Best Healthy Pumpkin Pie (VEGAN!)

This secretly vegan healthy pumpkin pie recipe is truly my favorite. With a flaky vegan crust and creamy and rich filling, this easy and healthy twist on a traditional pumpkin pie is full of pumpkin spice and the perfect pie recipe for your Thanksgiving table!

My all time favorite pumpkin pie recipe

My excitement for Thanksgiving and all things fall is too real right now. In fact, I had to hold back from sharing this vegan and Paleo pumpkin pie recipe way back in August in order for it to be the grand finale of Pie Week 2019!

I’m not even joking, this healthy pumpkin pie will be the best dang pumpkin pie you’ll ever taste. And it’s easy! Yes, easy! You can have it all!

Lightly sweetened with maple syrup and full of those warming pumpkin spices, this pumpkin pie is smooth to slice into, holds its shape, and with a beautifully delicious and flaky homemade pie crust, it will be the showstopper at your Thanksgiving table!

Every year at Thanksgiving, someone always brings a store bought pumpkin pie even though I make a large one for everyone, and every year, my pumpkin pie is the only one completely gone!

If that doesn’t tell you that this is the best pumpkin pie recipe, then I don’t know what will!

Why this is the best healthy pumpkin pie

This pumpkin pie doesn’t taste healthy in the slightest, and yet it’s low in sugar, completely vegan, egg free, gluten free, dairy free, can be made Paleo, andddd packed with nutrient dense pumpkin puree.

You can’t even tell that it’s vegan nor even by looking at it (I feel like people think healthier desserts don’t look as good as the more traditional ones).

While I try to hit all of these various health markers so that everyone can have them, I always strive to have the dessert taste just like or better than the original or traditional version. This vegan pumpkin pie does just that.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a traditional pumpkin pie. But I believe that everyone deserves to enjoy something they love on Thanksgiving, and food is love and love is inclusive!

Every single person who tried this pie, even one of my mom’s friends who I didn’t even tell that I made the pie, was speechless and kept going back for another slice.

What is a substitute for eggs in pumpkin pie?

So this pumpkin pie that we’re making is actually naturally vegan and dairy free, but the kicker is that we’re using arrowroot to replace the eggs!

Arrowroot powder is a fantastic binding agent that is derived from the cassava root.

It’s very similar to cornstarch, so if you’d like to replace the arrowroot with cornstarch, you absolutely can, but for those that want to keep this pumpkin pie both Paleo and vegan, arrowroot powder is the move.

How to make a healthy pumpkin pie

I know many people resort to buying their pumpkin pie because let’s be honest, you just cooked all that food, the last thing you want to think about is making a dessert for Thanksgiving.

Well, this happens to be an incredibly easy pumpkin pie, sooooo I triple dog dare you to try it!

How to make a vegan pumpkin pie crust

First, we’ll start by preparing the vegan pie crust.

You don’t have to make your pumpkin pie crust Paleo, but I give you option to just in case someone is both grain free and gluten free, aside from just dairy free, egg free, and vegan.

Basically, the only thing that differs between making my regular vegan pie crust and making my Paleo pie crust is the flour: swap out all-purpose flour for cassava flour.

I have all of the details on how to customize this pie crust all in my Perfect Pie Crust Guide.

The full steps to making this crust are found below in the recipe card, but these are basics steps to making the flakiest vegan pie crust:

1. Pulse the flour, baking soda, and coconut sugar in a food processor until mixed.
2. Add in the cubed vegan butter or coconut oil, and pulse again until it’s a grainy sand texture.
3. While the food processor is blending, add in 5-7 tbsp of chilled water and continue to process the dough until it becomes a thick, smooth clump of dough.

Then you’ll form the dough into a disk and chill, much like you would a regular pie crust. Roll the pie crust out to be larger than the pie dish you’re using (I used a 9″ pie dish).

Carefully transfer the pie crust into the pie dish and gently press the dough into the dish. You can do any design for the edges. I chose to simply mold them to the dish since I liked the pie dish ruffles!

Use any scraps of dough and create little pie crust designs. I used the pie cutters from William Sonoma for the pumpkin and leaves.

Blind bake the crust for 7-8 minutes (this will ensure we don’t have any soggy crusts!). Then we can make the filling while the crust is cooling!

The creamy vegan pumpkin pie filling

Now that you know the trick behind making pumpkin pie filling vegan, let’s actually get to making the filling.

All you’ll need is:

• Pumpkin puree (see the next section for using fresh versus canned)
• Maple syrup
• Coconut sugar (a replacement for brown sugar)
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Coconut milk or dairy free milk of your choice
• Arrowroot powder
• Vanilla (a must!)

Basically what you need to do is whip together all of the ingredients in a large bowl using a hand mixer. Then pour the filling into your homemade pie crust, and bake!

How to keep pumpkin pie from cracking

This healthy pumpkin pie recipe is almost fool proof to ensuring that your pumpkin pie won’t have any cracks in it.

Really, whether or not a pumpkin pie cracks is highly dependent on the recipe, and I’ve tested this one dozens of times, in a variety of ways to determine what’s the best way to avoid cracks.

However, there are a few tips that I want to go over to ensure that your pumpkin pie doesn’t crack.

• Bake at the correct temperature: do not stick your pie into the oven until it is fully preheated. I would actually recommend waiting an extra 5 minutes after the initial “ding” that it’s preheated to ensure that it’s at the right temperature.
• Bake the pumpkin pie on the middle or low rack. I personally have had great success baking on the middle rack, so that I can put a baking sheet below in case of any accidents of pie crust. However, if you know that your oven is more powerful than most, I would stick the pumpkin pie on the lower rack to be safe.
• Look for the middle being “set”: what this means is that the pumpkin pie won’t be as glossy as it was when it first went in. The edges to the very middle should be mostly baked in place, but it will wiggle a bit when you remove it. It will also look darker at first. You didn’t burn it! This pumpkin pie recipe will need at least 4 hours (preferably overnight) to chill in the fridge after it has baked.

Pumpkin Pie Tips & Tricks:

• Make sure you’re using pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling! I say this because I’ve been there, and I’ve seen other people go there! Always better to be safe than sorry!
• Any dairy free milk will work. I recommend coconut milk because I like to keep my Paleo and vegan recipes as nut free as possible, but go for whatever you prefer!
• Can I use fresh pumpkin puree? I personally would choose canned pumpkin here, which I know sounds sort of weird, since I’m all about fresh foods. But trust me, the taste is better! There’s a lot more variance in fresh pumpkin puree, so the same results aren’t guaranteed.
• This vegan pumpkin pie needs to set in the fridge overnight! When you first bake it, it will appear very dark and might not have that glossy look to it, like you normally see with pumpkin pies. This is normal and don’t fret! When you let it set in the fridge overnight, it develops the glossy look.
• Top with coconut whipped cream or ice cream! Not really a trick, but definitely an eating tip! 🙂

I hope you love this healthy pumpkin pie as much as I do! It’s truly my favorite pumpkin pie out there and I just know it will be a hit at your Thanksgiving 🙂

If you make this pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, let me know in the comments below! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations, so be sure to tag me on Instagram and Pinterest 🙂

Happy Pumpkin Pie Eating!

More Healthy Thanksgiving Desserts:

Healthy Apple Pie

Paleo Pecan Pie

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie

Paleo Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

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If you make something from The Banana Diaries, I would love to see your creations! Don’t forget tot rate this recipe and leave a comment below! Also, follow along with me on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Facebook for more vegan recipe inspiration!

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