Before we left the United States to head down into Mexico I made absolutely sure that I had canned pumpkin on hand so that we could have this vegan pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Because are you even having a Thanksgiving if you don't have pumpkin pie?
It turns out, I didn't have to stock up. Right here in Los Barriles Chapito's carries canned pumpkin. Of course, it's quite a bit more expensive than in the U.S. because it's an imported item. But they do have it!
Now, I assumed that I would need to make the pie shell. You may be able to buy pre-formed or roll-out refrigerated pie crusts down here but I didn't even look. And it's not too hard to make your own. The key is keeping the ingredients cold, especially the vegan butter.
Normally I would use shortening, but I didn't want to buy shortening for this one thing. This is the struggle we go through living with an RV sized refrigerator. At least I knew that Kevin would use the vegan butter.
Shortening stays firmer as you work with it and results in a flakier crust. But the vegan butter crust was still a bit flaky and was delicious.
To cut in the vegan butter, I use one of these OXO pastry blenders. When I went to Amazon to get a link for you, it helpfully told me that I bought this in 2008. It's lasted 12 years no problem so it's a pretty good one!
But if you can find vegan pie crusts, by all means use them! If I had been making more dishes I absolutely would've use a pre-made crust.
Pumpkin pie is one of the most easily veganizable desserts. You simply don't need eggs or dairy to make it delicious. As a matter of fact, if you don't tell people it's vegan, they will have no idea.
Pumpkin Pie
It's the pumpkin pie you remember but without any animals involved!
Prep Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins
Cook Time40 minutes mins
Cooling time1 hour hr
Total Time3 hours hrs 25 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 8
Calories: 256kcal
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter I used Earth Balance, put in the freezer at least 1 hour before using
- 4 tablespoons ice water or more
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree or 1 15 oz. can, the only ingredient should be pumpkin
- 3/4 cup light firm silken tofu about 6 ounces
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium-large bowl. Add the vegan butter and cut in with a pastry cutter.
It should end up kind of like coarse sand with some larger pieces in it. Mix 4 tablespoons of the ice water with the apple cider vinegar. Add about a third of it to the dough and mix with a spoon. Repeat until you’ve used all the water mixture. The dough should form a soft ball. If all of the dry mixture hasn’t incorporated, add more ice water a teaspoon at a time until it comes together. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, parchment or wax paper until you have an even 12” circle. Remove the plastic or paper and lay it in your 9” pie pan. Fit it so there are no air bubbles under the crust. Now flute the edges and set aside. Or, just buy a prepared crust and save yourself a bunch of time.
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Crumble the tofu into a food processor bowl or high-speed blender container. Add the remaining filling ingredients and process until smooth and no white tofu bits are visible.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the center appears smooth. Cool on a rack then refrigerate if not serving immediately. Serve cold or at room temperature. Just make sure the pie is completely cooled before cutting.
Makes one 9" pie.
The lite silken tofu wasn't an option in the nutrition database so the actual calories and fat could be less than calculated here. Remember, these nutrition calculations are just a guide.
What's your goto dessert for Thanksgiving?
