The Best Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Pie
This Paleo + Vegan Pumpkin Pie is smooth, creamy, and perfectly spiced! You would never believe that the flaky crust is gluten-free, paleo AND vegan. This allergy-friendly pumpkin pie is the perfect vegan Thanksgiving dessert. Thanks to Sprouts for sponsoring this post.
Have you made a pumpkin pie yet this year?! Usually pumpkin pie is a November treat for me (I like making them around Thanksgiving time), but I’ve already noticed a major uptick in traffic on my Paleo Pumpkin Pie recipe from 2 years ago, and I’ve been tagged in photos of you guys making it!
Clearly, people like to get their pumpkin pie on alllll fall long. I’d probably be in that camp too, if it wasn’t still 80 degrees here in San Diego…I’ll stick to my no-bake pumpkin cheesecake until it cools down a bit!
However…I did turn on my oven to make this paleo AND vegan pumpkin pie for all you pumpkin pie lovers, though! I had never made a vegan pumpkin pie before and was concerned with it setting up and staying as creamy as traditionally non-vegan versions are.
Let’s make the BEST Paleo & Vegan Pumpkin Pie!
These Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars were such a success though, so knew I could use a similar filling here and have it be ultra-creamy. Instead of eggs, which are traditionally used in pumpkin pie to thicken up the filling, we use tapioca starch. Tapioca starch is also known as tapioca flour.
The tapioca starch is so fine that it doesn’t add any grittiness or “flour” taste. It just helps absorb some excess moisture to let the filling set to be firm, but also super creamy. Another ingredient that makes this so lusciously creamy is a few tablespoons of almond butter. The extra fat that the almond butter adds brings a luxuriousness to the filling.
For the pumpkin (essential!), I love using Sprouts organic pumpkin puree. It’s nicely thick (similar to Libby’s) and not at all watery. I love that’s it’s organic and just one ingredient: pumpkin. It’s been my go-to for all my pumpkin recipes so far this year. I also used Sprouts organic coconut milk for the pie! I can always trust the quality of their ingredients at super competitive prices…and it’s super convenient because I’ve got one walking distance from my house :)
We use maple syrup to sweeten this vegan pumpkin pie. If you prefer, you can also add a little coconut sugar if you like a sweeter pie. I’d recommend tasting the mixture after it’s all made. Then, you can see if you want to adjust the sweetness or spice levels. Speaking of spice, I used Sprouts pumpkin spice mixture + allspice and cardamon. In the notes section, I gave amounts for individual spices if you’d like to add all the spices separately instead of using a premixed pumpkin spice blend.
And all that filling’s going to go somewhere right?! Here, it’s making it’s way into a flaky paleo and vegan pie crust. I use almond flour and tapioca flour, which I find combine to create a nice, light texture. Flaxseed meal is also in there to help bind, and a little coconut sugar to sweeten. We work coconut oil into the dry ingredients to help it get super flaky, too. Make sure you give the crust a nice par-bake to a golden brown color before pouring in the filling. This prevents it from getting soggy or undercooked!
You’ll love this super creamy, perfectly spiced paleo and vegan pumpkin pie! It has the most delightful crisp and flaky vegan pie crust. This is a recipe you’ll definitely want on your holiday dessert table!
Need more holiday dessert ideas?
- Apple Crumble Pie
- Pecan Pie Bars
- The Best Pecan Pie
- Paleo Apple Pie with Lattice Crust
- Paleo Chocolate Pecan Pie
Paleo + Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 80 minutes
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Paleo + Vegan Pumpkin Pie is smooth, creamy, and perfectly spiced, with a flaky crust that you’d never believe is gluten-free, paleo AND vegan. This is allergy-friendly pie will be a holiday dessert staple.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1½ cups (144g) blanched almond flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour
- 3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons coconut oil, cool enough to be firm and scoopable
- 2 tablespoons cold water
For the filling
- 1 15 oz. can organic pumpkin puree, I used Sprouts brand
- ¾ cup canned coconut milk, don’t stir and only use the coconut cream on top
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar, optional, if you like a sweeter pumpkin pie
- 2 tablespoons creamy almond butter
- ¼ cup tapioca starch, AKA tapioca flour, can also use arrowroot flour
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, I used Sprouts brand
- ½ teaspoon allspice, skip if your pumpkin pie spice includes this
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom, skip if your pumpkin pie spice includes this
Instructions
For the crust
- Combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, ground flax, coconut sugar, salt and coconut oil in a food processor, or use a pastry blender in a bowl. Pulse or blend until the texture of coarse meal.
- Add 2 tablespoons cold water and pulse/mix again until dough comes together. If you’re mixing in a bowl, you may want to use your hands to bring the dough together at the end.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or up to 48 hours.
- Roll out your dough in between two sheets of parchment into a 12-inch circle. Lay dough into a 9-inch pie dish (not deep dish). Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
For the filling
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Dock the crust with a fork and par-bake for 10-20 minutes or until very light golden brown around the edges (10 minutes for a thinner, metal pan or closer to 20 minutes for a glass or ceramic pan).
- In a blender, combine all of the ingredients for the filling and blend until fully combined. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the the center of the pie doesn’t jiggle. Let cool for at least two hours before serving to let set.
Notes
In place of the pumpkin pie spice, you can also use 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, and ½ teaspoon ground ginger.
Keywords: pumpkin pie, paleo, vegan, pie crust
This post is sponsored by Sprouts and as always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Bakerita!
This is seriously SUCH stunning pie, Rachel! Such a healthy AND gorgeous version of pumpkin pie and so perfect for the upcoming holiday season!
Thank you so much, Sarah!
This looks so GOOD! My dad’s gluten free so this definitely is in my fieldhouse and I can’t wait to try it out this year:)) the fact that it’s healthy also makes it a perfect dessert for after thanksgiving!
I hope you love it Emily!
Is there any other flours I could use in place of Almond flour? I want to make this for my family this Thanksgiving but my MIL has a nut allergy. I’m thinking a mixutre of different flours? Or even a gf flour blend?
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Hi Sarah, I haven’t tried any other flours here so I can’t make any guarantees. A gluten free flour blend should work, though!
Hi! Do you think I could substitute coconut butter for the almond butter? I can’t do seed or nut butters, but I really want to try this filling! Thank you!
Hi Kyli, I haven’t tried it but that should be just fine!!
Wonderful. Thanks for getting back to me!
Hi! Will this be ok to make ahead of time like traditional pumpkin pie or best to eat the day you make it ?
Hi Alex, you could definitely make it the day before you’re serving it! It’s best after chilled for a few hours, anyways :)
Delicious!! Second year in a row that I’ve made this. Gobbled up every time!
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So thrilled you’re loving it, Debbie! Thanks for the feedback.
I am making this recipe and confused about step 4 in the crust section and step 2 in the filling section. It sounds like you are supposed to roll out the dough, place the dough in the pie dish, put the raw dough and dish into the freezer, then put the dough into the 350 degree oven, but I am worried that my dish going from the freezer then immediately into the oven will break my glass pie dish? Am I misreading the order of the instructions? Thanks for your help!
Hi Katie, the crust is kept in the freezer while you prepare the filling so it doesn’t soften. The crust will be flakier if it’s cold going into the oven. If you’re worried about your pan breaking (though that’s never been an issue for me), you can just put it in the fridge. I hope this helps!
Hi! This looks delicious, finally a recipe that doesn’t use cornstarch!
I don’t have flax seeds, do you think I could just use eggs instead? If so, how many?
Thank you in advance!!
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Hi Alessia, we’re not making flax eggs here, just using the flax for their binding benefits, so unfortunately subbing an egg wouldn’t work for the crust here!
I am hoping your recipe turns out as smooth and silky as described. I am using a candy roaster pumpkin. My fav pumpkins so far for pies are red kuri and candy roaster. I am going with straight cinnamon and vanilla for my flavors. Kind of like the old fashioned flavor my grandmother used to make. I have a vegan friend I am trying your recipe on. So far I have ended up tossing about 8 pies. Vegan is a tough one to come up with. Thank you for posting. Have to find a sweetener other than maple, but oh well, sugar is vegan. The pies I have tried in the past have either been too grainy and/or too sweet. Yours looks like best possablity yet.
Hi Cedars, I hope you (and/or your vegan friend) ended up enjoying it. Sounds amazing with a freshly roasted candy roasted pumpkin!
1/3 cup of maple syrup.. how is this keto?
Apologies, just realized it wasn’t claimed to be! searched for a keto recipe and this one popped up. still might make it. haha
Haha, glad you figured it out! It may work with a keto maple syrup if you want to try that, though I haven’t tested it that way!
Made this tonight – tasted great, the texture of the filling came out gummy. Did I cook it for too long?
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Hi Mimi, yes overcooking can definitely result in a gummier filling, or mismeasuring the tapioca flour and adding too much can cause that as well!
Hi Rachel, thank you – the texture improved the next day after sitting in the refrigerator overnight. The pie was delicious and I ate the whole the thing (yes by myself!)
Haha love it! Glad you enjoyed it, Mimi.