After my last post, I knew I was destined to make a dessert using my gluten-free graham crackers. It’s just the right thing to do. Plus, a girl can only eat so many graham crackers for breakfast! You can imagine how nervous I felt testing this recipe – not knowing if it would turn out – as I was risking the demise of my sweet, dear, homemade graham cracker crumbs. Thankfully, there were no graham crumbs harmed in the making of this dessert.
Word on the street has it that the U.S. Thanksgiving is coming up later this month! American friends, are you pumped? I love being a Canadian food blogger because I get to celebrate twice. Or should I say, 30 days before every holiday. I’m trying to come up with a couple more recipes to add to my vegan Thanksgiving recipe collection and this was a solid start! [Well, that’s after I decided to re-test and tweak the recipe first thing this morning and then re-shoot and edit every single photo. I like to torture myself sometimes.]
These pumpkin pie squares are the perfect solution when you don’t want to make an actual pie, but still want something similar that you can serve on the dessert table with a dollop of whipped coconut cream. Actually, this is one of the best pumpkin “pies” I have ever made, no matter how you slice it.
The homemade gluten-free graham crust, oh that crust, is so flavourful and held together so well. It’s one of my favs. All you have to do is mix three ingredients and press it firmly into the pan. No stressing about pressing the crumbs up the side of a pie dish (am I the only one who stresses about that?) or rolling out a crust. The filling is a vegan spin on traditional pumpkin pie filling, similar to the filling in my previous pumpkin pie recipe. It’s soft and dreamy, like a beautiful pumpkin cloud.
Instant homemade gluten-free graham crumbs, at your service!
I said a prayer to the baking gods, and whirled away…
I dolloped coconut whipped cream on top and added a dusting of cinnamon and chopped pecans because I’m a fancy pants.
I’m trying to save the leftovers for a get together this weekend, but it’s not looking good.
Must. distract. mouth…
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Vegan Pumpkin Pie Squares with Gluten-Free Graham Cracker Crust
Yield
9 large squares
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Easy to throw together, these pumpkin pie squares are a nice option when you don't want to make a traditional pumpkin pie. The homemade graham cracker crust is so flavourful and holds together well. The filling is a vegan spin on traditional pumpkin pie filling, enriched with decadent coconut cream. Be sure to make this recipe the day before so it can set overnight in the fridge.
Ingredients
for the crust:
- 2 cups gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (see note)
- 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- 2 tablespoons coconut nectar syrup (or brown rice syrup)
for the pumpkin filling:
- 1 (14-ounce/400 mL) can pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup natural cane sugar
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup full-fat canned coconut milk (use only the white cream portion, see note)
- 1.5 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 2 tablespoons almond milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch of ground cloves
- pinch fine grain sea salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease an 8-inch square pan. Now, line the pan with two pieces of parchment paper, one going each way. I like to spray the first piece of parchment paper with non-stick oil so the second piece sticks nicely and doesn't fall over.
- Prepare the crust: In a medium bowl, combine the graham crumbs, melted coconut oil, and sweetener until the crumbs are thoroughly coated in the mixture. Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out evenly. Starting from the middle, press the crumbs into the pan firmly and evenly. You really want to press hard so the crust sticks together nicely. I use a pastry roller to roll the crust and compact it even more. Using your fingers, press in the edges until even.
- Pre-bake the crust, uncovered, for 10 minutes at 350°F.
- Prepare the filling: In a small bowl, whisk together the arrowroot powder and maple syrup until no clumps remain. Add this and all of the other filling ingredients into a food processor and process until completely smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. When the crust has come out of the oven, immediately pour this filling on top of the baked crust and smooth out as evenly as possible with a spatula.
- Bake, uncovered, for around 41-43 minutes at 350°F until the filling has darkened slightly and it's semi-firm to the touch (although the filling will still be very soft and sticky!). Place on a cooling rack for about 60 minutes and then into the fridge to set overnight, or for at least 8 hours. Freezer lover's note: The freezer will expedite this process. Just sayin'.
- Slice into squares and serve with a dollop of coconut whipped cream on top and a dusting of cinnamon and chopped pecans.
- Store leftovers in the fridge or freeze for later.
Tip:
- I used my homemade gluten-free graham crackers and processed them into crumbs for this recipe. If you are looking for a non-gluten-free graham cracker (without nuts), you can also swap them for this graham cracker recipe or use store-bought graham cracker crumbs.
- For the full-fat canned coconut cream: Chill the can overnight or for at least several hours before use. This is the white cream in the full-fat cans of coconut milk (such as Native Forest or Thai Kitchen brands). Do not use the water portion. Use the leftover cream for the whipped cream topping. For a how-to on Coconut Whipped Cream, see this post.
Hi Angela! Quick question.. I really want to make a pumpkin pie and use your filling. Do you think this would work, if I put it in another crust recipe? I wanted to make a full pie. Thanks so much. I absolutely love your recipes!
Xx, Miranda
Hi Miranda, I do think it would work, although I would probably bump up the arrowroot powder to 2.5 Tablespoons so it holds together better.
I made these last night for a Thanksgiving celebration. Such a hit! It’s hard to believe these are gf/df. The texture and flavors are so lush and the baking process was actually pretty painless (I’m not the most reliable person in the kitchen). Thanks for sharing!
The graham crackers are great! I would like to use this crust recipe for a pie. Just wondering if you or anyone else has tried using the uncooked graham cracker dough as a pie crust on its own without making it into crumbs first. Meaning, press the uncooked graham cracker dough into a pie pan and fill with a pumpkin pie filling. I cannot think of a reason for it not to work. Thanks!
Wow, these bars are fabulous! My 15 year old daughter whipped up a batch for my family today – everyone loved them. Will definitely make them again!
I just made them last week and my husband was very skeptic when he saw them sitting on the counter that night.. vegan pumpkin pie squares.. can’t be as good as a real pumpkin pie. And when he tried one in the morning after I took them out of the fridge he was very impressed and asked me to bring them to our family thanksgiving get-together. :)
I had no doubt from the beginning that they would taste fabulous!
Cannot wait to buy your cookbook! Angela you rock!
LOOOOOOVE! So excited to make these! QUESTION: is it possible to sub coconut nectar for the cane sugar in the filling? I try my best not to use sugar…but will if you don’t think the sub will work. THANK YOU! xoxo
I’ve never made anything vegan or gluten free. My sister has a medical condition that requires her to eat vegan, gluten free and wheat free. Unless she makes her own dessert for thanksgiving, she won’t get dessert (one of the best parts of thanksgiving!). These graham cracker pumpkin pie squares look delicious. Could anyone tell me if they are wheat free, or if there is a way to make them wheat free? I know this is probably a naive question, but any help would be very appreciated! Happy holidays!
Hi Ben, Yes they are wheat-free too :) Anything that is gluten-free should be wheat-free as well. Note that they are not grain-free though.
Hi! I was just wondering if I took the filling part and made mini pies how you think that would work… I have a crust recipe already. Thanks!
I made these and they were awesome! The only thing is that my crust was too thick – is it 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, OR 2 cups of graham crackers (broken up a little to fit into a cup to measure) and then processed into crumbs? Thanks in advance for clarifying help!
Hi Angela! These look amazing, but i have a few questions . 1 do these taste coconutty at all ( i’m bringing these to my very meat eater in laws thanksgiving dinner and some people don’t love coconut there. If so can i use almond milk and cornstarch or arrowroot?, im willing to try anything so i can use a graham cracker crust and not the traditional crust. Any suggestions? :-)
Hi! We are planning on making these for Thanksgiving because they look so good! Regarding the coconut oil, do I measure 1/4 cup then melt it, or melt some coconut oil and then use 1/4 cup of melted oil? Thanks!
Measure 1/4 cup and melt it after measuring. Hope this helps!
Hi Angela!
I would like to make these delicious bars into individual mini-pies. What time & temp would you recommend these being baked at? Thank you!
Cassie
These were a big hit with my husband and I. I’m making them again now for Thanksgiving. I didn’t do the graham cracker crust but instead did a spin off on Pure Food and wine’s raw nut crust with 1 cups of pecans, 1 cup of almond flour, 3-4 heaping TB of dates, pinch of salt, some agave or maple syrup and 1/4 cup coconut butter. I didn’t precook the crust but just poured the filling over it and it was fantastic!
Hi! This looks AMAZING and I’m making these for Thanksgiving tomorrow! I’m wondering if its possible to substitute the maple syrup for agave
Once again, another INCREDIBLE recipe for Angela! (: The pumpkin filling is perfection. I unfortunately wanted to use a simpler “crust.” If I had followed the recipe completely they would’ve been perfect! I had difficulties with the coconut whip cream, but I let it set up overnight to harden. Thank you very much!
I made these fir thanksgiving and everyone loved them!!! I personally loved the thick graham crust!!!
Delicious! We really enjoyed these! Love your blog
I made your recipe into a pie this Thanksgiving for my dairy/gluten/egg/soy free kid. I had a few store bought g/f graham crackers so I bulked up the crust with a handful of pecans. It came out amazing! Thank you so much!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal all thanks to you! We made the lentil walnut balls with the cranberry and for dessert the pumpkin squares. It was all amazing! We can’t wait to buy your cookbook!
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit. The carnivores were worried that the only pumpkin pie was from the vegan girl. I used GF graham cracker crumbs from the store, but I was making a double batch, so I added pecans to the crust to stretch it a bit. I was more generous with the spices also. It was great, everyone loved it. I made the coconut whipped cream for it as well. I had some problems with this one though. The recipe is great, it was the cans of milk I had the problem with. After hunting them down at two different stores, I ended up with two different brands. I put them in the fridge the day before, and when I opened them only one did the separation thing. The other one was just thick milk, with no hardened cream. The one that did work beautifully was the Thai Kitchen brand. Thanks for this recipe, I will use it again!!