Ardentfrost

I wanted to make a not-as-bad for you pumpkin pie because it’s one food that I love this time of year, but hate to take in all those refined sugars. Plus, a friend at work has celiac disease which means he can’t eat gluten and has a difficult time finding food he can enjoy without detriment to his health.

So, I went around researching different recipes and put this one together. It uses honey instead of granulated sugar which makes it a little better… honey requires less processing by our bodies since the sugars have already been separated into fructose and sucrose by the bees. It has a slightly lower Glycemic Index value and generally takes less to get a similar sweet to regular sugar. It doesn’t make it diabetic-friendly, but it certainly makes it friendlier.

I also used almond meal as a base for the crust as opposed to flour. This is where gluten comes from in pumpkin pies and is a big source of refined sugars.

In all, I came up with these nutritional stats per piece vs. standard pumpkin pie recipe as gleaned from nutritiondata.com:

• Calories: 243 (vs 316)
• Total Fat: 13g (vs 14g)
• Sugars: 26g (vs 41g)
• Protein: 7g (vs 7g)
• Total Carbs: 30g (vs 41g)

The difference in carbs and sugar is fiber. So 4g of fiber in mine, 0 in the regular recipe.

I thought it came out really well. The sweetness is more subdued than a classic recipe which makes it more pumpkiny. The guy at work also liked it, and Mel liked it even though she said she prefers more sweet.

It isn’t completely guilt-free, 26g of sugar per piece isn’t exactly low, but it is a good bit better than the regular recipe. Also, since pumpkin is filling, it may be easier to turn down a second piece.

Directions:
Start by making an almond crust:

1.5 cup almond flour or almond meal
3 tablespoons melted butter
2-3 tablespoons honey (or artificial sweetener but I think honey tastes good here)

You can make your own almond meal by taking raw almonds (not roasted or salted) and pulse grind them in a coffee grinder. If you grind too much, it’ll turn to almond butter, however, so pulse until it looks good and broken up. Sift it, what falls through is almond meal, continue grinding what doesn’t sift. It’ll break out into a 1:2 ratio – 1 cup of raw almonds will become 2 cups of almond meal. Of course, if you use a sifter that you also use to sift wheat flour, make sure it’s clean otherwise you ruin the “gluten-free” part of this dish.

Put the almond meal/flour and butter into a pie pan and mix together with your fingers until all the flour is clumping. Add the honey and use a silicon (nonstick) spatula to mix it in so you don’t get as much on you. Use the same spatula to spread the mixture around the pan. Press the mixture down to compact it and press it out toward the edges. It’ll want to gather at the corner, but keep pushing it up the side and try not to let it be too thin at the top or it’ll have a tendency to burn while cooking.

Put the crust in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. After 8 minutes watch it. It’ll begin to brown and should be ready to pull out within 3 more minutes. Don’t leave it in too long or it’ll burn, and that can happen quickly.

While that cools, you can make the pie filling:

2 eggs
.5 cup honey
1.5 cup pumpkin (fresh is better, but canned is fine)
2/3 cup hot milk (I microwave it for about 30-45 seconds)
1 tablespoon melted butter
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg (buying whole nutmeg and using a rasp to shave your own tastes better)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger

I use a hand mixer, but a stand mixer would probably be easier. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs well. Once you start adding stuff, add them all slowly while continuing to beat the mixture. This is especially important with the honey since it will otherwise just stick to the bottom of your bowl.

Add the honey first and slowly. Add the milk and butter next, both kinda slowly so if they’re too hot, they won’t scramble the eggs. Add all the spices next, they can be tossed in all at once. Finally add in the pumpkin.

Once you’re sure everything is well blended, pour into the previously prepared pie shell.

Put into a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is pretty firm. It may take even a few minutes longer than 25, it’s just an estimate. I shake the pie back and forth to see how firm it is. A little movement in the very center is fine (at least for me).

Let it cool for 30 minutes before cutting and serving. I like to serve this type of pie at room temperature and do not refrigerate for storage, just cover on the counter.