No Bake Quick Easy Vegan Pumpkin Pie Filling with Dates – Delicious, Sugar Free in a Blender
Make a fast, easy, pumpkin pie with your blender.
This pumpkin pie is low fat, uses dates instead of sugar, pecans instead of margarine, has really nice pumpkin pie spices and texture, and tastes great!
This is a whole foods plant based pumpkin pie recipe that is dairy free, egg free, oil free and full of nice tasting real foods.
My family enjoys this pie, it is a hit even with these picky eaters.
We feel great in our tummies and bodies after eating it.
People cannot tell that this is a vegan, no sugar, no margarine/butter, no eggs, healthy pumpkin pie
They will have no idea. They will just think, wow, that pie was delicious, and sweet, and had amazing texture and flavour!
Guilt free
No processed ingredients
Healthy!!
Yummy!!
How easy is it to make an eggless and dairy free whole foods plant based pumpkin pie from scratch?
It is really easy!
Graham Cracker Crumb Pie Crust
Use my fat free graham cracker crumb pie crust recipe, and while the crust bakes for less than 15 min, prepare the pumpkin filling in a blender.
Heat the filling in a saucepan to thicken, pour it into the pie crust, cool, and enjoy a delicious, fresh, quick and easy crowd pleasing pie.
Can you make a low calorie pumpkin pie? Yes!
I experimented and found that instead of using butter, eggs, or sugar, you can make a wonderful and truly tasty pumpkin pie with pecans, cornstarch, and dates.
Low calorie, healthy, and scrumptious.
What ingredients make the best pumpkin pie spice?
A combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, with a touch of salt make a most delicious pumpkin pie spice.
See the full pumpkin pie recipe below for just the right amounts.
This vegan pumpkin pie filling is dairy-free and eggless
Use a blender to whip pecans, with the pumpkin pie spices, cornstarch, dates, and pumpkin puree – to a light and airy consistency – no dairy , sugar, or eggs required.
The dates and cornstarch both work as thickeners.
Heat the vegan pie filling in a pot on the stove
Once boiled, poured into the crust, then cooled, the pie filling becomes firm, and holds it shape even days later.
It is beautifully creamy as well, a very decadent treat, much nicer than a store bought pie.
Blended pecans taste better than margarine!
It’s a neat discovery.
How to make homemade pumpkin puree from a real pumpkin?
Would you like to make your own pumpkin puree?
Instructions for making quick pumpkin puree in the microwave are in the recipe below.
After Halloween I turn pumpkins into pies.
Otherwise you can use canned pumpkin (the kind with nothing else added) in this recipe.
To make this pie, heat the blended filling, for a few minutes in a saucepan, to cause it to thicken.
This pie is quick and easy, and the filling does not need to be baked in the oven.
The filling in the saucepan will look like this.
A surprise when making this pie, is how thick it will already be when you are stirring it on the stove (it must reach a boiling temperature to cook the cornstarch).
The 10 minutes or so it takes to heat the eggless pumpking pie filling to a boil, ensures the pie stays firm and stable once cooled.
Bake the graham cracker crumb crust, and it will be ready for filling
Put the raw crust in the oven for 11-13 minutes, (this is called blind baking it apparently), and then it will be ready for the yummy pumpkin filling you have in the saucepan.
Graham cracker crumbs taste really nice with pumpkin, it is a better crust choice than pastry, in my opinion. I hope you agree.
No need to wait for the crust to cool, just scoop the pumpkin pie filling in hot.
Cool the pie in a fridge or freezer – no need to bake the pie!
Let the pie cool so that it becomes firm. I use the freezer and it usually takes about 30 minutes to cool enough for us to eat.
The filling will set and can be served once it is almost at room temperature, slightly warm is usually fine.
Enjoy this healthy, delicious, firm, yet creamy pumpkin pie!
Why whole foods pie? Health benefits of WFPB pie
My recipes do not include margarine, butter, or oil. Recipes on veganenvy use whole plant based foods like seeds and nuts instead of margarine or oil.
Why? Because man-made oils and fats provide no minerals, vitamins, nutrients, or fiber. Oil is what is left once all the plant goodness has been stripped out. Also, to make oil and margarine shelf stable, it is highly processed.
Eating oil or margarine or butter (or meat) contributes to clogging our arteries, and can lead to heart attacks, strokes and dementia. Pure fat is the highest calorie food there is, so it usually leads to eating more energy than we can typically use, causing weight gain.
Whole foods like nuts, and seeds contain healthy fats, bundled in fibre, so you get nutrition, gut biome probiotics, antioxidants, fresh taste, and less calories!
Please enjoy this wonderful pumpkin pie that is margarine and butter free! Your body will thank you.
A caution about dates
Some people may not be used to eating dates, and can have trouble digesting the fructans in them. Eating dates could cause bloating or gas pains for some people.
One solution is to use half sugar and half dates. This reduces the dates per piece of pie.
A question I struggle with, is, why it is easier to digest sugar than dates? Unfortunately for some people dates hurt, and sugar won’t.
Another solution is to start with a small piece of pie and see if it bothers you.
It may take the gut biome a day or so to grow the bacteria that will help digest the sugars and the fiber in dates
The gut gets the exact right bacteria from you eating the dates in the first place.
When eating new whole foods, a good approach is to start small, and gradually increase portion sizes over a few days, so your gut biome has time to adjust.
This slow and steady method can greatly increase the pleasure of digesting a variety of foods, and the diversity of your gut bacteria.
In the long run, we will be healthier with a diverse and whole foods diet. But, like exercise, sometimes it takes effort to get there.
Easy Delicious Whole Food Vegan Pumpkin Pie WFPB No-Shortening
Equipment
- 9 1/2 inch Pie Dish
- Blender
- Sauce pan
- Oven
Instructions and Ingredients
Graham Crumb Crust
- 2.5 cups Graham Crumbs
- 3 tbsp Almond Flour
- 2 tbsp Maple Syrup Optional, or substitute water.
- 3.5 tbsp Water
Healthy Vegan Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 2.5 cups Pumpkin Canned or fresh. See bottom of instructions below for how to make your own pumpkin pie filling.
- 1/2 cup Pecans No need to soak first.
- 3/4 cup Medjool Dates about 12 medjool dates. See below - you will soak and microwave them in the water first, to make it easier on your blender. Make sure the dates have no pits. or the following substitutes should work, but I haven't tested them: 2/3 cup brown sugar, or 2/3 cup maple syrup (reduce water by 1/2 cup if using maple syrup). Taste test for sweetness if you use substitutes.
- 1 1/3 cup water
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. See below if making pumpkin filling from a pumpkin.
1) Prepare and Blind Bake the Graham Crumb Crust in 9.5 inch pie plate. This prevents the crust from being soggy.
- Add the dry crust ingredients (graham crumbs, almond flour) to a medium bowl, and mix well.
- Mix the maple syrup and water together, then add to the crumbs, mix with a fork, until crumbly balls form.
- Pour all the crumbs into the pie dish. With a medium sized spoon, press the crumbs into the bottom, and up the sides. About a centimeter (1/3 inch) thick.If the crust is too thin, you may have trouble getting pieces out later. Make sure it is thick, especially up the sides.
- Bake crust alone, for 11 - 16 min. The crust should rise slightly, and look like a lightly baked cookie. Make sure it is cooked, and not still doughy. It should all be the same light golden color, dark spots likely need a few more minutes baking time.
2) Prepare Whole Foods Vegan Pumpkin Pie Filling
- While the crust bakes, prepare the filling.
- Place the dates in the water in a small bowl, and microwave for 60 seconds to soften them. This should help your blender to process them.
- Add all filling ingredients to a high powered blender.
- Blend until liquid and smooth. You may have to stir it down a few times at the start, until the dates get blended. I start on slow speed.
- Pour into medium saucepan.
- On medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning, heat the mixture to bubbling, to thicken it and cook the cornstarch.
- Turn the burner to Medium Low once it starts bubbling, cook another 2-3 minutes. Have a lid handy if you need to step away, as it can splash out of the pot due to the thickness. Careful not to burn yourself.
- The filling should be very thick, boil a bit longer to evaporate some water if yours is runny. Should take about 5-10 minutes total on the stove.
Pour Cooked Filling into Baked Pie Crust
- Take the crust out of the oven. Pour the filling from the saucepan over top of the hot crust, into the pie plate. No need to cool the crust, but if it did cool a while, that shoud be fine too.
Let the Pie Set / Cool
- The pie will be soft and runny at this point. Do not serve hot. Let the pie set first. The cornstarch, dates, and pecans will thicken as they cool. Place the fresh cooked pie in the fridge or freezer to speed the process. Once the pie is a bit warmer than room temperature it should be firm enough to be served.
Add Toppings
- Top the pie with vegan ice cream or coconut whip cream and enjoy! Cover with plastic wrap to keep fresh in the fridge for a few days.
How to use the microwave to make your own fresh pumpkin puree:
- Pumpkin is a versatile ingredient that adds something special to so many dishes. After Halloween, I will cook up the pumpkins and get creative with pumpkin in recipes.
- Wash outside of pumpkin, cut into pieces that fit into a large covered microwave dish. Add 1 cup water. Microwave on high for 25-30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft and steamed, and the skin can be easily punctured with a fork.
- After the pumpkin is cooked, let it cool for a few minutes, then remove the seeds and strings with a spoon. This is much easier after cooked than before!
- Remove the pumpkin flesh from the skin. Scoop the flesh into a measuring cup to measure out what you need for pie.
- Save the remainder of the pumpkin in the fridge for a couple days, for soups, future pies, and other baking!
Notes
Nutrition
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