Sunday, April 1, 2018

Hazelnut pumpkin pie - vegan, gluten free, sugar-less




First the crust

The crust part of this recipe was originally sourced from http://fromthegroundupwellness.com/recipes/savory-vegan-pumpkin-pie-with-almond-meal-crust

Grease a flan tray or pie tin and then line with grease-proof baking paper. The oil helps to hold the paper in place. Trim any excess paper.

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F

You will need:

  • a cup and a half of almond meal
  • a pinch of Himalayan salt. (don't use sea salt cause there's too many microplastics floating around in our oceans these days)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon  ground cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil (in my climate I need to heat this to make it liquid)
  • 1 tablespoon of water. 

Mix into a dough then place in the flan tray  and press it with a spoon, spreading it out and up the sides. If it sticks to the spoon sprinkle a little rice flour over the mixture.

Bake for 10 minutes then set to one side. While it's been cooking you might have ground some hazelnuts and pre-cooked your pumpkin.

Now for the mixture

Preheat, if you haven't already, your oven to 180C/350F

You will need:

  • 2 generous cups of cooked pumpkin - I used Japanese pumpkin on my first attempt but butternut or just about any other pumpkin should work well, even golden nugget squash.
  • 1/2-3/4 cup of hazelnut. 3/4 is better but it takes time for me to grind this in my coffee grinder. You can also purchase pre-ground hazelnut meal but since I grow my own hazelnuts I thought I'd better use them. They're sweeter, juicier and better tasting fresh.
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of tapioca or arrowroot flour as a binding agent.
  • 1&1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon. I don't add any nutmeg as it is an irritant that causes digestive problems for those susceptible to it.
  • 1/4 teaspoon of allspice
  • a grind or two of Himalayan salt.


Mash together then place in you pre-prepared pie crust. Spread to the edges

Bake for 20 minutes

So tasty it disappears in minutes so if you are serving more than two people you might want to double the quantities.