All kidding aside, these pies exceeded all of my wildest hopes and expectations. The filling was just like traditional pumpkin pie filling and the crust was on the firmer side, like a tart shell, which was perfect for handling the mini-pies.
Again, like the rest of our Thanksgiving contributions, these are dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, wheat-free, and egg-free and I owe much credit to Vegan Spoonful and The Blender for the recipes.
Pie Crust (courtesy of The Blender)
The gluten in wheat flour does a beautiful job binding dough. However, when working without it, pay particular attention to some steps in order to ensure success. Following is a gluten-free pie crust recipe using readily available ingredients. For instructions and tips on making this gluten-free dough and crust, visit Simply Gluten-Free. Note that some individuals are sensitive to xanthan gum, a binder commonly found in gluten-free flour mixes. In this recipe, flax (or chia) meal is used in place of xanthan gum.
This recipe makes one 9 inch pie crust. If you are making the mini pies, you will require two 9 inch crusts.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Shortening
4 to 8 Tbs. cold water
1 1/4 cups Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour, plus more for rolling
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. sugar
3 Tbs. ground flax seed or ground chia seed
Directions
Cut butter into ½ inch pieces and place it the freezer for 15 – 30 minutes.
Add some ice cubes to the water and let it get ice cold while preparing the dry ingredients. Combine the flour blend, salt and sugar in a bowl. Stir 5 -6 times to combine. Add the shortening and stir until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea size pieces of shortening.
Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture just barely starts to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough together and it holds then you have enough water, if not add more a little at a time. You do not want to add any more water than is absolutely necessary.
Remove the dough from the machine and pour the mixture into a large food storage bag and form it into a disk using the bag to help (the dough doesn’t form like regular dough so using the bag makes it easier to combine). Close up the bag and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. Remove dough from fridge 5 minutes before rolling.
To roll the dough, lay a piece of waxed paper on a work surface and sprinkle with some flour blend. Lay the chilled disk on the floured paper, sprinkle with some more flour and lay on another piece of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a circle approximately 12 inches wide. Remove the top sheet of waxed paper and carefully cut out 4 inch rounds with a glass or cutter and remove the waxed paper. Push the dough very gently down so it lines the bottom and sides of the muffin tins. If the dough splits or breaks apart just push it back together.
Pie Filling (courtesy of Vegan Spoonful)
Ingredients:
2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 15-oz can)
1 cup plain nondairy milk (soy, almond, coconut)*
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 – 3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine pumpkin, non-dairy milk, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and spices in a large bowl, and mix very well with an electric mixer. Pour into unbaked pastry shell, and bake for about 60 minutes. The pie will still be jiggly when you take it out of the oven, but it will firm up as it cools. Cool completely on a cooling rack, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving. Serve chilled.
I used Thai Kitchen’s Full Fat Coconut milk for this recipe, given the no soy restriction, and it worked amazingly well. You couldn’t taste the coconut but it definitely added a richness and creaminess to the filling. Almond and soy milk will also both produce great results. The only milk that doesn’t seem to be recommend is rice milk – the consistency is a bit too thin to produce a nice creamy pie.
Makes 14 mini pies.
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