Paleo Pumpkin Pie
If you hate traditional pie crusts, do I have a treat in store for you! I too hate pie crust. I love all the delicious innards, but man do I hate the dry, flaky dough that houses them. I don’t know who thought that that would possibly be a good idea for a great tasting dessert. They really blew it big time. Luckily, this pie is here to change that!
I tried a lot of new things with this recipe. I wasn’t sure at first how it would all pan out. I was pleasantly surprised when it ALL panned out! It doesn’t happen often but I’m sure glad when it does. Especially with baking, because that’s something I always seem to struggle with.
I am well aware that pumpkin pie is traditionally made with gross, dry, flaky, flour dough. As you can probably see from the pictures, I opted to take a different route for my crust. This somewhat resembles a graham cracker crust, and is indeed made from store bought cookies. I wanted to try Simple Mills Crunchy Toasted Pecan cookies because I thought the flavor would pair well with pumpkin pie. I was right! And yet I also think it’s neutral enough to use for a variety of different pies. Expect to see more pies on the blog over the coming months!
I cannot wait for Thanksgiving. I’ve always loved Thanksgiving, but over the years it has become my favorite holiday. Yes, even more so than Christmas if you can believe that. I think part of the reason I love Thanksgiving so much is because I’ve started a new tradition with Mike, and that tradition is a road race! Yes, I am officially a person who runs road races on holidays. And you know what? I LOVE it. Now that I’ve done it a few years in a row, I can’t imagine not doing it. Last Thanksgiving it didn’t get past 20 degrees the whole day and the road race was still a blast. I ran the race wearing my Woobie, so I was well prepared. That thing is the best. Anyway, the race is well planned in that it starts at 10:00 am. It’s about 4.75 miles, so we’re back to the car for noon and home, showered, and ready to go feast by 1:30 or so. We usually do Thanksgiving at my mom’s and she usually plans her Thanksgiving dinner around 3:30ish. So the day works perfectly with our road race and feast schedule. I love running in the morning because not only does it put me in a great mood, but I also feel somewhat justified eating 17 pounds of mashed potatoes. I always save room for dessert though. This year especially, because this year this pie is my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner! Since it’s made with better-for-me ingredients, it won’t put me over the edge and make me feel disgusting either. Oh goodness I can’t wait for Thanksgiving. The countdown is on!
Paleo Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 400° F. Add the Crunchy Toasted Pecan cookies to a food processor and pulse until the cookies are completely broken down into fine crumbs. Add the melted ghee and pulse a few more times until combined. Add the cookie crumbs and ghee to a 9" pie dish. Press the mixture into the bottom of the dish and up the sides. Place in the oven and bake at 400° F for 8 minutes until fragrant. Remove from oven and reduce the heat to 350° F.
- Make the pie: Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the remainder of the ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie crust and bake at 350° F for 60-70 minutes. The pie should still be jiggly just in the very center. Turn the oven off and let sit in the oven for 10 minutes with the oven door cracked open about 6". Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
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