Pumpkin pie is such a classic when it comes to the holidays! There is no reason that a vegan gluten free pumpkin pie shouldn’t be just as good as the real deal. I’ve been tweaking this recipe a bit over the years because I was determined to make the best vegan classic pumpkin pie and I’m so excited to share it you!
A Childhood Favorite
Growing up in Los Angeles there was a bakery near where I grew up called Viktor Benes and it was known for having pretty solid desserts. Every year we’d order our pumpkin pie from them and it was honestly one of my favorite parts of the the Thanksgiving meal.
Just to be clear, I make this pie all year long. I honestly don’t get tired of it and it has a lot of health benefits given it’s technically made out of a vegetable using an array of incredible spices.
One year I finally decided to make a pumpkin pie from scratch.
This was many years ago, when I was dairy and gluten free but not completely vegan. I didn’t know as much about cooking and especially baking with vegan ingredients.
I was going to a Friendsgiving party and googled a random pumpkin pie recipe. The pie did not turn out great. It was pretty disappointing.
Even though a fair amount of people ate it at the party, it was no Vitkor Benes pie. This was the catalyst to make the best possible vegan pumpkin pie that nobody could tell was vegan and gluten free.
Not Technically A Pumpkin Pie
So one of my “secrets” to perfect this pie is swapping the canned pumpkin puree for roasted sweet potatoes (aka yams). If you just read that and said “WHAT!?” Don’t worry, you can still use the pumpkin puree instead and it still works great but I find the flavor is a bit more elevated with the yams and improves the texture.
I know you may be thinking…isn’t that a sweet potato pie then? The answer is, kind sorta…but no. Since it tastes exactly like a pumpkin pie, I still refer to it as such. I’ve made it both ways. However, if you have the time to pop yams in the oven for an hour or so beforehand, I highly recommend it.
What About Pumpkin?
A lot of recipes will also say to use fresh pumpkin. This is basically my version of that but without the incredibly exhausting process of cutting, cleaning out and cooking pumpkins.
I’ve made this pie using all three ways, canned pumpkin, fresh pumpkin and mashed roasted yams and I think yams is a great in between when it comes to work and provides a fresher taste and depth of flavor.
Pair this pie with my delicious dairy free whipped cream!
- Filling:
- 2 cups roasted garnet yams, mashed (about 5 medium-large whole yams)
- ¾ cup coconut milk (from the can)
- 1 in piece freshly grated ginger
- 1 tbs creamy almond butter
- 2 tbs arrowroot starch
- 2½ tbs maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- Crust:
- 1¼ cup 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 6 tbs chilled vegan butter (I used Miyokos)
- 4 tbs ice water
- 1 tbs coconut sugar
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- Rinse yams and use a fork to pierce holes on each yam.
- Place them on a baking sheet and bake at 425F for 45-60 minutes or until completely cooked and tender when you cut into them.
- Cool and remove the skins.
- Place them in a bowl and mash with a fork until it forms a puree.
- Into a blender add in all the filling ingredients and blend until completely combined and smooth.
- Into a food processor, combine all crust ingredients and pulse into it forms a ball of dough.
- Place dough onto a hard surface or large cutting board and roll using a rolling pin (a large glass bottle or wine bottle also works in a pinch)
- Roll into a large circle about ¼ inch thick.
- Place a pie dish face down onto the dough.
- Flip the pie dish over, holding onto the dough.
- (This is an easier way to get the pie dough into the dish.)
- Use your hands to press down the dough into the dish/
- Use a fork to pierce holes into the bottom of the crust.
- Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the dough and use a spatula to smooth out the top.
- Loosely cover the edges of the crust using strips of tin tin foil to prevent burning of the crust.
- Bake at 350F for 40 minutes.
- Remove and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.
- Top with vegan whipped cream and enjoy!
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