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Lean Recipe:
Fit Pumpkin Pie
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Food
prep resources
This pie beats traditional pie in many ways. It's sugar-free,
hydrogenated oil-free, and high in protein. It also has more richness of taste,
due to one of the flours used.
You may
not find these exact sizes for the wet ingredients. Adjust as needed.
Filling Ingredients, Wet
- Two 15oz cans of pumpkin pie filling
(make sure you get pure pumpkin; no corn syrup--read the label)
- One 10oz or 12 oz can of milk (or equiv fresh milk).
- Two eggs (free range)
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Filling Ingredients, Dry
- 1 tsp
stevia
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
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Crust Ingredients
- 1 cup hazelnut or amaranth flour
- 1 cup soy flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup of water
- 1/4 cup safflower oil (optional, but recommended)
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You will
need:
- 9-inch diameter, glass pie dish(es).
- 10-inch mixing bowl.
- 4-inch mixing bowl or cereal bowl.
- Blender.
- Oven (obviously).
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- It is critical you make your own crust. Pre-made
(store-bought) crusts and crust mixes nearly always contain hydrogenated
oil.
- This recipe makes one pie crust. If baking
two pies, make one crust after the other, then double the
ingredients for the filling.
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Instructions First,
make the pie crust. To do that:
- Smear a film of safflower oil on the pie dish(es) to reduce crust
adhesion to the glass.
- Add the dry crust ingredients into a 6-inch bowl. Use a whip
to mix them well.
- Using a heavy mixing spoon, stir ingredients while
slowly adding water.
- Optional and recommended: Add 1/4 of safflower oil.
- Add just enough water to form a thick ball of dough.
You may need to add more than 3/4 cup to achieve this, but don't overdo it
or you'll ruin the dough.
- Purists roll the dough out with a rolling pin
and take additional steps normally used in making a pie crust. If you don't
have a lot of time, these are optional.
- Press the dough into the pie pan, making a shell that
lines the pan. Use the edge of your hand, and you can make a uniform shape
pretty easily.
- If baking two pies, repeat the above steps.
- Let the pies crust(s) sit in the refrigerator while you make the
filling.
Next, preheat the oven to 425 DegrF.
Then, make the filling. To do that:
- Add the dry filling ingredients into the 4-inch bowl. Use
a whip to mix them well. Set aside.
- Crack the eggs into a blender. Do not discard any
yolks; the whole egg is good for you. Add half of the milk. Blend for a couple
of minutes.
- Add the pumpkin pie filling to a bowl.
- Slowly pour the blender contents into the pumpkin pie
filling, mixing with a sturdy spoon as you do.
- Slowly add the dry filling ingredients to this mix,
stirring as you do.
Now, pull out that pumpkin pie shell and carefully pour the filling into
it. Use a rubber spatula to trowel the surface smooth. Once this is done, the pie is ready for the oven:
- Bake at 425 DegrF for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the temperature setting to 350 DegrF, and open the oven
door briefly to reduce the temperature (30 seconds should do it).
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- You should now have a nicely browned crust and a firm filling.
- At this point, you want to test the filling to see if a knife
inserted into it comes out clean. If not, bake for another 5 minutes
and try again. Repeat this process only one more time, if pie isn't
done.
- When pie is done or you've reached 50 minutes, pull the pie out
of the oven.
- Cool the pie on a wire rack for 2 hours (the other oven rack
will do nicely).
Notes:
- Remember, this is a healthy pie. It contains no processed sugar,
corn syrup, wheat flour, or hydrogenated oil. Don't spoil it by putting whipping
cream on top of it. The pie is good just the way it is. The taste of
good food doesn't need to be disguised with sugar or hydrogenated
oil. That defeats the purpose of making it this way in the first
place.
- Instead of safflower oil, you can use some other non-toxic oil such as
walnut or almond. As we are in the "health" mode here, canola oil is not
acceptable. Peanut oil is a healthy choice, but you don't want peanut flavor
in your pumpkin pie crust.
- If you really want whip cream, then make your own from scratch. Most
ready-made whipping cream contains ingredients that are not fit for human
consumption.
- The traditional pumpkin pie recipe calls for Crisco shortening, which is
hydrogenated cottonseed oil (originally used to make candles.
It's a known carcinogen with an extremely high
correlation to colon cancer. Butter is a far safer alternative (though you
should use it sparingly because it's calorie-dense), and safflower oil is better
still (better lipid profile). You aren't going to get the same flaky crust as
with Crisco, but you aren't going to get the same flaky colon cancer,
either.
- You don't have to use any fats or oils to
get a decent crust, but the crust stays intact better if you do use an oil.
- This pie recipe will produce a great pie. You will enjoy the taste, and your body will
enjoy being treated with respect.
If your interest in these healthy, tasty recipes has
anything to do with fitness, take advantage of the free articles and discount
athletic nutritional supplements you can access from the menu at left. Main recipe page
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