Plant-Based Pumpkin Pie

This homemade plant-based pumpkin pie is made with a delicious, flaky einkorn crust and a silky, flavorful pumpkin filling. It’s a classic autumn favorite for your Thanksgiving table.

I couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving to have pumpkin pie, so last weekend, I put some classical music on the record player and put on my linen apron.

This vegan pumpkin pie recipe was inspired by the Little House book series. It calls for maple sugar, which calls to mind stories from Little House in the Big Woods. Unlike in The Long Winter, when Ma Ingalls uses brown sugar, sliced pumpkin, and vinegar, this pie is made with pureed pumpkin and traditional spices.

Baking in the pioneer spirit, it seemed appropriate to make a homemade pumpkin pie from scratch — including the crust. In The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Classic Stories, author Barbara M. Walker explains that in those days, pie crust was known as paste. I decided to make a “paste” using healthy whole wheat einkorn flour, an heirloom grain, instead of modern wheat, which was hybridized in the 1950s and 60s.

While I made the einkorn crust, Wilder Baby slept nestled in a warm woven wrap; however, he was ready to play when I started mixing the filling. I was grateful that the man of the place took him and Little Bear outside to enjoy the beautiful autumn day.

Although Ma once baked a big pumpkin pie in her large, square bread-baking tin, I opted to use a standard-sized glass pie pan for this recipe. The house smelled amazing as the vegan pumpkin pie baked. Little Bear and I both couldn’t wait to have a slice, and we both had seconds.

Pumpkin Pie in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House Books

Special dinners and holiday celebrations in the Little House series often included pumpkin pie. In Farmer Boy, Almanzo eats this treat several times. He even grew his own milk-fed pumpkin that won first prize at the county fair.

Unlike the pumpkin pies from the pioneer days, this creamy dairy-free recipe is completely plant based. I wonder what Ma Ingalls would have thought of such a thing. Coconut oil and coconut cream were not in her cupboards or pantry.

Then again, she once made a pie with a green pumpkin in The Long Winter. Laura, who was asked to go to the corn patch and get the pumpkin, said she had never heard of a green pumpkin pie. “Neither did I,” said Ma. “But we wouldn’t do much if we didn’t do things that nobody ever heard of before.”

Laura rushed home from school to help Ma peel and slice and stew down the biggest pumpkin that Pa had raised last summer. She carefully picked over and washed a whole quart of small white navy beans, too. Ma was going to make a mammoth pumpkin pie and the largest milkpan full of baked beans, to take to the New England Supper.

There was no school on Thanksgiving Day. There was no Thanksgiving dinner, either. It was a queer, blank day, full of anxious watching of the pie and the beans and of waiting for the evening.

~Little Town on the Prairie

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRUST:

• 1¾ cups whole grain einkorn flour (or 1 1/3 cups all purpose einkorn flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup solid coconut oil + more for greasing the pie pan
• 3 to 6 tablespoons ice water

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING:

• 2 flax “eggs” (2 tablespoons ground flaxseed + six tablespoons water)
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2/3 cup maple sugar
• 1 teaspoon ceylon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/4 cups coconut cream
• 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder

Coconut Oil Einkorn Pie Crust

Stir flour and salt together.

Add the solid coconut oil and use a pastry cutter blender or fork to combine. The texture should be like sand with pebbles.

Add ice water, a little at a time, until the dough forms.

Roll it out on a lightly floured surface.

Plant-based Pumpkin Pie: Filling + Assembling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the filling ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Grease a pie pan with coconut oil.

Drape the rolled out dough onto the prepared pie pan.

Trim any excess dough and crimp edges.

Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the crust and bake for an hour, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is firmer. The middle will still be jiggly and the edges may have some cracks.

Cool for at least an hour. (If you have the patience to refrigerate it for a few hours, even better.)

Serve and enjoy!

Substitutions and Optional Ingredients

You can use coconut sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup, instead of maple sugar.

I have not yet tried this with plant-based milk; however, I imagine it will still set properly if refrigerated. (Perhaps add another tablespoon of arrowroot powder.)

Cornstarch can be substituted for the arrowroot powder.

Feel free to add a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.

Fresh or canned pumpkin both work; however, if you’re using fresh, I recommend pureeing a sugar pie pumpkin or jarrahadale for a sweeter flavor.

Store-bought crust can be substituted for homemade.

Tips

Make sure the coconut oil is in a solid (not liquid) state for the crust. You should be able to scoop it.

While you’re mixing the filling, you can refrigerate the pie dough (before rolling it out).

Try to roll out the dough so that it’s at least an inch larger than your pie pan when it is upside down.

A floured rolling pin can be helpful when transferring the crust.

You can crimp the edges with the index finger (or knuckle) of one hand and the pinched thumb and index finger of the other hand.

Using a glass pie plate will allow you to see if the crust is fully baked.

Chilling the pie in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight will help it fully set.

Pin this recipe for later.

How to Serve Vegan Pumpkin Pie

This plant-based pumpkin pie is delicious with a scoop of vegan vanilla nice cream or a dollop of coconut whipped cream. You can also sprinkle slices with cinnamon.

How to Store Plant-Based Pumpkin Pie

This pumpkin pie doesn’t last long at our house; however, leftover pumpkin pie can be covered and refrigerated for a few days.  

Where to find Little House books

I hope this post inspired you to bake; however, if you’re in the reading mood, all of the books mentioned in this post can currently be found on ThriftBooks at a great price. If you spend $30 or more and use my special code at checkout, a free book credit will be added to your account and mine as well.

Enter the following code at checkout: 43E40BEA2

MORE PUMPKIN RECIPES WE’RE ENJOYING ON THE MOUNTAIN

Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

Einkorn Pumpkin Bread

Healthy Homemade Pumpkin Granola

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Milk