The Best Paleo Pumpkin Pie

After much testing I’ve finally arrived at this recipe for The Best Paleo Pumpkin Pie. It’s also gluten free and dairy free as well. It’s naturally sweetened with maple syrup, and the filling is the perfect silky texture. This pumpkin pie also comes with a recipe for the flakiest paleo pie crust I’ve ever made too!

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’ve ever had!

I feel like I’m the last person who should be coming up with a recipe for pumpkin pie. In fact I gave up 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’!

While he was polishing up the last piece he said, ‘you know… this is so good! I didn’t really expect to want to keep eating more and more pumpkin pie’.

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.

So let’s jump in and make this recipe for The Best Paleo Pumpkin Pie step by step!

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.

After you process the butter into the flour mixture, we’re going to add an egg. Eggs are essential to the texture in both the crust and the filling of this recipe.

After processing a touch more, you’ll have a beautifully smooth pie crust dough.

From there you want to press it out by hand into a regular 9″ pie plate.

You can try to roll paleo pie crusts the traditional way, 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!

Ok now we have a flaky pie crust in the making… let’s talk about the ingredients for the 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 sweetener added. Canned pumpkin has just 1 ingredient – pumpkin. (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.
• 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.

Now let’s talk about tips to give you the perfect pumpkin pie filling!

1. The first step for the filling is to blend the pumpkin purée with the spices and maple syrup in the blender. This gives you a smooth end result after the pie is baked.
2. Then the filling is simmered on the stove before you add the eggs to concentrate the flavor.
3. And finally the hot filling is poured into a hot crust, to bake for the best texture.

So why are we cooking the filling on the stove top?

• 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. And 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.

Most important of all, by adding a hot filling to the hot crust you get an evenness during the baking process. So say goodbye to overcooked/curdled edges, and enjoy your perfectly smooth pumpkin pie!

How do you avoid cracking in pumpkin pie?

1. The most common reason for large cracking in pumpkin pie is over baking. You want to pull the pumpkin pie out when it’s jiggly like jello in the middle. The filling will continue to set up from there as the pie cools.
2. Another reason the filling cracks is because for most recipes the cold filling goes into the crust. This is problematic for 2 reasons, first up it takes longer to bake, and so the edges cook way sooner then the middle which causes cracking. (Secondly the longer cooking time can sometimes result in a soggy pie crust as well as a cracked filling.)
3. And the final reason could be the proportion of ingredients for your filling. I’ve tested this pumpkin pie extensively and it doesn’t crack if you pull it from the oven correctly. I did over bake it once and had cracks across the filling.
4. Cool the pie at room temperature completely. If you move the pie to the refrigerator too soon while it’s still hot, that can also cause cracking.

Lastly, there’s nothing to worry about if your filling does crack because it still tastes amazing!

Finally no pumpkin pie would be complete without whipped cream right?! You can serve this pie with either option below because they’re both delicious.

• Homemade Coconut Whipped Cream (for dairy free)
• The Ultimate Whipped Cream

I hope you get a chance to make this soon, and if you do, I hope you’ll leave me a comment/rating below. I always love hearing from you here in the comments. And also over on Instagram where you can tag me at #getinspiredeveryday with your photos of what you make.

Print