Creamy, custardy pumpkin creme brulee – made without any heavy cream or eggs!Â
A rich pumpkin custard base hides beneath a hard shell of caramelized brown sugar…
This pumpkin creme brulee takes pumpkin season to a whole new level.
The recipe was inspired by one of the more unusual recipes on my site, the Avocado Crème Brulee.
As much as I love them, sometimes I get bored of just posting about chocolate and coconut and peanut butter all the time!
While an equal-sized serving of traditional creme brulee can have as much as 50 grams of fat, 20 grams of sugar, and more calories than an entire meal, this delightfully lightened-up recipe lets you indulge in the luxuriousness of creme brulee without all the added sugar and empty calories.
Plus, you get a serving of vegetables at the same time – even pumpkin haters will love this recipe!
Or maybe they won’t.
No worries in that case… I will gladly eat theirs.
To Make The Pumpkin Creme Brulee:
Combine the ingredients until smooth, spoon into oven-safe ramekins, and smooth out the tops.
If you are impatient or just really hungry, feel free to forgo the traditional creme brulee topping and simply eat the pumpkin custard as-is.
However, adding the burnt brown sugar really elevates the deliciousness of this creamy pumpkin dessert.
There’s no need to go out and buy a blow torch.
If you don’t have one, simply place the vegan creme brulee on the top rack of the oven, closest to the broiler, and watch carefully so the brown sugar caramelizes into a hardened shell without burning to a crisp.
Close your eyes, and think about how much better this tastes than a boring old pumpkin spice latte.
Pumpkin Creme Brulee
Creamy Pumpkin Creme Brulee
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pumpkin or sweet potato puree
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- just over 1/16 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/16 tsp each nutmeg and cloves, optional
- pinch stevia OR 3 tbsp sugar of choice
- 2-3 tsp coconut sugar or brown sugar (Omit if you want a sugar-free version)
Instructions
For best results, be sure to use full-fat coconut milk, not lite or coconutmilk beverage. Either by hand or in a blender, combine all ingredients except the optional brown sugar until completely smooth. (For smoothest results, use a blender.) Spoon into oven-safe ramekins or small dishes, and smooth out the tops. Before serving, if desired, sprinkle about 1 tsp brown sugar per dish evenly over the top. Then set as close to your oven’s broiler as possible and broil OR use a blow torch to burn the sugar. If broiling in the oven, it only takes 5-10 minutes, so watch it carefully and rotate after every 3 minutes.
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Link Of The Day:
Clean Eating Almond Butter Fudge
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SO much better than a pumpkin spice latte for sure!! This looks incredible Katie, I usually don’t go for creme brulee because they’re too heavy for me, but I LOVE your ingredient list so I’ll be making this! 🙂
Is there a substitute for the coconut milk-I’m allergic to coconut!
Maybe try a different dairy-free milk, like cashew or almond, and add some of Katie’s cashew cream to give it some creaminess/body? I don’t know if it’ll work, but I hope that’s helpful.
I like to use oat milk. I think it has a thicker viscosity than other plant-based milks. Cashew is also thick.
I can’t wait to try this! Do I still put it in the oven if I’m using the blow torch?
Nope!
I keep waiting for pumpkin to go on sale, but it doesn’t seem to be happening. I’ll have to keep an eye out for a good price; this recipe needs to happen 🙂
These are absolutely delicious! I’m a health coach, and my clients are either paleo or AIP style of eating. Love that this recipe works for all. I, personally am AIP, with an egg allergy, and creme brulee was a fave. Thank you for this! I shared with my clients, and the feedback from them after making it is fabulous. This will be made for Thanksgiving at my house for sure!
I made this Saturday night for a potluck I was attending. I didn’t brulee it; I presented it as a pumpkin pudding/custard. My only problem was once I mixed up the custard ingredients it was more liquid like and not at all like a pudding or custard. So we froze the mixture and it did thicken somewhat. It tasted great! But was more drinkable rather than spoon-able!
I had the same results. I’m thinking we should drain off the excess liquid from the coconut milk and just use the solid?
I just made it and had the same problem…perhaps there’s a direction step missing…like perhaps we’re supposed to bake it first???
I wanted to leave my feedback in case it can be helpful: My results came out perfectly thick like a thick pudding so the recipe definitely does work as written.
It may be a difference in the thickness of your coconut milk as different brands can have different amounts of fat. When I opened the can, my coconut milk was already thick like pudding.
By the way, my guests loved the recipe! It was a nice healthier alternative and was especially appreciated by a guest who was gluten free and couldn’t have the pies.
I think it depends on the thickness of the particular can of coconut milk you use. My pudding came out nice and thick when I made this, but in the past with other recipes I have gotten cans of coconut milk that are too thin to even make coconut whipped cream. If it’s helpful, I used Thai Kitchen Organic brand of coconut milk.
This was my first time (making and eating) creme brulee. I liked how light it was. I expected it to be heavier-ish. Thank you very much!
What’s the degree I should be using?
You don’t bake it but use the broil setting on your oven, which is around 530 degrees I think and you have to put it near the top.
Maybe the recipe should say coconut cream instead of coconut milk. I used coconut milk and like the other people, it was too runny.
Mine was super thick!
This was EXCELLENT!
I know it’s after Thanksgiving but I saw the photos and just had to make it. Oh it was a good decision indeed 😉 🙂
I’m going to try it next with sweet potato!
I’ve never liked creme brulee, but I’ll admit that pumpkin creme brulee actually sounds quite tasty!