Holiday Pumpkin Pie
the Recipe Redux – November, 2016: Trimming the Table

Nothing says holidays more than a pumpkin pie on the dessert table. While it’s a tasty end to a meal, most recipes call for it to be loaded with sugar.

Here we sweetened things up with dates and orange juice instead of brown sugar and sweetened condensed milk. You will love the flavor of the dates with the pumpkin, so you and your holiday guests won’t miss all the missing sugar one bit!

We also took out the dairy and replaced it with coconut milk. If you use a gluten-free crust, then this recipe is free of 7 of the 8 major allergens (hard to omit egg in a custard). This may prove helpful when feeding guests with allergies at your holiday dinner.

Use water to soak the dates for a more traditional pumpkin pie. Use orange juice to add a little extra burst of flavor. Either way is delish!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup Dates, pitted
1/4 cup Orange juice or Water
1/2 cup Coconut milk, lite
1 can Pumpkin, 15 ounces
2 large Eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons Molasses
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons Cinnamon, ground
3/4 teaspoon Ginger spice, ground
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg, ground
1/4 teaspoon Allspice, ground
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 pie crust, gluten-free, par-baked

PREPARATION
To a medium bowl add the dates and orange juice (or water). Let dates soak 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add dates, soaking liquid and coconut milk to a blender and blend on high until date mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds.

To a large bowl add the blended dates with the pumpkin, eggs, molasses, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Stir until fully combined.

Pour pumpkin batter into pie shell. Bake until pie is set and bounces back to touch, about 45-55 minutes. Remove from oven.

Serve warm or allow to completely cool before serving.

Serves 8-10.
Serving size 1 slice