Farm “Pumpkin” Pie

My favorite pie recipe.

We make this without added honey or syrup, and love it for breakfasts, lunches, desserts, and everything in between.  It feels healthy and not too heavy, yet also like a sweet treat (even without the sweetener!)

Farm “pumpkin” pie

Fill 1 large pie dish

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ish cups of cooked Winter Squash or Pie Pumpkin (see notes below)

  13.5 oz can of unsweetened Coconut Milk (not light) OR ½ cup heavy cream plus 3/4 cup milk

  2 eggs or 2 flax eggs (see notes below)  

  splash of vanilla

  3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, in amounts descending in order.  If you just have cinnamon, that’s fine too.)

  1 pinch salt

  OPTIONAL Maple Syrup or Honey, 1-4 Tablespoons 

  1 bottom pie dough (see notes) 

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients (except for pie dough) in a medium sized bowl and mush/mix together until smooth, or process in your food processor.  

Grease your pie dish, and lay your dough in it, pressing it along the sides and making sure the top edges are smooshed down at the top of your pie dish evenly.  

Pour pie filling into dough in the pie pan.  

Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour.  Check after about 45 minutes.  When the center of the pie is set and no longer jiggly, remove from the oven and let cool (for as long as you can resist).  

Slice, serve, and enjoy!  

NOTES:

We usually prefer the sweet, dryer winter squashes for making baked “pumpkin” goods to pie pumpkins, but pie pumpkins definitely pack more “pumpkin” flavor.  Our favorite squash to use are Red Kuri, Kabocha, Buttercup, and Acorn.  If you’re using a food processor and a squash with orange/red skin, you can keep the skin on and process it all together!  

To cook your squash/pumpkin, preheat oven to 425 degrees F, cut your squash in half, scoop out seeds (soak overnight and then rinse clean to roast the next day!), and place flat side down in a baking dish.  Add about a quarter inch of water into the dish, and cook in the oven until the top of the squash can be squished with a fork.  This takes about 20-40 minutes–we just cook them until they start smelling good and are squishy, or squash-y ;)

Remove from the oven, remove squash from the dish, and let cool (at least slightly) before scooping out flesh.  You’ve got “pumpkin puree!” 

A note on measuring: I’ve made this pie recipe a lot, and I only measured my squash the first few times I made it.  If I use less or more, it does change the texture slightly, but I’ve never been disappointed!  

How to make a flax egg: each “egg” is 1 Tablespoon ground flax plus 2.5 Tablespoons warm water.  Stir together in a small cup or jar and let sit for 5 minutes.  Stir again, and incorporate in your recipe!  If using a flax egg in this pie recipe, I recommend adding 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot powder, and/or reducing your milk by a ¼ cup.  

How to make a pie dough: You’ll need ~1 ¼ cup flour, a pinch of salt, ⅓ cup lard, butter, or coconut oil, and ~¼ cup cold water, or enough to get your dough sticking together and workable.  Fluff together flour and salt, add in lard/butter/coconut oil and mix in with a fork, food processor, pastry cutter, or even your fingers.  When dough is in pea-sized clumps, add your cold water and incorporate just until it’s sticking together.  If you mix too much, the dough becomes chewy and not as flaky.  I usually add more water than necessary because it makes it easier to roll out for me.  Roll or press out dough to fit your pie dish.  

I’ve been in the habit of making my dough in my food processor, removing dough, and then mixing up my pumpkin pie filling in the food processor right after.  No dirty bowls, and just 1 dirty food processor! 

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