I avoided making pies for many years, but last year was a breakthrough for me. I learned to make gluten-free pie crust and fresh pumpkin puree. I shared my gluten-free pumpkin pie last Thanksgiving, and everyone loved it.
This fall when I went dairy free, pumpkin pie was one of the first things I thought about missing. For some reason I thought it would be really difficult to replace the evaporated milk in the pie and the butter in the crust. How silly of me.
The other night we had a very early dinner, so afterwards the kids asked if I could make a dessert for later. I responded with, “I could make a pie.” You should have seen their eyes light up! When I told them I had a pie pumpkin that I needed to use, they weren’t as excited. Pumpkin pie wasn’t their first choice, but it was all I had to work with. Plus the fact that I had been wanting to try a dairy free version.
First, I needed a dairy free pie crust. I could have used my gluten-free pastry dough recipe that I recently used for a breakfast pie. It worked well dairy free, but I really wanted to try my first pie crust recipe. When I started making it, I realized it calls for a little bit of millet flour. I didn’t have any on hand, so I decided to use sorghum flour instead. In place of the butter I used Spectrum organic shortening (non hydrogenated palm oil). The crust was pretty good, but the sorghum flour made it drier and more crumbly. Next time, I’ll definitely go back to using millet flour.
Next, I needed a substitute for evaporated milk in the pie filling. I thought coconut milk would work well, but my pickiest son thought I should use almond milk. He doesn’t dislike coconut milk, but he doesn’t like coconut flavor in just anything, and he would be able to taste it. The original recipe called for 1 cup evaporated milk, but I only used 3/4 cup almond milk. Instead, I used 1/4 more pumpkin puree. Otherwise, everything was the same.
The pie baked beautifully. This time I put foil on the edge of the crust to keep it from browning too much. The result was a very delicious pie that we finished off in one evening. In fact, the kids who were not so thrilled with pumpkin pie both commented on how good the pie actually was. I think they forgot how much better pumpkin pie is when made with fresh pumpkin puree.
- 1 pie crust recipe
- 1¾ cups pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup almond milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- Prepare the pie crust dough according to directions, but let it rest while you put together the rest of the ingredients.
- Combine all the ingredients using a fork to mix them together.
- Roll and press the pie dough into a 9 or 10 inch pie plate.
- Add the filling to the unbaked pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees 45-55 minutes (longer for a 9 inch pie).
- Cover the crust with foil or a pie shield after about 30 minutes. You can use foil by cutting a large round hole in the center of a piece of foil and placing it over the pie, loosely forming it to the sides of the pie dish.
- Let cool before cutting.
For more great cinnamon recipes visit Friday Foodie Fix at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang. This post is also a part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays where you will find many (but not all) gluten-free recipes.
Yummy…yummy…yummy. Looks wonderful. Funny, too, because I just put up a post on raw pumpkin soup. I must try your pie recipe what with all the pumpkins coming out of my ears.
Woohoo, Linda! Dairy-free pumpkin pie success–love it! It's great to know that almond milk and a little more pumpkin puree will work for this pie. Thanks so much for sharing that info and your recipe. I'll send folks who ask about dairy-free (and are not interested in using coconut milk either for various reasons) your way.
Hugs,
Shirley
Bravo Linda! The pie looks delicious. I'm glad to hear it worked so well dairy free (and happy to see you used a non-coconut milk!). Thanks for sharing. I think I'll have to make this one this weekend.
It looks great, Linda. Glad to know that the almond milk works. I've been thinking about trying it with coconut milk, but the almond milk sounds better.
Wonderful pie. My son's girlfriend is wheat free and dairy free. We'll make this together. I sent her your blog link. She'll love you!
The link to your pie crust recipe does not work…
Sorry about that, and thanks for letting me know. I have updated the link. Here it is: gluten-free pie crust
425 F for the whole time is too high. Should turn down to 350 F after 7 mins or so. Wish I figured that out sooner – now I have a burned crust.
Angie, I’m so sorry you had a burnt crust. The instructions say to bake it at 400 and to cover the edges with foil after 30 minutes. Covering the edges keeps the crust from burning.
Thank you so much for this recipe! My 5 year old daughter has multiple severe food allergies, wheat and dairy among them. The holidays can be difficult, because there are so many treats she can’t have. A few weeks ago she was asking if she could try the pumpkin pie my husband and I were enjoying, and we felt so bad telling her that it had “itchies” in it. (Of course we gave her a dairy free ice cream sundae in place of the pie!) But I promised to find an allergen free pumpkin pie that she could try. This pie is FANTASTIC!!! It was seriously one of the best pumpkin pies I’ve ever had. The crust was fantastic (I did add a tablespoon of sugar
, and you couldn’t tell at all that the evaporate milk was missing from the filling (I used coconut because she’s allergic to nuts). My daughter scarfed down 2 pieces! Thank you!
Do you ever use almond flour? Where can I buy Xanthum gum?
One more question:). Why do so many of you prefer not to use coconut milk?
I’m new to all this!
Hi Jennifer. I have used almond flour a little, but not in this recipe. Xanthan gum can be found at health food stores, or on Amazon. I like coconut milk, but it can give food a definite coconut flavor which I don’t always want in a recipe.
I know this is an old post, but I’m really hoping you’ll see the comment anyway. I was looking for a gluten and dairy free pumpkin pie recipe, that I could make for my cousin. I’ve never used almond milk before, and I’m not sure what kind I should get… Any recommendations?
Thanks.
Hi Alicia. I use Blue Diamond. The brand shouldn’t matter that much, but I use an unsweetened plain variety versus vanilla flavored.
Thank you! That helps a lot. I’m excited to try this recipe soon!
Otherwise the vanilla flavored is very good in it too:)
Do you think buckwheat flour mixed with almond flour would work for a crust?
Sara, I haven’t used almond flour or buckwheat a whole lot. You will just have to give it a try and let us know.
This looks and sounds great.
But…. just wondering how this is dairy free if there are eggs in it??? Hmmm
Hi Rebecca. It is a common misconception that eggs are dairy because they are often sold in the dairy case at the store. Dairy only refers to milk products such as milk, cream, butter, and cheese. Eggs come from chickens who don’t produce milk.
was wondering same about butter?
Bethany, the pie crust recipe says to use butter OR shortening or Earth Balance margarine (the shortening and margarine are dairy free). The pie itself does not use butter.
Thank you, so much, for this recipe! I was able to make a pumpkin pie my cousin could eat, and we all loved it! My husband said it was my best pumpkin pie yet, which a pretty big compliment. I’m so glad I found this recipe.
Alicia, I’m glad everyone enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know.
Hi, i tried making your pie filling recipe for Thanksgiving, when I baked it the pie filling bubbled instead of hardening, so I just left it in the oven to bake a little bit longer and it still did not harden, I took it out and set it in the garage to cool ( our fridge was full of Thanksgiving food) and it hardened a little bit but still was pudding like, but my two sisters loved it and so did I.
I’ve made this pie many times and never had that happen. I wonder if you forgot the eggs. I’m glad you enjoyed it though!
Hi, I just wanted to put in my 2 cents. After experimenting with a variety of non-dairy milks, I found that the best pumpkin pie taste & texture came from using 8 oz of almond milk; with 4 oz of coconut milk. Thanks for all the good ideas.
That’s interesting. I can see how that would be a good combination. Thanks for sharing it.