To make a beautiful gluten free Pumpkin Pie you need to know the tricks for flaky, tender pie pastry. Rolling the dough using plastic wrap is the secret to minimize the need for excess sprinkling flour.
Best Tips For Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie
America's Test Kitchen gluten free cookbook series is an excellent resource I highly recommend.
I learned these tips from their books and baking a lot of pastry.
- Xanthan gum adds structure to the pastry and sour cream makes the dough easy to work with.
- Rice vinegar makes the pastry flaky and tender.
- Rolling the dough between plastic wrap minimizes the need for additional sprinkling flour which can cause toughness.
- Adding warm filling to a partially baked crust helps cook the pastry and filling evenly.
For the full recipe and instructions check out Flaky Gluten Free Pie Pastry.
People who have trouble with overly brown edges on their pumpkin pie can make a piecrust shield with tin foil. Serious pie makers have silicone pie crust shields. Who knew!
Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner
In Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving in early October while our friends to the south celebrate it at the end of November. Since family traditions can be stressful for gluten free eaters this presents a new opportunity for all of us.
American’s can host a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner in October long before the actual celebration for them. Canadians can plan the gluten free holiday dinner of their dreams for American Thanksgiving.
Invite friends instead of family and make it 100% gluten free. It's your party so do what you want. If you like to challenge traditions try my Southwestern Turkey Feast with this pumpkin pie to end the meal.
PIN for later...
Pumpkin Puree vs Pumpkin Pie Filling
You can buy fresh pumpkin, and there are varieties of pumpkin, but let’s assume you are a normal busy person and you're looking for canned pumpkin.
The shelves are piled high with canned pumpkin but when you look at the label you learn a little more. Some cans are pure pumpkin and others are pumpkin pie filling. I like to eat real food as much as possible so I buy pumpkin. The ingredient list should say pumpkin. That’s it.
Store bought canned pumpkin pie filling will have an ingredient list. It may include spices, additives and preservatives including wheat. I just avoid it.
The Best Gluten Free Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner
Whether you look forward to your family’s traditional Turkey Feast or dread these events, offering to bring the pumpkin pie is a great way to ensure you will be able to eat it. If it is your first pie I recommend a practice session well in advance of the dinner. Making the same recipe twice within a few weeks is the best way to learn. Most importantly, it takes the pressure off when you know the recipe works.
Eat your practice pie, share it with friends, freeze some and decide what you think of thawed pumpkin pie. The more practice you get the more confident you will be, and then you can get a little adventurous with the pastry and maybe make another kind of pie.
Let me know in the comments below how your pie turned out.
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Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 1 uncooked gluten free pie crust (See notes for recipe link)
- 1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz/425 g)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup light cream 10%
- ⅓ cup whipping cream 35%
- 4 eggs
Instructions
Partially Precook Pie Crust
- Cover uncooked single pie crust loosely with plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in lower third of the oven.
- Remove plastic wrap and bake piecrust until light brown, about 20 minutes.
- While crust is baking make or reheat the pumpkin filling.
- Remove partially baked crust from oven to wire rack and increase heat to 425°F.
- Pour warm pumpkin filling into the WARM piecrust.
- Bake until the filling is puffed and lightly cracked around the edges but center wiggles slightly, 20-25 minutes.
- Let pie cool on wire rack until set. Serve with whipping cream or ice cream.
PUMPKIN PIE FILLING
- Mix pumpkin puree, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in food processor or stand mixed until combined, about 1 minute.
- Transfer pumpkin to medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook pumpkin, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk in cream, return to simmer briefly. Remove from heat.
- Put eggs in food processor and pulse for 5 seconds.
- With machine running slowly add hot pumpkin mixture through feed tube. Once all pumpkin is added, process an additional 30 seconds until evenly combined.
- Return pie filling to saucepan to reheat while pastry is cooking.
FILL PIE CRUST
- Remove partially baked crust from oven to wire rack and increase heat to 425°F.
- KEY STEP - Pour warm pumpkin filling into the hot piecrust right away.
- Bake until the filling is puffed and lightly cracked around the edges but the center wiggles slightly, 20-25 minutes.
- Let pie cool on wire rack until set and cooled completely.
- Serve with whipping cream or ice cream.
Karen Saville
Hi Cinde,
I don't use my previous GF go to flour mix any more, I prefer your mix. THANK YOU!
I'm planning to bake a GF pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. It will be the first time I attempt GF pie crust. My question is: would using a pastry cloth and rolling pin cover NOT be a good idea? I use it all the time with wheat pastry and I like the way I don't have to use much flour when rolling out the dough. I've never had much luck using plastic wrap...
Cinde Little
Hi Karen. We always want to minimize the use of sprinkling flour in gluten free baking so yes, the pastry cloth would be perfect! I'm glad to hear your making the pie, I know it'll be delicious. I'm also glad to hear you like what I now call my EGFG flour blend, it has served me well for many years now. Happy Thanksgiving!