Smooth and ultra creamy, this healthy pumpkin pie recipe does not taste healthy at all!
Homemade healthy pumpkin pie
Pumpkin pie is often considered a healthier choice than other popular holiday pies like pecan pie, apple pie, or chocolate cream pie.
However, many pumpkin pie recipes call for sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and a full cup of refined sugar.
In contrast, this healthier version is naturally sweetened and packed with the same spiced cinnamon pumpkin flavor as the classic holiday dessert.
Serve it for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and leave all of your guests speechless. This may just be the creamiest pumpkin pie you will ever taste.
You may also like this Crustless Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie topping ideas
The healthy pumpkin pie is wonderful on its own.
But if you really want to take it to epic heights of deliciousness, top each slice with gooey vegan marshmallow fluff or homemade Coconut Whipped Cream.
Pumpkin pie plus whipped cream equals Thanksgiving in a dessert.
I can also vouch for the healthy pie topped with Coconut Ice Cream.
Healthy pumpkin pie recipe video
Above, watch the full step by step video.
Holiday healthy dessert ingredients
The filling calls for pumpkin, coconut milk, oats or flour, flax, unrefined sugar, spices, salt, and pure vanilla extract.
Pumpkin – Look for pumpkin puree as opposed to canned pumpkin pie mix. The latter already includes added sugar and spices.
Sometimes grocery stores run out of canned pumpkin puree during the holidays. If this happens, buy a sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin and roast it at home.
Coconut milk – For the richest, thickest dairy free pumpkin pie, I recommend full fat canned coconut milk.
Lite coconut milk, skim milk, low calorie almond milk, or oat milk yield a thinner pie that is harder to slice. It still tastes delicious if you go with one of these substitutions.
Oats or flour – Try whole grain spelt flour, white flour, oat flour, all purpose gluten free flour, or almond flour. Coconut flour requires less, so feel free to experiment.
Rolled oats are a fantastic option with fiber, antioxidants, and other health benefits. Quick oats or instant oats can be substituted.
Steel cut oats will not thicken the pie and yield smooth results.
Flax egg – For an egg free vegan healthy pumpkin pie with no cholesterol, use ground flax. Non vegans can add one egg instead.
Spices – Cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice give flavor without extra fat and calories. If you cannot find pumpkin spice, replace it with additional cinnamon.
Or make homemade pumpkin pie spice. Combine 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves, and optional 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice.
Refined sugar free pumpkin pie
My favorite refined sugar free options are coconut sugar and date sugar.
While they are more highly processed and lack the trace amount of nutrients present in unrefined sugars, traditional brown sugar or white sugar also work.
Use xylitol or a monk fruit erythritol blend for a pie with no sugar added.
I have not yet tried swapping the sugar for pure maple syrup or honey. If you try one of these options before I do, please let other readers and myself know how it goes.
Still craving pumpkin? Make a Pumpkin Spice Latte
Healthy pumpkin pie crust
You may use your own favorite pie crust recipe or a store bought crust.
I like the following homemade whole wheat pastry crust. Unlike many refrigerated or frozen crusts, this one is free of ingredients high in saturated fat like butter, lard, hydrogenated oil, and shortening.
Even though you are making a baked pumpkin pie, I recommend prebaking the crust first. This step ensures the finished crust will taste flaky and buttery, not soggy from the weight and moisture of the pumpkin.
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sugar (or xylitol)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 to 4 tablespoons water
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add oil and stir. Add water as needed until it just sticks together but is not gummy. I normally need about 3 tablespoons. Press evenly into a well greased 9 inch pie pan. Put the crust into the preheated oven and immediately increase the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
The bottom of the crust will rise, so either use pie weights during baking or just press the pie crust back down afterwards. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool while you prepare the pumpkin pie filling.
Readers also love this holiday Vegan Pecan Pie
How to make healthy pumpkin pie
Begin by preparing your pie crust of choice. Set this crust aside.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are using rolled oats instead of flour, blend them in a food processor or blender until they reach a fine flour consistency.
Add all remaining filling ingredients, and either blend again or stir very well in a large mixing bowl with a spoon.
Once the filling is thick and completely smooth, carefully pour it into your prepared pumpkin pie crust. If needed, use a spatula to spread it evenly into the crust.
Place the pan on the center rack of the oven. Bake for 27 minutes. The texture should still look quite underdone when time is up.
Remove the pie from the oven and let cool. Once the pan is no longer hot to the touch, refrigerate it uncovered (or very loosely covered with paper towels) at least 5 hours or overnight.
During this cooling stage, the pumpkin pie will thicken considerably and set to an easily sliceable texture.
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. While you can technically slice and freeze the pie, its texture will be nowhere near as creamy once thawed.
Serve to family and friends after a healthy holiday feast of stuffed butternut squash or lentil loaf, cranberry sauce, green beans, and Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole.
Healthy Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 15 oz pumpkin puree
- 13.5 oz canned coconut milk
- 1/4 cup rolled oats or 3 tbsp flour of choice
- 2 tbsp ground flax or 1 egg (for flax free, try this Vegan Pumpkin Pie)
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 pie crust (or use the crust recipe included above)
Instructions
- Prepare your pie crust in a 9 inch pan, then set it aside. To make the healthy pumpkin pie recipe, preheat the oven to 400 F. If using oats, blend them first into a fine flour consistency, using a blender or food processor. Then stir or blend all pie ingredients together until smooth. Pour the pumpkin filling into the crust. Bake the pie for 27 minutes on the center rack of the oven. Its texture should still look underdone after this time. Let it cool, then refrigerate at least 5 hours uncovered for the pie to thicken and set.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Holiday Desserts
Have all the ingredients in cupboard. Spending Thanksgiving with my plant-based eating daughter (me too”!). This will be dessert! 🙂 Will let you know how it goes! Thank you!
I just wanted to thank you for your recipes! My youngest son, has deathly allergies to almost every food and environmental. The 2 things he is not allergic to is coconut and cocoa! ALL of your recipes are safe for him!! With Thanksgiving here, I struggle to make dinner safe for him and YOU allow me to make yummy things that our entire family can eat and our 4 year old can indulge and be safe!! From the bottom of my heart…THANK YOU!! Please continue to help moms like myself!! I do not know what I would do with out your recipes!! You are a blessing from God!!!
Amee Fisher (and my little boy, Cason) 🙂
Hi…I love your blog and make several of your recipes on a regular basis 🙂 can I use coconut cream instead of milk? I have that already but can get the milk. Thank you!
That would work fine.
Hi Katie!
How long should I plan to wait between making the crust and then making the filling? I understand the baking part but not the cooling time frame. I know you’re busy but I hope to hear back soon!
I’m going to try this tonight! Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, tho (nothing like taking the time out to test it first! Oh well!) what should the consistency be when you take it out of the oven? It is supposed to “firm up” in the fridge, but how soft and “liquidy” should it seem when you first take it out? Thanks!
oops, should have read the comments first. I did not put it in the blender, I just mixed it by hand. after 27 minutes it is still liquid. I will try baking longer to see if it helps, but I guess by not using the blender, I messed it up.
Have you tried using a liquid sweetener in this at all? Coconut sugar is just too expensive for our budget and I don’t do any cane sugar so I usually try to sub in maple syrup or agave whenever possible. If I don’t hear back from you, I’ll probably just give it a shot anyway and if I hose up the texture, I just won’t share it with anyone (more for me).
Update – I made the crust using maple syrup and it is AMAZING!!! I probably didn’t need to put in the full 1/3 cup but I did (it’s pretty sweet). I used the same amount of oil too and the mixture was a bit too thin so I added about another 1/8 cup of ww pastry flour to thicken it up. I just pulled it out of the oven and it smells and tastes fantastic. I put some in a little ramekin too so I can test out the pie filling after I bake it before I try to give it to anyone else.
Second Update – the pie turned out really really good. I had a can of coconut milk in the fridge so it had separated. Since I was using liquid sweetener, I only used the fatty part off the top of the can of coconut milk and excluded the liquid part. I tested out my mini tester pie and it was so so so so good although it isn’t orange but that might be because I used fresh pumpkin (grown in my back yard) rather than canned puree which tends to be a bolder orange color. Sorry to mess with your recipe which I’m sure is amazing as is but, like I said, I had to adapt using maple syrup since that’s what I keep on hand.
Looks delicious!! If I want to use stevia as the sweetener in the crust, how much would I use?
Fantastic pie!!! Everyone loved it!
(In my oven, I had to cook twice as long though.)
Very good recipe! It was not quite as sweet as I’d like it, but I didn’t have stevia and I’m not sure I remembered to add the 2Tbsp brown sugar to replace that. I’ll definitely try again with a bit more sugar.
The texture was pretty good, definitely softer (more pudding like) than pumpkin pie I’m used to, but it was still delicious. I’ll be making again!
I used a pre-made crust to make things easier 🙂