Pumpkin Pie Crisp

nancyaarsvold

I realize that it isn’t even Halloween yet, but the cold weather here in Minnesota has me thinking about Thanksgiving. Since we are eating mostly plant-based this year, we will need to find some alternatives to turkey dinner with buttery mashed potatoes and gravy, sausage stuffing, lefse, and pumpkin pie.

Of course, I decided to start with dessert first! Since all the vegan pie crusts have a lot of vegan butter in them, I chose to skip the crust and make pumpkin pie crisp. I found the vegan pumpkin pie filling in a pumpkin bar recipe from Minimalist Baker, and I used the crumble topping from an apple crisp recipe from Sweet Simple Vegan. See recipe below.

Pumpkin Pie Filling (https://minimalistbaker.com/creamy-pumpkin-pie-bars-v-gf/)

  • 2 3/4 cups pumpkin purée
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar (We used organic sucanat)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch*
  • 1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice or sub mix of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves
    (We used 1-½ tsp cinnamon and ¼ tsp of cloves)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt

Crumble Topping (https://sweetsimplevegan.com/2019/10/vegan-apple-crisp/)

  • 1 c gluten-free rolled oats
  • 1/4 c blanched almond flour
  • 1/3 c finely chopped pecans (We used walnuts. Chopped almonds would be good, too.)
  • 1/4 c coconut sugar (You can also use brown sugar, but we used organic sucanat)
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup (Add a little extra if you want the topping to stick together more)
  • 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a square baking pan by spraying it with a small amount of olive oil cooking spray. (We used a 9 inch tart/quiche dish.)
  2. Add all filling ingredients to the blender or food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more maple syrup or coconut sugar for sweetness, or pumpkin pie spice for flavor. I also added a pinch of ground cinnamon. Set aside.
  3. Put the dish with the pie filling in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
  4. While the pie is baking, make the crumble topping. Add in all of the ingredients and mix until well combined. It will be crumbly with a granola-like consistency. 
  5. After 40 minutes, take the pie out of the oven and evenly distribute the topping over the pumpkin filling in the baking dish.
  6. Put the dish back in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the topping has browned and the pumpkin filling is set.
  7. Remove the pumpkin pie crumble from the oven and cool before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.