Hey all! Thanksgiving is around the corner!
If you’re gluten-free, you know what a minefield a holiday like Thanksgiving can be. You run into all sorts of “have-to’s”, both your own and those of others. If you cook your own Thanksgiving dinner, it’s a bit easier–but even then it’s tough sometimes to come up with gluten-free adaptations that will please you and everyone around you.
As we head into the holiday season, I’ve been getting requests for certain recipes that everyone loves for their Thanksgiving table. Last week I got a request for a dairy-free, gluten-free pumpkin pie. Gah. I can’t believe I don’t already have a pumpkin pie on my site already. I’m rectifying that now.
This pie is one that I’ve been making for the past several years for Thanksgiving. Before I settled on this one, I tried many, many recipes and haven’t been that keen on any of them. My trouble is that many recipes out there over-use the spices (at least for my tastebuds) and don’t allow the pumpkin flavor to shine through. I finally found a recipe in the Tao of Cooking, by Sally Pasley that focuses more on the pumpkin flavor and less on the spices. I have used this recipe as the inspiration for my recipe.
BTW, the Tao of Cooking is one of my very favorite cookbooks. It is vegetarian, and all of the recipes are delicious and work well. I seriously recommend that you add it to your bookshelf.
My friends and family rave over this pie–they love it! Even I (not a huge fan of most pumpkin pies) love it! And it’s terrific as a dessert or a breakfast snack. I made one a couple of days ago for this post and we have been munching on it as breakfast for the past few days. Oh, and another terrific thing about it is that it is easily made dairy-free.
The original recipe uses evaporated milk or cream to create a super-lucious pie. These days Girlfriend doesn’t react so well to lots of dairy. She’s also recently tested allergic to soy (which is common among peanut-allergic kids), so we can’t do soy either. So I’ve come up with a version of rice evaporated milk that works well. It involves simmering rice milk over low heat for a couple of hours in order to steam off much of the water. You are left with a more rich rice milk at the end of the process. Yay!
Pumpkin Pie, Gluten-Free (can be made dairy-free)
-makes one 9″ pie
Ingredients
1/2 recipe for Gluten-Free Flaky Pie Crust dough (for one 9 inch pie)
2 large or extra large eggs
1/2 cup (105g) dark or light brown sugar (I like dark brown)
1 1/2 cup (355ml) evaporated milk, cream, or dairy substitute (see below for rice evaporated milk substitute)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1 1/2-2 cups pumpkin puree or one 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons melted butter (or butter substitute)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Prepare your pie crust dough. Keep it refrigerated until ready to roll out.
Beat eggs with a whisk. Beat in brown sugar, and spices. Mix well. Stir in evaporated milk or cream. Stir in pumpkin puree and mix well. Add melted butter and mix well.
Roll out pie crust dough and use it to line your 9″ pie pan. Pour filling into pie pan. Place into preheated oven. Immediately reduce temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for about 60 to 75 minutes–or until a tester inserted into the middle of the pie comes out fairly clean (and not goopy).
Allow to cool to room temperature to allow the custard to set before serving. Serve alone or with a dollop of unsweetened whip cream on the side. Makes a fabulous breakfast pie, too!
How to make evaporated rice milk:
Place 4 C of gluten-free rice milk in a wide pan over low heat. Simmer for about 2 hours, stirring every so often, until it has reduced to 1 1/2 C. Make sure not to burn the bottom–just barely simmering is what you want. Once reduced, remove from heat to cool before using it in the pie. You can also do this ahead of time and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Be sure to shake/mix well before using.
Note: If you use a different gluten-free flour mix, alter the amount of or eliminate the xanthan gum or use a different gluten-replacer, use dairy-free or egg-free substitutes, or change any other ingredients in this recipe, your results may not match my results.
This post contains affiliate links–which means that I get a tiny percentage of each purchase you make through the link (at no extra cost to you!). Thank you!
It’s my very first gluten free Thanksgiving !! I followed this recipe exactly and they are now ( made 2 ) in the oven !! I’ve never made homemade pumpkinpie at all so this is very exciting !! I’m making one to take to a birthday party tonight , she’s gluten free too and asked me to make one for her… The other I’m keeping for myself and if it turns out well I’ll be making more for Thanksgiving next week !
Marci: Yay! Let me know how it goes!
I am at the birthday party and it was a HUGE HIT !
Everyone wants the recipe 🙂 thank you !! Wish I could post a pic.
Marci: Hooray!! I’m so glad!!
I made this last night (with the evaporated rice milk) and it’s excellent! I’ve made a few pumpkin pies, and this is by far my favorite. I’ve never been a big fan of them, but my boyfriend requested one. I think the evaporated rice milk gives it a better texture than cow milk. It seems like it’s got a smoother texture than the pumpkin pies I’ve had before.
It’s already half gone, and it’s just been my boyfriend and me. 😀
I’ve tried coconut milk straight in the past as a sub for evaporated milk, and I haven’t been too happy with it. I’ll try to make evaporated coconut milk, and if it works, it’s going into a pumpkin pie!
Would coconut milk work in making it condensed?
Megan: I haven’t tried coconut milk, so I can’t say for sure. But I would try it and see what happens! If you do, let me know how it worked!
Did you have a different pumpkin pie recipe posted before? I have one on that has your name and flour mix on it but it is nothing like the one posted now. If you do have a different one, the recipe I have does not call for a crust, it has 2 1/4 c flour mixed into the filling…does this sound familiar? If so can you tell me am I correct that it does not have a crust? Help…thanks
Dee: Hm. I don’t recall posting one before. Is the one you have actually printed out from my site? Gah. Let me go check, but I don’t think so.
Thanks for the tip about rice milk, great idea!
You’re welcome!
Jeanne! This is beautiful. I am a sucker for pumpkin pie, especially topped with some whipped cream :). What a great idea with the evaporated rice milk! So glad she can enjoy it too!
Thanks, Lauren!
This looks fabulous, and I’m wondering if you have experimented with an egg-free version or one using an egg substitute? I’ve recently needed to go dairy, gluten and egg free and am having a heck of a time figuring out pie for Thanksgiving this year!!! (And I want my pumpkin pie darn it! 😉
Gwynn: You know, I haven’t done it egg-free. I know a lot of folks use silken tofu to substitute for the eggs. But we can’t eat soy, so that’s out for us. My research into this online seems to suggest that if you add 1/4 C of cornstarch in the place of the eggs, and whip that well with the pumpkin, it will give it the structure the eggs provide. You might want to try that and see how it works. If you do, let me know what your results are! Thanks!
Gwynn: OK, I made another pie last night and used 1/4 C of tapioca flour (because that’s what I had) in place of the eggs. It still tastes good–but it’s more runny than the one with eggs–more like a thick pudding than a custard. I will try one with cornstarch at some point. I would recommend experimenting!
You can always substitute 150ml of milk(any),1 banana, or 2tbsp. of arrowroot or potato starch or 1 heaping tbsp of soya powder or 1/4 cup of tofu. Good Luck! 🙂
Oh man! It never occurred to me to just boil down the rice milk and make a denser thicker milk substitute! Brilliant!
I’m lucky that I don’t have many food allergies, but I’m always on the look out for different methods to accommodate my friends and family that do. By the way, one way you can intensify the pumpkin puree, is putting the puree in cheesecloth and hanging it overnight in a colander with a bowl underneath. The water will drain out and you’ll have a more intense flavor. Though you’ll also have less pumpkin puree, so you’ll probably need to start with more.
Mmm… pumpkin pie. I’m so glad you did this! Now EVERYONE can have pumpkin pie!
Irvin: Thanks! And your idea of straining the pumpkin puree is terrific–I will try it next time. And I agree–it’s so great to be able to accomodate everyone at the table! It warms my heart to know that people like you, who don’t have any food allergies, is so willing to work with us food allergic folks and make things we can eat, too!
You can’t have Thanksgiving without Pumpkin Pie can you ; ) And now my gluten free little man can enjoy some too! xoxo
Paula: Yay!!