Monday 6 October 2014

World's Healthiest Pumpkin Pie






Pumpkin pie.



Okay that's all I had to say -- bye!!!



Just kidding ;) But I do love me some pumpkin pie. I have already said how much I love pumpkin pie because of my grandfather. And it really brings back such wonderful memories for me.


In fact, growing up pumpkin pie was my only real pie exposure. My family is Middle Eastern so baking pie was never really a 'thing'. And this was my first attempt at pumpkin pie as well (I have made this recipe a few times already!) so my baseline is pretty much that store bought pie I ate with my grandpa.


Because of health issues that have recently intensified by grandfather's diet is growing more restrictive. This means no refined sugars at all -- heavy on the vegetables and low on the protein.


This pumpkin pie is gluten and sugar free (which if you haven't checked out my World's Healthiest Apple Pie yet...do it now!) and made with a gluten free flour blend (that I also talk about in that apple pie post).


The filling is absolutely WONDERFUL! Smooth, light, refreshing yet sweet and decadent like the original. A real treat and the filling itself is quite easy to prepare! So if you want to cheat and buy a pre-made crust I won't tell anyone. But the crust is worth the extra prep work!













I let my brown in the oven probably longer than I should....Oops? I really like my crust crispy  -- what can I say?!









The pumpkin cut-outs are optional. And I talk about it in the notes but it is worth addressing here: The cut-outs can only happen with a sturdy filling! I baked the pie again with a new brand of organic pumpkin that I had not tried before and my filling was very runny. It cooked just fine but I could not decorate the top! Knowing this I rolled my crust out thicket and made a design with the edges of the crust. For this reason I suggest making the filling while your pie dough is chilling in the fridge. That way you know ahead of time.


Anyone know why this brand of filling was so runny? The E.D Smith brand I buy is not runny at all. However it is a huge container -- so that's why I bought the small organic brand instead. Either way the recipe will work but the decorations are wear you'd run into problems.











Moral of the story: Pie is yum. Pumpkin pie is yummiest. E.D Smith pumpkin works great. And also PIE IS GREAT!


Let`s talk about the recipe, shall we?






World's Healthiest Pumpkin Pie 

Yields 1 9-inch Pie (Double Layer) 

Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Butter Free 

Ingredients:

For the Crust
For the Pie

  • 15 ounces pumpkin puree/canned pumpkin (1 3/4 cup)*
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt or non-dairy yogurt 
  • 1/2 cup liquid sweetener (honey, agave, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, etc) 
  • 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk 
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar (or cane sugar) 
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice 
  • Pinch of sea salt 
  • Optional : Coarse sugar or sea salt to sprinkle on top of pie 

*I used E.D Smith's and it was a good consistency. I bought an organic brand and it was very liquidy!If you do use a brand with more water just carefully watch it towards the end of the baking time

Directions:


For the Crust 

  1. In a large bowl add flour and sea salt and mix gently
  2. Take frozen coconut oil and grate it into the flour mixture gently stirring your dough together
  3. Add ice water and yogurt one tablespoon at a time until you have a dough that stays together 
  4. Roll dough into a ball and place it in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap or parchment paper while you make the filling
For Filling

  1. In a large bowl add all ingredients and stir until fully combined and set aside 
  2.  If desired, reserve the egg white aside for your egg wash 

Pie Assembly


  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit 
  • Set aside a 9-inch pie plate near your work surface 
  • Take your pie dough from the fridge and roll it out either on a floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper until you have a thin layer of dough that is around 1/4 inch thick
  • Using your rolling pin that is heavily floured you may choose to roll the dough onto the pin and then unroll it onto your plate 
  • Another option is to place your pie plate as close to the dough as possible and lift it gently onto the plate, pressing into the sides of the plate gently and cutting off the excess
  • If desired crimp the edges at this stage with a fork and poke a few holes in the bottom of your crust with a fork
  • At this stage you should have a small amount of dough left (1/4 of the batch)
  • Because this is pumpkin pie you can also leave the top uncovered and pour in your filling, crimping the sides of the dough - I have done this as well with great results -- I rolled the dough slightly thicker so I had enough to make fancy edges
  • Your other option is to cut out pumpkins with the remaining dough-- if your mixture is too liquidy this won't work! If you pour it in your crust and it pours like a thick juice it is too liquidy! It will still cook but you won't be able to place the shapes on top -- shown below is the version without the top crust (forgive the knife stab in the middle, there!) 











  • For this post though --  I did roll out the dough and cut out shapes to arrange on the top layer of the pie until the dough was finished -- if you cut out shapes your final step is putting on an egg wash if you decorated it with a top crust with an egg white or whole egg that is whisked (you can also use milk or oil instead!)
  • Brush on your egg wash on the top layer of your pie and at this stage, if desired, sprinkle with coarse sugar or organic cane sugar (just a teaspoon or two  is all it takes!) 








  • Bake pie at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until top is slightly browned
  • After 20 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cover your pie with aluminum foil and let bake for an additional 40-50 minutes
  • Remove foil and bake an additional 5 - 10 minutes checking occasionally so your pie does not burn
  • Your pie will be finished once the top is slightly darker in colour -- to test it for certain insert a knife in the center -- if it comes out clean your pie is done!
  • Let pie cool COMPLETELY before serving refrigerating if need be to speed along the process -- otherwise your pie will fall apart if you try to serve it while it's warm

Baker's Notes: My pie baked for 1 1/2 hours so be aware that it might take a little bit longer! 












That is a good lookin' pie.











Hey girl, I want to call you pumpkin.



Doesn't it ruin all your Ryan Gosling fantasies to know he is a baby daddy?! Sure ruins mine! LOL












Serve this pie up with some whipped topping of your choice! For this pie specifically I find making it the day before works best. That extra time in the fridge really helps it firm up and helps you cut cleaner slices!













Ah I miss this pie already. It is so wonderfully delicious. Even better than I remember! Fun fact -- my brother purchased a store bought pie with his friends and told me the next day that it just wasn't the same as mine!


I win grocery store....I win.



Happy Pie Baking!



XO 

4 comments:

  1. I just made a super high-protein crust less pumpkin pie (someday I will figure out teh interwebz so I can post a picture of my creations for you). It was not as decadent as your pie above (I dies for pie crust), but at 154 cal and 12g protein for a QUARTER of the pie, it was the gym-rat route to pie for me! And oh my goodness, in terms of fluffy white toppings - we just bought a hand/stand mixer with attachments including a whisk today (I love new kitchen toys and I am eyeballing some silicone muffin liners and a donut pan - I have never made donuts before, but now that 'pro-nuts' exist I will have to try) - you HAVE to try sugar-free egg white meringue! 4 egg whites at room temperature, whisk at full speed and slowly add 1-2 packets of stevia crystals and 1 tsp vanilla. With my handy new mixer (and husband at the helm), we had the classic meringue "stiff peaks" in under seven minutes! It was scoop able right into the pie and browned up nicely under the broiler, but you could eat it as a whipped topping as is (although I think you would have to eat it right away or it might ooze away - there's none left so I can't tell you for sure). With a total of 80 calories and 16g of protein IN TOTAL it is a fantastic low-cal, high-protein option for fitness crazies (like me). You'll have to try it and let me know. I might just have to do a lemon meringue pie now (with crust, of course). Cheers!

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    1. That sounds delicious!!!! I have been wanting to try that for a while and never have! Glad to know it works with stevia too, that was my main concern! I am loving that you posted the pictures, thank you so much!

      Kitchen toys are the BEST. It's all anyone buys me as gifts these days -- which is great because the post-grad life does not lend itself to frivolous kitchen gadget buying ( :( ) !

      ALSO I ordered off I-Herb and they were really lovely but they charged me 25 dollars in duties plus shipping and handling! I was shocked considering most of those things I can find in Canada anyways.


      I am going to go check out your pie on FB now!

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  2. That IS shocking and makes me sad - what is Canada doing that South Korea isn't that I only pay $4.00 shipping and no tax, customs or duties (as long as my order is less than 15lbs and less than $105)?

    I am eyeballing a vegetable spiralizer now, and I had never even heard of one before today. Great for vegetable "pasta" - thought you might be interested in it as a gluten-free option. I just found The Foodie Teen (http://www.thefoodieteen.com) via Sorted and am feeling inspired! She's got allergen / diet / lifestyle acronyms I've never even heard of in some recipes!

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    1. Yes she is great, isn't she?! So creative! I have to check out more of her stuff. And yeah I don't know what was up with the shipping, it made my order to expensive! I e-mailed them and they were really nice but basically told me I was SOL!

      Ah well!

      I also want a spiralizer! I keep seeing zoodles (zucchini noodles) everywhere!

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