Pumpkin Pie time!

I am not on the pumpkin spice bandwagon but I do like pumpkin pie.  And seeing as we had frost last night and my tree decided to start dropping its leaves last week it feels like time for pumpkin pie!

I had found a couple of recipes for pumpkin pies without carbs or sugar… but they used things I didn’t want.  So, as usual I messed around and came up with my own version using what I had on hand and substituting or leaving out what I didn’t want.

This is a low carb, no added sugar recipe and it turned out really nice.  Sweetish rather than sweet, but if you want to add sweeteners go for it.  I used unsweetened apple sauce to add a bit of sweetness which was enough for me.

Low Carb, No Sugar Pumpkin Pie

Preheat oven to 350F.

Base:

1/2 cup ground almonds or almond meal*

1/2 cup ground hazelnuts or hazelnut meal*

3 tbsp melted butter

Melt the butter and stir in the ground nuts.  Spread and press evenly and firmly in the bottom of a 6-8″ pie plate.  I used a small casserole as I only have one giant Pyrex pie plate and didn’t want a pie that big!

* Use any kind of ground nuts in any ratio you want – I just had a half cup of almond meal left in the bag, so mixed it with the hazelnuts.  Pecans would be excellent with pumpkin!

Bake for at least 10 minutes in a 350F oven. It should be starting to brown on the surface, then remove from the oven.

Filling:

1 1/2 cups of pureed pumpkin (I used canned)

2 eggs

1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce (one snack size container)

1 cup whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon (go with 1 1/2 tsp if you like cinnamon)

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Optional: if you like add 1/8 tsp nutmeg and/or 1/8 tsp ground cloves for a stronger spice hit.

In a bowl combine all the filling ingredients and whisk to blend well.  Pour into the pie plate on top of the baked nuts.

Place it in the 350F oven in the middle rack for 35 to 40 minutes.  Check for doneness by inserting a knife in the middle.  If the knife is coated, leave it in the oven for another 15 minutes.  Check again.  Once the knife comes out clean (only the odd speck of pumpkin on it) it is done.  I actually had to bake mine for almost two hours – it was a lot deeper than a pie plate would have been so needed a lot longer!  (Another indicator that it is done is that the surface of the filling forms cracks!) As long as the filling is set, it is done.

As I had decided to make this after 9 p.m., by the time it was done I was heading to bed!  I sat it on a rack to cool and left it there until morning.  I had a piece for breakfast and it was excellent.  The base was dry and almost crunchy even though it crumbled getting it out of the dish.  If it had been in a proper pie plate I think I could have got it out intact.

Cover and store leftovers in the fridge.

I am pretty happy with this recipe!

**UPDATE:  After refrigeration the crust stayed together and lifted out beautifully.  And it tastes even better cold!