Sugar and Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

 The weather is finally cooling down a bit and it’s starting to feel like fall. I love seeing the all the colored leaves falling from the trees. In keeping with the season, pumpkin cheesecake was one of the flavors on the weekly menu for Enjoy Cupcakes this past week. Not being able to eat sugar or gluten was torturous on me. On Sunday morning while at work, I was thinking to myself how I could make a gluten and sugar free pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving is approaching and I need an alternative. I’ve been making quiches lately so I thought I could use a similar recipe for the crust. In my first attempt I used equal parts almond and coconut flour with equal parts water, grapeseed oil, and almond milk. This crust came out too thick and dry. The recipe for the filling was found on Kath Eats Real Food. The end result had too much spice added to it giving the mixture a grainy texture. Overall it was decent but I knew I could make it even better with some revisions. Today I made my second attempt. The recipe is below. After my first bite I knew my alterations had paid off. I will be making this for Thanksgiving. A larger batch of course. This mini pumpkin pie can be eaten in one sitting by one person. Yes, that would be me.

Sugar and Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

For the crust

1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon almond flour

1 Tablespoon coconut flour

1 Tablespoon ground flax

1 + 1/2 Tablespoons Earth Balance (I use the soy free)

1 teaspoon xylitol

1/2 teaspoon water

pinch of salt

Sift together all dry ingredients. Beat butter until well combined and then add the water. Form dough in a ramekin and bake for about 13 minutes at 350°. 

Remove from oven and let cool completely.

For the filling

1/2 cup organic canned pumpkin (fresh could be used in place)

1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

37 drops liquid stevia (I use the Kal brand.)

3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of vanilla extract

Mix well to combine

Once your pie crust is completely cooled, fill with pumpkin pie filling.

Garnish with slivered almonds if desired... Chopped pecans would probably be good too.

Place in freezer for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Remove and enjoy the pumpkin pie goodness without sugar or gluten.

Faux Brown Sugar

I love, love, love sweets and not being able to eat them while avoiding sugar is VERY hard for me. I was craving something sweet today and tried to think of what I could have that fit into the anti candida diet guidelines. The other day I came across a recipe for a brown sugar substitute. Since it's pretty much pointless for me to browse dessert recipes, which is what I spend a lot of my internet time doing, I have been on a mission to look for sweets suitable for candida dieters. The recipe consists of yacon syrup and xylitol. I cut the recipe in half and added a few drops of stevia and some madagascar vanilla powder. You mix all of the ingredients until it looks like brown sugar.

hubpages.com/hub/Yacon-Syrup-Sweetener. 

I recently found yacon syrup at Whole Foods. I've also purchased it from therawfoodworld.com. This is an awesome raw food website. The husband and wife owners are very nice people. They offer a wide variety of raw vegan snacks, bulk products, books, and more.

For my sweet treat I spread almond butter and coconut oil on a rice cake and topped with my faux brown sugar and cacao nibs. It was delicious.