This is the pumpkin pie I made for Thanksgiving this year. It tasted as good as it looks (unless, of course, you don’t think it looks good, in which case, it tasted better than it looks)!

I’m not actually all that hip on pumpkin pie but it was a special request from my mom so I took the plunge. It also gave me an excuse to buy Vegan Pie in the Sky, which you should run out and do immediately.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Recipe courtesy of Vegan Pie in the Sky

Crust Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold nonhydrogenated shortening
4 tbs or more ice water
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Filling Ingredients

3 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup plain unsweetened soy milk
4 tsp canola oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs cornstarch
1 tsp agar powder*

*For the life of me, I cannot find agar powder around St. Louis. I ground up agar flakes in a coffee grinder to make “powder” and it worked fine.

Crust Directions

• Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the shortening to form a crumbly dough
• Stir together 4 tbs of the ice water and vinegar, then drizzle a third of it over the flour mixture. Gently mix to moisten, drizzle in another third of the liquid and mix to moisten. Repeat with remaining mixture until dough forms a soft ball when pressed together. If it hasn’t come together yet, sprinkle in another tbs of water (or more) until the dough can be gathered into a ball
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour
• When you’re ready, roll out the crust into a circle about 12 in. in diameter and transfer onto a pie plate, gently pressing in, if necessary
• Trim any overhanging dough, leaving about 1 1/2 in
• Crimp the edges as desired

Filling Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• In a blender or food processor, pulse together filling ingredients until very smooth
• Pour filling into the pie shell
• Bake for 60 to 65 min, until center looks semi-firm
• Check edges of crust after about 40 min. If edges are browning too rapidly, carefully remove the pie and apply crust protectors to the edges*
• Remove pie from oven and transfer onto cooling rack for 30 min, then chill for at least 4 hours before slicing
• Serve with non-dairy whipped cream or ice cream

*you can use aluminum foil for this

Yield: One 9 in. pie