Gluten Free, Grain Free Pumpkin Pie

This was a challenge… a big one. I have always had a hard time with pumpkin pie. My mom makes an AWESOME pumpkin pie. My absolute favorite pie. I’ve tried to mimic her recipes (homemade pie crust included) and always burn it or under cook it. It’s tricky. This recipe was even worse as I had no idea what I was doing when I started. I knew what the basic pumpkin filling needed to have and how I needed to modify it. The pie crust was the worse though. A typical pie crust is buttery, flakey and delicious but full of fat and gluten. I decided to go with a nut crust instead. It is still full of fat – but good fats. I added the oat topping for my husband as he is not a huge pumpkin fan. This will be our go to for Thanksgiving dessert. Go ahead – add it to your holiday menu too!

Crust

1 ½ cup finely ground nuts (I used an almond, cashew hazelnut blend)
1/3 cup date puree
¼ cup coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Filling
1 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
¼ cup applesauce
2/3 cup almond milk
2 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp honey
¼ cup coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Topping (optional - omit this to make it grain free)
2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup GF oats
¼ cup chopped pecans
1 tsp cinnamon

• To grind nuts, use a high power blender (I used my Magic Bullet) and blend for about 1 minute until most of the nuts are finely ground. If you blend to much you will end up with nut butter so just watch it. You don’t want them ground like flour so it should still be a little coarse.
• To puree the dates, add in about ½ cup or (10-12 small) dates and ¼ cup water. Using a high powered blender, blend the dates and water until a paste forms.
• Combine the nuts and dates into a small bowl. Stir in coconut sugar and cinnamon.
• Spread into a greased glass pie plate and press onto bottom and sides. Pre-bake the crust at 350°F for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and pierce crust with a fork. The crust may bubble up but piercing it should remove the extra air.
• While the crust is pre-baking, combine the filling ingredients and stir with a whisk until well combined and smooth.
• Pour filling into pie crust. Bake at 325°F for about 45-50 minutes or until sides start to brown.
• While pie is baking, combine topping ingredients until crumbly.
• Half way through baking, remove pie and sprinkle with topping mixture. Cover with foil and return to oven to finish baking. The foil will prevent the pie and topping from over browning.
• Remove from oven and let cool for about an hour.
• Refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight before serving to let pie to set up.