Making a pie from scratch has to be one of the most feared tasks of all time. I would say it ranks right up there with bread baking, public speaking, and drinking something green. I always had this expectation that everything had to go perfectly for the pie to turn out. If my dough ripped while putting it in the dish I would just about have a heart attack.
These days I’m more relaxed when tackling a pie crust. That comes from practice (and a bit of bourbon-spiked apple cider doesn’t hurt the process either!). I’ve learned that each pie crust tends to turn out a bit differently. Some of them I like to burn to hell, while others I’m more mindful of the timer function. Anyway, when a pie crust doesn’t turn out as expected, you call it a “rustic” pie and everyone thinks you are a culinary genius. bahaha… fools!
burn the crust? It’s rustic.
the crust crumbles to pieces? rustic
Pie explodes when you cut it? yup, rustic
you find your dog licking the pie before dinner? it’s rustic with a hint of dog breath
No biggie.
If you want a sure way to loathe making pie, then my advice is to expect every outcome to be perfect. If you want to have fun with the process and get a bit better with practice, then stick around for pie crust class!
Check out my pages of scribbled notes and recipes galore over the past couple months. Why must I insist on writing my recipes in chicken scratch and losing them all over the house? I am truly my own worst enemy.
When it was all over, I think I said the words “never again” and “if I see another pumpkin pie I may hurl”.
With that being said, I think you will love these recipes!
I tested 3 kinds of crusts:
Classic flaky pie crust:
My rustic spelt pie crust from 2009:
A gluten-free pie crust made from pecans, GF oats, etc.:
I also tested 3 kinds of pumpkin pie fillings:
- Classic pumpkin pie filling using arrowroot or cornstarch powder
- Cashew cream pumpkin pie filling for extra creaminess
- Coconut flour pumpkin pie filling to thicken filling
The results:
Favourite pie crust winner –> Sweet & Salty Spiced Pecan Crust (gluten-free, all-natural, amazing flavour, paired perfectly with the filling!!)
Runner up: Rustic Spelt Crust (super easy to prep, no chilling dough, healthier flour)
Least favourite pie crust: Classic flaky (the most curb crust appeal, but lacking flavour, greasy, and very labour intensive/fussy)
Favouite pie filling winner: Classic (the most classic tasting pie filling whisked together in just 5 mins)
Least favourite pie fillings: 1) Coconut flour (it dried out the filling a bit too much although it set much quicker) & 2) cashew cream (I could detect the cashew taste slightly, fussy prep with cashews, and it took longer to set)
First up, I’ll talk about the classic pie crust:
Classic Pie Crust Ingredients (least favourite crust):
While this has the most traditional flaky crust and appearance, it was not my favourite tasting and greasy on the bottom! Make at own risk!
- 3/4 cup Earth Balance (I used 1 shortening stick and 1/4 cup soy-free Earth Balance), frozen
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 7-8 tbsp ice water
I followed the directions to a tee for making a classic pie crust here. I tested this crust using a few different combinations of Earth Balance and was just never impressed with the outcome. The top crust baked well, but the bottom was always quite greasy and bland.
It did make a gorgeous lattice crust though! I also paired it with a pecan praline on top of the filling.
Pretty, but lacking in the taste department.
Next up, the hearty spelt crust and classic filling!
Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Rustic Spelt Crust
Yield
8-10
Prep time
Cook time
Chill time
1 hour
Total time
While this spelt crust is anything but classic and flaky it’s one of my favourites simply because it’s easy, there’s no chilling required, and it’s healthier than than most. The crust is quite dense and firm with a hearty, lightly sweet flavour. The filling is quite traditional, however not too sweet, but just right. Serve with non-dairy ice cream or whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup whole grain spelt flour
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup dry sugar (Natural cane sugar, brown sugar, or Sucanat)
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted OR Earth Balance, melted
For the pumpkin filling:
- 2 1/4 cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup natural cane sugar or brown sugar
- 1/4 cup full-fat coconut cream (or almond milk), softened
- 1 tbsp Earth Balance, softened
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of ground cloves
Directions
- Crust (1): Preheat oven to 425°F and grab 9-inch pie dish. In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix dry crust ingredients. Pour in milk and melted coconut oil. With an electric mixer, mix just until the dough forms into a few lumps. Do not overmix. The dough should be moist, but not too sticky. If it’s too sticky work in a tiny bit of flour when rolling.
- Crust (2): On a non-stick mat or lightly floured surface, roll out dough until it’s a couple inches wider than the pie dish. Place pie dish on top of dough and trim the edges leaving 1-inch around the edge. Gently roll the dough onto the rolling pin and then unroll over top of dish or just flip the baking mat over with the dish on top. Tuck the edges of the dough under and then crimp/flute the edge using your fingers (see photos below). Poke 12 fork holes into base and pre-bake the crust for 7 minutes at 425°F, no pie weights required. Roll out remaining dough and cut shapes with cookie cutters. Cover dough shapes with plastic wrap.
- Filling: In a small bowl or mug, whisk together the maple syrup and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch). In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients, adjusting spices to taste.
- To bake: Scoop the filling into crust and smooth. Add cut-outs on top. Bake for 45 mins at 350F. Remove and cover crust edges with tinfoil or crust shield. Bake for another 15 mins. Place on cooling rack for 1 hour. Transfer to fridge to set for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight. (this is very important!)
Tip:
Tips and tricks: 1) The dough should NOT be chilled, but rolled immediately. 2) Using full-fat coconut cream (from the top of the can) yields in a richer and creamier filling (I couldn’t detect the coconut taste much), but feel free to use almond milk. 3) The pie must set in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours before serving. The longer it chills for, the more it firms up.
The beauty of this spelt crust is that you don’t chill the dough! It’s hands down the quickest pie crust I have made.
(note: these pictures are from my classic crust dough and not the spelt):
Tuck under the overhanging dough:
Now crimp/flute your pie edge using your fingers. Work your way all around the edge.
Prick crust with a fork and pre-bake for 7 minutes at 425F. Cool for 10 mins. Add filling and smooth.
Add your cut-out shapes on top (I cut 4 big leaves, 12 small leaves, and 5 balls)
[These photos are of the actual spelt crust now!]
Before baking the spelt crust:
Bake at 350F for 45 minutes, remove and cover crust with a shield or tin foil, and bake for another 15 minutes at 350F. Cool on rack for 1 hour and transfer to fridge for a minimum of 3 hours to set. <—very important step!
Does anyone know the best method for covering the edges of a pie crust? I find tin foil so annoying to use…it always falls off! Any good crust shields out there?
While I enjoyed the spelt crust, my favourite crust award goes to the gluten-free Sweet & Salty Pecan crust! It wins in the flavour department by a landside and it’s worth every single calorie.
Sweet & Salty Spiced Pecan Crust (Gluten-free)
Absolutely worth every calorie and then some! It’s a bit sweet, buttery, lightly spiced with cinnamon, and enhanced with a bit of salt to bring out the flavours. This crust goes so nicely with the pumpkin pie filling! This crust is very sensitive to changes, so I caution against changing things in the recipe.
Inspired by Manifest Vegan.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup GF certified rolled oats, processed into a fine flour OR 1 cup GF oat flour
- 2 cups raw pecans
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp ground flax
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup brown rice syrup (acts as the binder, honey may work if you prefer that)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil or Earth Balance
The pecans need to be ground very finely until they release their oils and start sticking to the side of the machine (this took me 35 secs exactly in my processor, fyi). You should be able to form a ball with the pecans. If you don’t process the pecans enough the crust will be too dry. With that being said, you don’t want to make pecan butter either!
After mixing all the ingredients, the dough should be a bit sticky like this:
You should be able to form a big ball with it. If it’s too dry, add a touch more melted Earth Balance, a teaspoon at a time.
Crumble it into a greased pie dish:
Press down and outward to form the crust (press firmly!) and pre-bake for 10-12 mins at 350F. Cool for 10 mins before scooping in filling and baking. Make sure you let the pie chill for at least a few hours in the fridge before carefully slicing with a sharp knife.
Ding, ding, ding we have a winner!
This pie crust also makes the house smell divine. Mmm.
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If you made it this far, bless your soul. That was one long post!
Here’s to a stress-free pie season!
I made your gluten-free pecan crust over the weekend because I needed a gluten-free recipe. It was so easy and delicious! I left out the cinnamon because I made a berry-rhubarb filling. I’m so glad to have found a gluten-free pie crust recipe that doesn’t have a million weird ingredients!
I just did this beauty, using your almond crust recipe but with pumpkin (butternut squash actually) filling. I never had pumpkin pie in my life ( I’m french), I’m excited! My mom seems to be excited too ! :)
This pie is the best I have ever eaten of my life ! Wow I don’t know how I am not going to do it every week. Wait, no problem, I will.
I made this today using fresh butternut pumpkin. It was amazing. My husband would have eaten the whole thing with my 1yr old for company!
I also figured out the soggy base thing…!! (For the classical middle part only)
Pre cook the base.
Then instead of placing the uncooked pumpkin stuff in and baking; place into a saucepan and cook, whisking all the while…when done pour into pre cooked base and let set. Works like a dream! (-;
The pecan pumpkin pie crust was amazing and even wowed the hard to please non-vegan inlaws!
Hey!
how far in advance can you make this recipe?
We’re having dinner on Sunday and I wanted to get a headstart today.
Thanks :)
Hi Angela,
The links do not take me to the full recipes. They go to a blank page with “recipage” at the top. I would really like the full recipe for the pecan crust and classic filling!
Ashley
Can I use brown sugar for the pecan pie crust?
Hi Tina, Yes you can replace the sugar for brown sugar if you prefer. :) I wouldn’t replace the brown rice syrup though as it acts as a binder. Hope this helps!
I dont have earth balance, would coconut oil work?
i cant wait to make this:)
Mmmm, my mouth is watering! I’m having the same problem as Ashley, though — the “Recipage” is blank, so no filling recipe. *sob*
Hi Fawn, It should be working now, sorry about that! Recipage had some issues last week.
This post is so confusing!
Hey Angela,
I LOVE this recipe but when I click on the links to get a printable version the recipe doesn’t come up! Can you fix this?
Hi Joy, It should be fixed now :) Recipage had some issues last week.
It’s fixed! Thanks so much!
Wow, I made the Sweet & Salty Spiced Pecan Crust for an Apple pie. I needed a top, so I made another 1/2 batch and kept the oatmeal whole and cut in a little butter to make a crumb topping…..Absolutely delish!! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
I am going to try the pecan crust with apples too.
Ha – your chickenscratch wrinkley pages look just like mine. :) Nice work on this blog, I’m going to try the pecan crust…with walnuts as that’s what I have on hand.
Happy Halloween!
I was very eager to try your Gluten Free Pecan Crust and saved up to buy all the ingredients. Followed all your instructions to the t and while the crust turned out great, the filling did not set right. :( I am quite disappointed as it was a lot of work. I think that cooking the filling on the stove top may help set the pie? I put it in the fridge overnight – is there anything I can do so it sets?
Hey Sofia, I’m sorry about the middle not setting – I’ve made this many times and never had it not set on me! Did you change anything to the ingredients or use something inadvertently? is your oven temp correct? There are many factors that go into it, so it’s very hard for me to know why this happened to you.
I made this again for thanksgiving this year and it helped to cook the filling on the stovetop for a few minutes for it to to set. Served with coconut cream and it was delicious!
Hi! I made the classic filling with the pecan crust. It is absolutely delicious. I have been vegan for just over a year, and last year’s attempt at vegan pumpkin pie was lackluster. This is my new replacement for the non-vegan version. Thanks so much for sharing such wonderful recipes! I know I can trust that all of them will be delicious.
I made the your classic pumpkin pie filling in a store bought GF crust today as a test run for thanksgiving. The filling was delish!! But the crust, surprise surprise, was a fail. I want to try again with your GF Pecan Crust but I have a family member who is allergic to flax- what can I use instead?
Hey Jules! You might be able to try ground chia seed? I havent tried it, but thats what I would use if I was going to. It absorbs more water than flax though, so maybe only use 2 tbsp ground chia (just guessing) Let me know how it turns out if you make it!
Hi! I just made your vegan gf pumpkin pie and its really good! I was worried about the crust at first…it looked like a lot for my pan but it was great. I love that its not too sweet but just enough. I was wondering if you can use pumpkin pie spice instead of the spices you listed?
Yes you probably can…just add it slowly to taste :)
I am very interested in trying out the classic pumpkin pie filling for this thanksgiving but was wondering, does the coconut cream have a strong presence in the flavor of the pie? I know it is needed as a binding agent, but I’m not a huge fan of coconut and am wary of it being very prominent in flavor. P.s this is my favorite food blog of all time! I refer to it above anything else :)
Hi Katrina, Yes you can taste the coconut in the filling, but I wouldn’t say it’s overly prominent. Hope this helps!
I see an asterisk after “coconut cream or almond milk” in the vegan filling recipe, but I don’t see an explanation. I assume some modification needs to be made if using almond milk?
Hi Kristie, There doesn’t need to be any modification at all…I’ll clarify this in the recipe. thanks!
Thank you! I didn’t want to ruin my first attempt ;-)