Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Oil Pie Crust

I was feeling adventurous over Christmas and tried out a couple new ideas – a vegan pumpkin pie and a no roll pie crust containing oil rather than shortening. My brother didn’t guess tofu in the pie though he did ask what I had done different with the pie. I liked the taste and it is a very thick pie. No way is it the same as traditional pie but if you don’t tell anyone what you did, they will eat it! The crust I wasn’t so sure about till after the pies were baked. It turned out quite nice and is beyond freaking easy!

Oil Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (5 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup cold water

Directions:

Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl. Beat the oil and water with a fork, then pour over the dry ingredients. Stir with the fork until a dough develops. The dough will be wet in appearance, do not worry.
Dump the dough into a 9″ pie pan and pat across the pan and up the sides, up onto the rim. Use a measuring cup or small glass to flatten out the bottom and rim, if needed. Fill and bake.

Makes 1 pie crust layer.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• 15 ounce canned pumpkin purée or 1 3/4 cups pumpkin purée
• 12 ounce package firm silken tofu (lite is OK)
• 3/4 cup sugar (vegan friendly or regular granulated)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

Preheat the  oven to 375°.

Add all the ingredient into a food processor and blend until smooth, scraping the side as needed.  Pour into the prepared pie crust and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 1 hour, check with a toothpick in the center for it coming out almost clean. Keep baking if needed and checking every 10 minutes. My pie took 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Let cool on a rack, cover tightly and store in the refrigerator.

Makes one 9″ pie.

~Sarah