Paleo Pumpkin Pie with Paleo Pie Crust

This Paleo Pumpkin Pie with a Paleo pie crust is the perfect holiday dessert!

A crisp, grain-free crust is filled with a smooth, creamy pumpkin custard that the whole family will love.

Plus it’s dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free and nut-free!

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Paleo pumpkin pie = healthy pumpkin pie

Well, healthier.

This version uses maple syrup instead of refined sugar, and we’re using less of it than most recipes call for.

Add the healthy fats of coconut milk and eggs, plus real pumpkin puree, and you’ve got one tasty, healthy-ish, allergen-free pie.

Plus all your favorite spices are mixed in, giving you the classic pumpkin pie taste.

All of this luscious, creamy goodness is coddled within a crisp, flaky, grain-free pie shell.

Serve it warm, room temperature or cold. No matter which way, this will be a hit at your Thanksgiving.

 

A cassava flour pie crust

Not only are we swapping out refined flours, we’re not using the typical paleo ingredients of almond flour or coconut flour. So now we have a grain-free pie crust that’s also nut-free so no one is left out!

Cassava root (also sometimes called yuca) is a starchy tuber that is peeled, dried and ground into a soft powder remarkably like flour.

Since it’s grain-free, it has become more popular in the Paleo/gluten-free baking world so cassava flour recipes are popping up more frequently. I’ve had good results using Otto’s cassava flour and Bob’s Red Mill cassava flour.

It’s often used as a 1:1 substitute for all-purpose flour but here I’m also adding arrowroot flour. Arrowroot is the flavorless starch extracted from the arrowroot plant. It’s similar to cornstarch.

You can learn more about arrowroot flour (sometimes called arrowroot starch) and its place in Paleo baking/cooking here. I like Bob’s Red Mill arrowroot flour.

Together, these two flours/starches provide a flaky, sturdy crust.

This cassava flour pie crust is so versatile you can use it for many other pies besides pumpkin.

 

What you need

Ingredients for the Paleo pie crust:

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cassava flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, room temperature
• 2-4 tablespoons room temperature water, depending on how much is needed
• 1/2 cup arrowroot flour/starch
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup palm shortening, chilled

While usually you want all your crust ingredients cold, in this case only the shortening should be cold. If everything is cold the crust will be too stiff and crack more easily. So the other ingredients should be at room temperature.

Ingredients for the Paleo pumpkin pie filling:

• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/3 cup full-fat unsweetened coconut milk (with the water and cream well blended)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons maple extract
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Equipment for the crust:

• parchment paper
• a large cutting board
• a large mixing bowl
• a small mixing bowl
• a pastry cutter
• measuring spoons
• measuring cups
• a whisk or fork
• a rolling pin
• a pie dish – I prefer using a ceramic pie dish like this one. Metal ones are too thin and can cook the crust faster than you’d like. Glass is also okay but I worry about glass (even when tempered) going from the fridge to the oven, as temperature changes could cause it to crack.
• pie weights – If you don’t have them you can just use dried beans or even dry pasta. You can’t cook with either once you’ve used them for this but you can store them to use for future crusts.

Equipment for the filling:

• a large mixing bowl
• a whisk
• measuring spoons
• measuring cups
• a can opener
• a spatula (the kind for stirring, not flipping)

How to make Paleo Pumpkin Pie (with step-by-step photos)

Don’t be intimidated by the long instructions. I’m just trying to be as detailed as possible. It takes longer to explain how to do it than to actually do it!

First, make the cassava flour pie crust:

In a large bowl, whisk the cassava flour, arrowroot and salt.

Add the chilled palm shortening to the flours in small clumps.

Use a pastry cutter to to grind the shortening into the flour until the mixture is made of small, damp pebbles.

(You can also use your hands, squishing the shortening and flours together between your fingertips.)

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg and 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Add this to the flour mixture stir with a spatula until completely blended. Then add 1/3 cup water and stir or use your hands to incorporate the water until you have the texture of play dough (it might still be a bit crumbly but that’s fine). Form the mixture into a ball.

Lay a piece of parchment paper on a pastry board or large cutting board. Dust it with cassava flour.

Plop (technical term) the dough onto the parchment and gently flatten it into a thick disc.

Then cover the dough with a big more cassava and then another sheet of parchment.

Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a large circle, roughly 12″ across in all directions and approx. 1/4″ thick. Don’t worry if the dough cracks in places. For any big cracks toward the center, rip off a piece of dough around the edges and gently press it into the crack, then keep rolling the dough to smooth it out.

Remove the top piece of parchment paper.

Place the pie dish upside down on the crust, making sure it’s centered. Then with one hand on the bottom of the pie dish, gentle slide the other hand under the bottom piece of parchment under the crust.

In one fluid motion, flip the dish and crust so the crust falls into the dish and place the dish down on the board.

Some of the crust might have fallen off around the rim but that’s okay!

Gently lift the edges of the crust and press the crust down into the dish to make sure it’s in place.

Then use any extra bits of crust to fill any gaps or crust – just gently press in more dough and smooth until it blends in.

You want the dough to come up higher than the rim of the dish as it will shrink as it bakes and cools.

You might not need all the dough.

If you want, create a fluted edge by using one index finger to press the dough between the index finger and middle finger of the other hand.

Chill the pie dish in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.

Heat the oven to 350°.

Line the crust with parchment paper. Fill the paper with pie weights, dried beans or small dry pasta noodles.

Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the weights and paper and bake for another 8-10 minutes. The crust may or may not get slightly browned. Cool completely.

 

For the Paleo pumpkin pie filling:

Heat the oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, whisk together the filling ingredients just until blended (make sure the water and cream in the coconut milk are well blended before adding to the filling mixture). Don’t whisk any longer than you have to so as to not incorporate too much air. This would cause the filling to rise too much and then sink, creating cracks.

Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust and gently tap on the counter (picking up the dish an inch or so and dropping it on the counter) to let any air bubbles escape.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the edges are set but the center is still slightly jiggly.

Turn off the oven, crack the door open (I use a wooden spoon to keep it just barely open) and leave the pie in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove and serve warm, room temperature or cold. This is best eaten the day it’s made.

How to serve Paleo Pumpkin Pie

I love whipped cream with just about any dessert and I have a comprehensive tutorial to prove it. (Seriously, there are so many options for whipping cream!) But if you want to keep this dairy-free, the next best choice is whipped coconut cream.

Chill 2 cans of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Turn it upside down, open the can and pour out the coconut water (but keep it handy). Scoop out the coconut cream into a bowl and add maple syrup or honey.

Start whipping with a hand mixer, adding a bit of coconut water at a time to loosen and fluff up the cream. Whipping regular cream for too long will turn it into butter but you don’t have to worry about that here! Just keep whipping until it’s as smooth and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes.

Your Paleo pumpkin dessert is done

Pie is a project. Pie will always be a project. Since it does take a bit of time, I highly recommend baking the crust the day before for convenience.

However, I think the filling is best eaten the day it’s made so I would bake the pie earlier in the day before the turkey goes in the oven. Or, if there’s time, you can bake it once everything for dinner is out of the oven. Keep in mind that the pie bakes for 40-45 minutes and cools in the oven for 30 minutes.

Once you set this Paleo pumpkin pie out for dessert, with its mysteriously deep amber filling and cute fluted crust, no one will care what it contains or doesn’t contain. They’ll just be happy to eat it.

 

Other recipes you might like:

1. Paleo Pecan Pie
2. Paleo Pumpkin Bundt Cake
3. Mini Salted Rosemary Rum Pecan Pies (gluten-free, dairy-free)
4. Paleo Pumpkin Bread
5. Paleo Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

 

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