Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie

I love pumpkin pie and was kind of bummed out that I wouldn't get to have any this year since I cannot eat dairy right now.  But then I decided I would experiment and see if I could make a pumpkin pie dairy-free.  Guess what?  It worked!  And I like this version even better than the "normal" version.  I think I'll be making my pumpkin pies this way from now on. 

I got the crust recipe from cooks.com, but came up with the pie recipe on my own.  This was seriously so easy to make.  The pie crust was a cinch - the food processor does all the work.  Using a food processor is seriously the only way to make pie crust, in my opinion.  I've done it the old fashioned way before, but not for many, many years.  Using the food processor takes about a minute or two, tops.  So easy.  I love this crust recipe, too.  I have  a friend that loves to eat just plain pie crust.  She used to ask her mother-in-law to make a pie crust and just bake it plain for her.  I never understood that until I made this crust.  I baked the extra dough I cut off the edges of the pie - some I sprinkled a little sugar on the top, some I didn't.  I actually like the crust without the sugar best.  So good. 

Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie

Crust (makes one 8 or 9-inch crust, double this recipe if you need a top and bottom crust):

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup lard
2-3 Tablespoons water

Place all ingredients in your food processor and pulse until dough forms.  Remove from food processor and place on a Silpat.  Roll out with a rolling pin to desired size to fit your pie pan.  Try not to use much extra flour while you are rolling it out, as this will make the crust tough.  Place crust into pie pan. 

Filling: 

2 eggs
1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or you could use 1 1/2 t. cinnamon + 1/4 t. nutmeg + 1/4 t. cloves)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can of pumpkin puree (or puree your own fresh pumpkin, about 2 cups)
1 cup almond milk

Whip eggs until they are frothy.  Beat in the sucanat, spices, and salt.  Next add the pumpkin and almond milk.  Mix until smooth.  Pour into prepared pie crust. 

Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.  Then reduce the heat to 350 for 45-50 minutes, or until set.  The pie will seem a little jiggly, but as long as a knife comes out clean when testing the middle of the pie, the pie is done.  It will set up as the pie cools. 


This post is shared at:
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager
Simply Indulgent Tuesday @ SS&GF

Crispy Squash/Pumpkin Seeds

Fall to me always means fresh squash from the garden or farmers' markets.  I love squash.  Kevin doesn't like it pureed (it's a texture thing for him), but he likes it cubed and roasted.  Carson likes it some days, other days not so much.  But all three of us always love the seeds.  I save the seeds from any kind of fall squash or pumpkin.  The method of preparing them is always the same.  And they are all equally tasty.  So the next time you are cleaning out the seed cavity of a squash, set the seeds aside... they make a wonderful, healthy, paleo snack and are a great to addition to granola, trail mix, or baked goods.  So here's how you make them.

Crispy Squash/Pumpkin Seeds

any fall squash or pumpkin of your liking
4 cups water
2 Tablespoons salt

You'll start by cutting your squash in half and cleaning out the seed cavity. 

Place the seeds and stringy squash "guts" into a bowl.  Once you've got your squash baking in the oven, take the time to clean the seeds.  This can be time consuming, depending on the type of squash used, but it's worth it, trust me.  I often will clean them to the point of the second picture below, set them aside for a bit. Then work at cleaning them again to get all the squash goop off. 

Once you have your clean seeds, place them in a clean bowl and cover with warm water.  Add salt and stir it up a little.  Then cover with a plate or cloth and let it sit on your countertop overnight, for at least 7 or 8 hours, but preferably for 24 hours.  (Sorry I don't have pictures of these steps from here on out... I swear I took them, but they did not upload onto my computer...).  This soaking step is necessary to reduce the seeds' antinutrients and help make them more digestible. 

After the seeds have soaked, spread them out evenly onto a dehydrator tray or cookie sheet.  Dry them until crisp and dry.  Dehydrating the seeds helps to preserve the enzymes, which helps with digestion.

Now your seeds are ready to eat!  You can leave them plain, or spice them up.  They are great either way.  If you leave them plain, they'll be nice and crunchy with a salty flavor to them - yum!  I usually fill glass quart jars with just plain crispy seeds to use throughout the year. 


This post is linked to:
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS
Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Grain-Free Food Carnival @ Real Food Forager

Pumpkin White Chocolate Scones

Another catch-up post. I've made these twice now - the first time a few weeks ago and most recently on Saturday morning. This recipe is another delicious sampling of the recipes found on Two Peas and Their Pod. These scones are absolutely delicious -super moist and flavorful with just the perfect extra sweetness from the white chocolate chips! They are very easy to make, too, and come together very quickly. Carson and I love them. Kevin would if he'd try them (and get over his dislike for pumpkin). I have never made the glaze to go with them since I think they're just perfect without it, but I'm sure they get even better when you add the glaze. For me, though, I'd rather save the extra calories and sugar, I think.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Scones

Scone Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cream
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling the tops of the scones

Spice Glaze:
1c. powdered sugar
1/2t. cinnamon
1/8t. cloves
Sprinkle of nutmeg
Milk

Add as much milk until desired consistency. Drizzle or spread over scones.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. I use my hands! The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the white chocolate.

In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the cream and sprinkle a little Turbinado sugar on top.

Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and drizzle scones with the glaze.

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

Our last bit of baking on Wednesday was an Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie from AllRecipes. I've had this recipe marked for at least a year now, so I'm glad I got to finally make it. It was so good!! The apple butter really gives the pie a nice boost of flavor. I think I'll make my pumpkin pies this way from now on, actually. Although, I might leave off the streusel topping. While its super yummy and really makes this pie different, Kevin's not crazy about crumbly toppings on things and neither is Carson, so for our preference, I think I'll leave it off next time.

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup apple butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust

STREUSEL TOPPING:
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, apple butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in eggs and evaporated milk. Pour into prepared pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted 2 inches from the center comes out clean. Sprinkle streusel topping over the pie, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

To make the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine butter, flour, and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Stir until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans.

Pumpkin Bars

Carson and I did lots of baking on Wednesday. We both loved it. Carson especially liked helping with these pumpkin bars... namely the frosting since he got to lick the paddle. :) I got this recipe from my friend, Michelle M., at work. These bars are super yummy, super moist, super easy to make, and they make a lot of them! They're great for family parties, potlucks, etc. when you need dessert to go a long way. Every ingredient I used was organic, so even though they're not the healthiest in terms of fat content, at least the ingredients I used were better for your body and health. :)

Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 16oz can pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts (optional - I did not use)

Combine eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Blend well. Add dry ingredients; then stir in nuts if using. Pour mixture into a 15 1/2" x 10 1/2" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting when cool.

Cream cheese frosting

1 box confectioner's sugar (about 3- 3 1/2 cups)
1 stick butter
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream all ingredients together and spread over bars.

Pumpkin Bread

Carson and I made some pumpkin bread on Monday night. This is a recipe that I've been using for a few years now. It was shared with me by my friend, Kathy, from work. This is such an awesome pumpkin bread - very tasty, very moist, and it turns out perfectly every time! I changed it up a bit this time and substituted in 1 cup of whole wheat flour. It makes the bread a little more dense, but its still very, very good! We made a medium-sized loaf and three mini loaves. I've been forgetting to take a picture - maybe I'll remember to take one still this week. I'll update if I do.

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
2/3 cup shortening
4 eggs
3 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 cups pumpkin
2/3 cup water
1 cup nuts (optional)

Cream sugar, shortening and eggs. Add dry ingredients, pumpkin and water. Mix thoroughly. Bake at 350o for 1 hour, 10 minutes. Makes 4 small or 3 large loaves.

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

I didn't make it to the grocery store on Monday like I'd hoped, so we couldn't have the planned meal since I had no eggs. So I looked in the pantry (which I had just cleaned out and organized on Sunday night) and what is staring me in the face... a can of organic pumpkin. I have also been cleaning out old recipes I've saved from magazines and remembered seeing one for a pumpkin penne. So I went looking for it and found it - its from an old issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray... I'm not sure what month/year because it doesn't print on the bottom of the pages and I didn't write it down. I also found it online. This was super fast and easy to make. I did it in two pans to save on some time, but you'll see below that the recipe actually recommends doing it in one pan - so super easy clean up if you do it that way. I only made a half-recipe, but I've posted the full recipe, which is supposed to be 4 servings... that is one thing about Rachael Ray that really bothers me... her servings are enormous!! There's no way I (or any other normal person) could eat the size serving she suggests. But anyway, back to the recipe. This was good. I didn't love it, but I liked it. Carson gobbled it down and kept calling it "aroni and cheese"... and I let him think that's what it was so he'd eat it well. :)

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

1 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
Salt and pepper
One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Return the pasta to the pot along with the reserved pasta cooking water and toss. Stir in the parmesan; season with salt and pepper.

Top the pasta with the parsley and more parmesan.

Pumpkin Pie Muffins

Carson and I made some pumpkin pie muffins this morning. The recipe comes from my Ellie Krieger: The Food You Crave cookbook. I've made these before and had frozen most of them for breakfasts on the run and snacks, but realized I never posted the recipe. These are very tasty muffins - they do taste a lot like pumpkin pie, so if you like pumpkin pie, you'll love these! We made mini-muffins this morning and got 48 of them from this recipe. Plenty for us to share and still have lots to freeze! We're taking some over to my SIL's house tonight when we take them dinner. I made regular sized muffins last time and I think I got 20 from this recipe. My muffin tins must be smaller than Ellie's regular muffin tins since the recipe says you only get 12 muffins.

Pumpkin Pie Muffins

Cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds (I left these off)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.