup almond milk organic, unsweetened
Filling:
- 2 cups pumpkin purée (450 g)
- 3/4 cup cashews raw (85 g)
- 1/3 cup almond milk organic, unsweetened
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp dried nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp dried cloves
- 1/4 tsp sea salt (omit for low-sodium diet)
- 1/4 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/4-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (60-120 g)
Instructions
Crust:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sifted gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, and psyllium husk powder until completely mixed and one color.
- Add the oil and milk and stir with a fork just until it comes together in a ball, use a spatula to finish mixing to ensure there is no dry mixture underneath.
- Set aside to rest while making the filling. You'll be using a 9-9-1/2 inch (20-25 cm) pie pan. You don't need to prepare the pan, although lightly greasing it with coconut oil is fine.
Filling:
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C/gas mark 6.
- In a high-speed blender, mix all the filling ingredients except the chocolate chips until perfectly smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. I use my Vita-mix tamper for this.
- Roll out the crust between two sheets of waxed paper, then press into the pie pan. Gluten-free pie crust video instructions here.
- Pour in half the filling, then sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips. Pour in the rest of the filling, using a thin spatula to get as much as possible out of the blender. Smooth the top with the spatula.
- Bake for ten minutes, then turn the oven down to 350F/180C/gas mark 4 and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are browned and the top has started to crack. It will still be fairly jiggly and will set up more as it cools.
- Cool on a wire rack, then top with vegan whipped cream if desired.
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour mix sifted (140 g)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder sifted (25 g)
- 1 tsp psyllium husk powder
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil corn, canola, safflower, sunflower oil
- 1/4 cup almond milk organic, unsweetened
Filling:
- 2 cups pumpkin purée (450 g)
- 3/4 cup cashews raw (85 g)
- 1/3 cup almond milk organic, unsweetened
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp dried nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp dried cloves
- 1/4 tsp sea salt (omit for low-sodium diet)
- 1/4 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/4-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (60-120 g)
Instructions
Crust:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sifted gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, and psyllium husk powder until completely mixed and one color.
- Add the oil and milk and stir with a fork just until it comes together in a ball, use a spatula to finish mixing to ensure there is no dry mixture underneath.
- Set aside to rest while making the filling. You'll be using a 9-9-1/2 inch (20-25 cm) pie pan. You don't need to prepare the pan, although lightly greasing it with coconut oil is fine.
Filling:
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C/gas mark 6.
- In a high-speed blender, mix all the filling ingredients except the chocolate chips until perfectly smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. I use my Vita-mix tamper for this.
- Roll out the crust between two sheets of waxed paper, then press into the pie pan. Gluten-free pie crust video instructions here.
- Pour in half the filling, then sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips. Pour in the rest of the filling, using a thin spatula to get as much as possible out of the blender. Smooth the top with the spatula.
- Bake for ten minutes, then turn the oven down to 350F/180C/gas mark 4 and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are browned and the top has started to crack. It will still be fairly jiggly and will set up more as it cools.
- Cool on a wire rack, then top with vegan whipped cream if desired.
Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Recipe Notes:
- For a less-sweet pie, use the smaller amount of chocolate chips.
- You can also mix the chips evenly throughout the filling, although I liked them as a layer in the middle.
- I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Making Mix, which includes tapioca starch and garbanzo bean flour, but does not include xanthan gum. If your gluten-free mix contains xanthan gum, omit the psyllium husk powder.
- If you do not have access to a gluten-free baking mix, use: 1/4 C. each tapioca flour, garbanzo bean flour, sorghum flour, brown rice flour. If your gluten-free flour mixture contains only tapioca starch and rice flour, use 2/3 C. of that and 1/3 C. garbanzo bean flour.
