Pumpkin pie is a beloved favorite of 3/4 of the people in my house. (The other one doesn’t like any type of pie.) In fact, my daughter chose to have pumpkin pie instead of cake at her birthday parties for 3 years in a row!
THE CRUST:
My favorite low carb (and paleo) pie crust comes from Elana’s Pantry. I only change one ingredient and alter the method a bit. My grandma made the best traditional pie crust I’ve ever tasted, and I was fortunate enough to get to help her make pie crusts the last few years she was with us. Her secret ingredient? LARD! We like to get rendered lard from our local locker when we get a hog butchered, but when that runs out I purchase quality lard from US Wellness Meats or Fatworks. I do not recommend most regular grocery store brands of lard, as they are often hydrogenated and taste rancid. For pie crust, your lard shouldn’t have much, if any, pork smell to it. After all, sweet pies shouldn’t taste like pork. If you don’t want to use lard, you can use palm shortening or expeller-pressed coconut oil. I like to buy both of those from Healthy Traditions.
When patting the crust into the pan, I start by spreading it around with clean hands, then I use the bottom and sides of a measuring cup (the one I used to measure the almond flour) to smooth it out and get it as even as possible.
As you can see from the photos above, sometimes I build the crust up over the edge of the pie plate, and sometimes I don’t. My pumpkin-pie-loving girl only likes the parts of the crust that have pie filling on them, so when I’m making pie just for us, I don’t go up over the edge. For celebrations, I usually do, to make it look like a more traditional pie. I use the pinch method, because that’s what my mom and my grandma taught me. This video shows how to do this, and also shows another method – the fork method.
Jump to RecipeTHE FILLING:
My filling recipe was inspired by one from Sarah Fragoso and one from Farmer’s Market Foods. I like that I can easily whisk it together, but you could also use a hand mixer, a stand mixer, or a blender if you prefer. This pie is pretty forgiving with the sweetener. You can use more or less sweetener to suit your tastes. You can substitute a different kind of sweetener if you like (see substitution chart in this post). I have made it with all powdered sweetener and I have used all liquid sweetener – either honey or maple flavored. All versions have been delicious. I prefer to use a combination of Lakanto powdered and allulose honey because I like the honey flavor, but too much allulose disagrees with my system. I haven’t tried using a less bulky sweetener like stevia or monkfruit extract drops. If someone tries it, please let me know how it goes in the comments!
Jump to RecipeTHE TOPPING:
I use a whipped cream dispenser like this one. I use either unsweetened coconut cream or heavy whipping cream with a few drops of liquid monkfruit extract and a few drops of vanilla extract. It keeps well, in the dispenser, for several days in the fridge. Be sure to follow the directions with the dispenser, and don’t forget to shake it before each use.
Low Carb Pumpkin Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tbsp lard (cold and cut into chunks)
- 1 large egg
Filling
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup Lakanto powdered sweetener (or equivalent)
- 15 oz pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp Allulose honey-flavored sweetener (or equivalent)
Instructions
- Lower oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour and salt. Cut the lard into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir in the egg.
- Pat and press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch glass pie plate. You can also press some of the crust up onto the lip of the pie plate and make a design on the crust if you wish.
- In a large mixing bowl -it's ok to use the same one as before without washing it-whisk together the spices, salt, and Lakanto (or other dry sweetener) for the filling. Whisk in the pumpkin until there are no spice clumps. Then whisk in the remaining ingredients until combined.
- Pour the filling into the prepared crust and bake on the lowest oven rack for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center of the pie comes out clean.
- Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least two hours before serving. Top with sweetened whipped coconut cream (or whipped dairy cream) if desired. Refrigerate any leftovers.