Rustic Vegan Pumpkin Pie

The perfect fall treat for your cosy evenings 🍂

This Rustic Vegan Pumpkin Pie is a rare visitor to Bean’s kitchen but when it does, it brings the full cosy autumnal atmosphere with it! Pumpkin Pie is another sweet treat, like the Pumpkin Spice Latte, that I’ve never really heard of growing up in Italy. And if I had, it was probably from one of those early 2000s Christmas romcoms from Hollywood. The protagonist reunites with the family for Thanksgiving and everything goes wrong over a roast dinner. It’s a classic!

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Funny gif about spending Thanksgiving with the family

I started seeing a few popping up in local bakeries or Starbucks when I moved to the UK. Unfortunately, Pumpkin Pies are hugely overshadowed by Mince Pies in the British Isles so to this day I never had the chance to eat a store-bought one. The first Pumpkin Pie I’ve ever eaten was my first homemade attempt..and second, and third. 😅

It just sounded like something I would have liked so I researched the ingredients, and the methods and started experimenting. As usual, a lot of really interesting cultural background information came up with a ton of delicious recipes. I was hooked!

Rustic Vegan Pumpkin display with pumpkin, concours, and leaves

If you just want to skip the history moment and go straight to the recipe, this is your chance!

Jump to Recipe

Pumpkin Pie: the American dessert

Like me, you probably know Pumpkin Pie as one of the most representative traditional Thanksgiving desserts in North America. Throughout the world, we see it more as a symbol of autumn and the harvest season, but overall it’s clear how deep-rooted in American history, Thanksgiving and subsequently, this dessert are.

Pumpkin pies, squashes and corn on a wooden table.

Thanksgiving and how it came about

Being from Europe, for many years, I thought that Pumpkin Pie was invented or presented specifically for Thanksgiving. And that Thanksgiving was a religious festivity to be thankful for life and to celebrate North America’s culture.

What I didn’t know is that there’s another layer of history. One that tides the first Pilgrims who came to North America in 1620 to their Native American neighbours. It’s said that after a difficult first winter, the Pilgrims held a feast – the first Thanksgiving – in 1621. This feast was shared with the Wampanoag Native Americans who taught them how to harvest food and helped them survive in this new land. For many people, this was and still is a successful and first-ever peaceful “treaty” between Pilgrims and Native Americans. A sign of them living in harmony.

Native Americans’ forgotten history

However, less-known history – at least for me – tells us that this conviviality was not true as colonization is no peaceful affair. Later on in the 1700s, for many colonialists, Thanksgiving turned into a victory symbol. The European Settlers celebrated powering over Native Americans, killing them, forcing them into European traditions, exploiting and damaging their lands.

Despite this dark moment in history, Thanksgiving maintained its positive connotation and became an official federal holiday in 1863. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving. Lincoln called on Americans to give thanks for the “public blessings” that they had received, including the victory of the Union in the Civil War.

Nowadays, many Americans spend Thanksgiving with their family and friends. It’s regarded as a day full of love, respect and blessings. However, colonialism is a very important and still very relevant piece of history.

This causes many Native Americans to stand against celebrating Thanksgiving. Some fully reject the concept. Some others use the national holiday to reconnect with their traditions and their food and celebrate Native American history and hospitality.

So no matter how you’re spending your Thanksgiving, there are always good deeds to do and thoughtful conversations to have on this day of celebration. And it’s always better done with a full belly of delicious food and pumpkin desserts. 🎃

Pumpkin Pie: The Origins

Back to the Pumpkin Pie! The earliest recorded recipes for pumpkin pie date back to the 17th century when pumpkins were first introduced to Europe. However, do you remember how I said that Native Americans were the ones who taught Pilgrims how to harvest and all things food? Well, they did it with Pumpkins and Pumpkin Pie too!

The true origin of it traces back to the Native Americans, who used pumpkins in their cooking and baking. The Native Americans would cook pumpkins in gourds and add maple syrup or honey to sweeten them. They would also sometimes add herbs and spices to the pumpkin which effectively made this the first pumpkin pie filling.

The European settlers who came to North America in the 1600s adopted the Native Americans’ recipe for pumpkin pie. They added their own spices to the pie filling, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. But most importantly, the settlers also began to bake the pumpkin pie in a pie crust, allowing this dessert to become the lovely Pumpkin Pie that we all enjoy today!

Sources: Nativehope.org, Wikipedia.org, Doughbies.com, bbc.co.uk

Rustic Vegan Pumpkin Pie

So after all that research, I was ready to experiment! However, I realised there were some things in the original Pumpkin Pie recipe that I wasn’t too keen on. Some were a taste preference, like the eggs and the less creamy texture of the filling. Some were an acid reflux kind of thing, like the heavy cream as topping or the ginger and white sugar in the filling. Eventually, I settled on a vegan version that was very homey and earthy, with loads of whole-meal ingredients and no intent of making it pretty but rather tasty and cosy. One of those pies that grandmas would make on a wood-fired stove with very simple ingredients on a rainy day. Served with a warm cup of herbal tea! 🍵

Cheeky Ingredients swap

Gluten-free: Make this pumpkin pie gluten-free using Buckwheat flour for the entire weight rather than just a tinsy bit for flavour. You can opt for regular gluten-free or rice flour if you prefer a neutral taste. Or go wild with some coconut flour for an even sweeter kick. Remember to adjust the liquids as gluten-free flour may require a bit more milk or butter.
Lemon peels: use lemon peels instead of orange peels for a fresher taste.
Caster sugar: If you don’t like the dark brownish look that brown cane sugar gives to the Pumpkin Pie you can replace it with caster sugar and you’ll have a lovely traditional orange filling. Note that the pie will turn out a bit sweeter so adjust the amount to match your sweet buds!

I hope you’ll enjoy this Rustic Vegan Pumpkin Pie as much as I do and don’t forget to rate this recipe and leave a comment so I know how you get on! So grab your pumpkins and ignite your ovens. Happy baking!

Rustic Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Bean

This creamy, Rustic Vegan Pumpkin Pie is a delicious autumn dessert! Easy to make, it's perfect if you crave a simple wholewheat and fully-rounded healthy treat for your fall holidays.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 55

Dough Resting Time 20

Total Time 1 35

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, North American

Servings 1 20cm Cake tin

Equipment

1 20cm round pie tin
1 Oven tray with baking paper
1 Large mixing bowl
1 Electric mixer or Blender
1 Silicon or wooden spoon
1 Rolling Pin
Ceramic Baking Beans or any oven-proof tool that you can use in replacement

Ingredients

Wholewheat Shortcrust Pastry

200 gr Wholewheat flour
100 gr Buckwheat flour Optional – if you don't want to use a different flour you can add these 100 gr as Wholewhat flour.
100 gr Brown cane sugar
65 ml Soy milk or any vegetable milk you like
55 gr Vegetable Butter
10 gr Baking powder
Orange zest
splash Vanilla extract
pinch Salt

Pumpkin Pie Filling

300 gr Pumpkin Puree
200 ml Soy milk
80 gr Brown cane sugar
40 gr Golden Syrup or Maple Syrup
3 tbsp Mix pumpkin spices It's usually a mix of Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Ginger but you can use Bean's Autumn Spice Blend for extra flavour 🙂
2½ tbsp Corn starch

Instructions

Making the Wholewheat Shortcrust Pastry

In a large mixing bowl add all the wet ingredients including orange zest, butter and sugar. Mix well until the sugar and butter have combined into a creamy liquid.
Sieve the flour/s and baking powder on top of the other ingredients and amalgamate the mixture first with a fork and then quickly with your hands to form a ball of dough. Wrap up in foil or cling film and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes. While we wait for the dough to set, turn your oven on and set to 180℃ or 356℉ static/no fan.

Making the Pumpkin Pie Filling

First of all: If you want to make Pumpkin Puree from scratch you can cut your pumpkin into chunks and bake them with no seasoning in the oven at 180℃ until soft and moist. Then use a powerful blender to break down the fibres until the puree is formed. It might still have little chunks in it so if you want a smoother puree, you can sieve it through a fine filter/sieve.
If you prefer to skip this step, I would suggest using the Bakeroo Tinned Pumpkin Puree.
Add the Pumpkin Puree, Spices and all the other ingredients for the filling into your blender and blend/mix until it's all fully combined into a gooey creamy paste. If the mixture is too runny you can add a little bit more corn starch. However, be mindful that its flavour can overpower the pumpkin pie taste so you can add a little more spices to contrast it.

Baking the Pie

Once the pastry has cooled down, you can start rolling it out to fit the pie tin. Coat the tin in vegetable butter with a dusting of flour to avoid sticking and breaking the pie when fully cooked. Gently set the rolled-out pastry into the tin. Since I used 100gr of glute-free flout – Buckwheat – it turned out to be fairly crumbly so if the dough doesn't hold its shape as well as you'd like you can roll out smaller pieces and drop them directly into the tin to mould into shape.
Cover the now-fitted pastry with baking paper and use either baking beans if you have them or any other oven-proof weight to avoid the dough rising too much. Bake for 15 minutes.
Once the 15 minutes have passed take the tin out and remove the weight and the baking paper. Bake for another 5 minutes until the pastry feels dry at touch.
Pour the Pumpkin Pie filling we made beforehand in the tin on top of the pastry. Fill to the top, leaving circa 1cm of crust showing to the edge. Bake for another 40 minutes. Depending on your oven it might take slightly longer or slightly shorter so I'd suggest you keep an eye on your pie!
Once the pastry looks nice and crunchy and the filling has slightly solidified. Your creamy and gooey Vegan Pumpkin Pie is ready to be enjoyed!
Store in an air-tight container in the fridge. Consume within 2-3 days.