It’s finally here! The much-requested recipe for Paleo Pumpkin Pie. I’ve tested and retested to get the perfect flaky paleo pie crust along with a silky smooth pumpkin filling. And you’ll find all my tips and tricks below that really make this the best pumpkin pie. I feel like I’m the last person who should be coming up with a recipe for pumpkin pie. In fact, I stopped making pumpkin pie during the holidays years ago because it never got eaten. About a week after every Thanksgiving, I ended up throwing away most of the pie. And so I just concentrated on making what everyone in our family actually liked. So if you’re also not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, stick around because this one might change your mind! In fact over the last week, I’ve eaten more pumpkin pie than I have in the rest of my lifetime combined, (no exaggeration!). My sheer number of pieces of pumpkin pie lately was all eaten in the name of ‘recipe testing’ you know. And Tyler, (who isn’t fond of pumpkin pie either) was all too happy to ‘help me out’! So all in all, I think we’ve hit on a keeper of a holiday recipe you’re going to want to make again and again. And because we can’t get enough pumpkin now, we also have this Pumpkin Crisp recipe I think you’ll love. It has a smooth pumpkin pie filling topped with a traditional crisp topping!
Let’s make this recipe step by step
Step 1: First we’re going to make the crust. It comes together super easy in the food processor. You can use butter/ghee/coconut oil/or palm shortening here. And unlike a regular all-purpose flour crust, you don’t have to worry about overworking it. Step 2: After you process the butter into the flour mixture, we’re going to add an egg. Eggs are essential to the texture of both the crust and the filling of this recipe. Step 3: After processing a touch more, you’ll have a beautifully smooth pie crust dough. Step 4: From there, you want to press it out by hand into a regular 9″ pie plate. You can try to roll paleo pie crusts traditionally, but I find it’s more work than it’s worth. They tend to crumble when you transfer them from the wax paper to the pie plate. So it’s easiest to just press it out by hand!
Ingredients for the pumpkin pie filling
Canned pumpkin – You want to look for canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. The difference between the 2 is pumpkin pie filling comes with spices and sweeteners added. Canned pumpkin has just 1 ingredient – pumpkin puree. (Also I don’t recommend using your own pumpkin purée made from scratch because you won’t know if there’s the right amount of moisture. And there’s no guarantee of success with all of the variables of homemade purée.) Pumpkin Pie Spice – this is a blend of multiple different spices and I like using it here because it simplifies measuring out all the different spices. Maple syrup – This ended up being my preferred sweetener that perfectly compliments the spices for the filling. Pure maple syrup, (I used Grade A amber) makes the best texture and color compared to coconut sugar. Coconut milk – I used coconut milk in place of the heavy cream or in some recipes sweetened condensed milk that’s normally called for. There’s no discernible coconut flavor in the final product though! Eggs – pumpkin pie filling is a custard, and eggs provide the perfect texture for this pie. Tapioca starch – this helps to stabilize the eggs and thicken the filling to a perfectly sliceable texture. You can also use cornstarch or arrowroot powder in place of the tapioca.
Benefits of cooking the filling on the stovetop
By cooking the pumpkin together with the spices you eliminate extra moisture and concentrate the flavor. And secondly, when you add a hot filling to a hot crust you get the perfect texture in the filling. It also helps to eliminate large cracks across the top of your pie. Paleo pie crusts do have a tendency to burn with long baking times. But you avoid all of this because the filling cooks faster in the oven when it goes in hot.
I really hope you enjoy this Paleo Pumpkin Pie recipe! If you do get a chance to make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
