This Whole30 Pumpkin Pie is just as delicious as any traditional pie you have made. A delicious gluten, grain, and sugar-free crust is filled with a flavourful mixture of roasted pumpkin, coconut milk, dates, and classic pumpkin spice. It will make you forget you are even on Whole30.
Food filled holidays are a challenge on any diet or eating regimen, but when it comes to Whole30, it can seem like an impossible task. Tables are filled with butter-basted turkeys, cream-filled potatoes, and sugar-filled desserts. Let's face it, after gorging away at all these items your often left feeling not the greatest.
This is where being on Whole30 is actually a blessing. For snacking, having a vegetable tray with roasted cauliflower beet hummus for dipping is a great substitute instead of a sour cream based dip, and a light carrot soup makes for a perfect start to a Thanksgiving meal. Luckily, for the main course you can still have your turkey, mashed potatoes, and squash but just using olive oil or ghee instead of butter will make them compliant.
Desserts on Whole30?
It’s when you get to dessert that you are going to have issues with Whole30. For one, technically you are not allowed to have any dessert on Whole30, however, when it comes to holidays we think it’s ok to cheat on this rule. But, that doesn’t mean you should go in and eat sugar filled pies and cakes. We have made the perfect pumpkin pie that is completely Whole30 compliant. That’s right, no sugar, no flour, and no dairy.
Our Whole30 pumpkin pie starts with a crust that, though not flakey like a traditional pie crust, has all the flavour that you expect in a pie. The crust is baked and then filled with a perfectly sweet, creamy, and spiced pumpkin filling that, dare I say, is just as good as any pie filling you can get in the store.
How to Make Our Whole30 Pumpkin Pie
Prepare for Making Pumpkin Pie Filling
Preheat your oven to 375°. Cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and roast, cut side down, for 40 minutes or until the flesh is tender. While the pumpkin is roasting, heat the coconut milk, dates, and spices in a saucepan until the dates have softened and begin to break down. Remove from heat and allow to cool while making the crust.
How to Make a Paleo Crust
In a bowl mix together the almond flour, coconut flour, and salt. Cut the coconut oil in with a fork and mix until it reaches a consistency similar to sand. Finally, add the egg to the bowl and mix it in to form the dough. You can turn this out onto a clean surface, form into a disc and wrap with plastic before placing it in the fridge to cool firm up.
Once you are ready to roll out the dough, place it between to large pieces of parchment paper. Carefully roll it out to about 12-14" in diameter and fix any cracks or holes. The dough is very forgiving and can be manipulated as much as required. Carefully flip the dough into the pie dish then form it with your hands, again fixing any cracks or holes. Poke the dough with a fork and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Make the Pumpkin Pie Filling
Place 2 cups of the roasted pumpkin and the coconut milk mixture into a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth then pour into a bowl. Add the eggs and whisk until combined then pour the filling into the pie crust.
Bake the pie and serve
Place the pie in the oven for 50-60 minutes until the filling has set. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. The pie is great on its own or topped with a touch of coconut cream.
Bon appetit and Happy Thanksgiving xo
Chef Sous Chef
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Helpful Tools and Ingredients to Make a Whole30 Pumpkin Pie
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Thanksgiving Whole30 Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- Crust
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- Filling
- 1 pie pumpkin
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup fresh dates pits removed
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground all spice
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- No. 1 | Preheat oven to 375° F.
- No. 2 | Slice pumpkin in half, clean out seeds and place cut side down on baking sheet. Cook in oven for 40 minutes, remove and allow to cool.
- No. 3 | Meanwhile, in a small saucepan add coconut milk, dates, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and all spice. Bring to a boil on high heat then lower to a simmer. Cook until the dates have softened and begin to break up. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- No. 4 | In a medium bowl, using a fork, mix together almond flour, coconut flour, and coconut oil until combined and reaches a sand-like consistency. Add the egg and mix to form a dough. Form into a 2 inch thick disc, then wrap and place in the fridge to set for 10 minutes.
- No. 5 | Once set, place the dough onto a sheet of parchment large enough to roll the dough on. Top the dough with another sheet of parchment and roll it out to a ¼ inch thickness. Fix and cracks and breaks as you roll it out, if necessary.
- No. 6 | Remove the top piece of parchment and carefully turn the dough into the pie dish. Don’t worry if it breaks as you can repair it as required. Form the dough in the pie dish to your liking ensuring there are no cracks or breaks in it. Poke the dough all over with a fork so it doesn’t puff up while baking. Place the crust in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until golden brown.
- No. 7 | In a food processor, add coconut milk mixture and 2 cups of the cooked pumpkin and blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and add the 2 beaten eggs. Whisk until combined. Pour the mixture into the crust and smooth out with a spatula. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, until the centre is set. Optional: Cover the crusts with tin foil while baking to prevent burning.
- No. 8 | Allow to room temperature before serving.
Jessica says
The crust didn't hold together the best, but the pie filling was nice. Pretty good for Whole30.
Chef Sous Chef says
Thanks for the feedback Jessica.
Chef Big Daddy G says
I didn’t think we could have date syrup on whole30
Chef Sous Chef says
You're correct, but you are also not allowed to have dessert on Whole30. We have updated the recipe without using date syrup and it has resulted in a much better pie regardless. Hopefully you give it a try 🙂
Kumi says
Where can i find fresh dates?. On your pickture looks like dried dates are you sure fresh dates?? Fresh dates supposed to be color light brown color isn’t it??
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi Kumi,
The dates are fresh deglet noor variety so would typically be an amber colour, however, we keep our dates in the fridge and I find they darkened after a couple weeks.
Andrea says
Could we use 2 cups of the canned pumpkin instead of the 2 cups of roasted pumpkin?
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi Andrea,
Canned pumpkin can definitely be used instead of the roasted pumpkin. Let us know how it turns out!
Andrea Plank says
Okay! I finally made this. Crust did fall apart on me but pieces it back together. I wonder if putting less coconut oil would help keep it together? I used canned pumpkin and it was so delicious. Honestly thought I was eating an actual pumpkin pie, loved all the flavors together, and it made for a beautiful smell in my home. Thanks for the recipe.
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi Andrea,
The crust is definitely delicate. I'm not sure if the coconut oil is the result, but it's worth a try. We're so glad that you enjoyed the pie overall! Thanks for the feedback.
Scott Pollock says
You are doing a disservice to the whole30 program by titling any recipe “whole30 dessert” just to get clicks. All you are ultimately doing is encouraging people to fail the program.
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi Scott,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. While we understand that eating desserts goes against the program (we speak to this in the article) we wanted to give an options to those who choose to do Whole30 during the holidays. It is a very difficult time to participate in a lifestyle such as Whole30, and having done it during holidays in the past, we feel that having a dessert option for the holidays is a fair compromise. ✌?
Jess says
I have to agree with Kelsey. As someone who has been staying on "whole 30" for months now due to health reasons having desserts that I can include into this lifestyle is amazing. I understand the program itself is for 30 days but there is a group of people who stay on long-term or adopt it as a lifestyle. It's often really difficult to find recipes that I can make for special occasions and this is wonderful. Hoping to see more recipes like this in the future.
Chef Sous Chef says
Thanks Jess! Couldn't agree with you more which is why we made this recipe. Thank you for the input and taking the time to comment. All the best.
April Luptak says
Agreed. My husband and I are into month 6 of Whole “30” so I actually search for recipes by “Whole 30“ knowing that those recipes will be safe but also get to enjoy a treat every so often. Making this tomorrow for his birthday!
Chef Sous Chef says
Wonderful, hope you guys enjoy it!
Kelsey says
Hi Scott,
I understand your concern. But as someone who has already completed the Whole30 program and is trying to keep up with it as best as I can for a while, I’m okay with having a “dessert” on thanksgiving that doesn’t have added sugar, gluten, or dairy. I very much appreciate this recipe. Perhaps you can help others doing the program stay compliant by becoming a whole30 coach. Best of luck!
Ernie says
Scott, while some people do the Whole30 as a "diet," some of us have to follow the restrictions for health reasons (i.e. autoimmune disorders). We have to eat whole30 our entire lives in order to feel remotely ok. Just because we have to follow the ingredient restrictions doesn't mean we have to deprive ourselves of dessert for the rest of our lives. Besides, I'm an athlete with 6 pack abs, I'm not really worried about the dessert rule to keep me away from cravings- I need those calories. Way to be close minded and judgemental, and post Karen comments to bother people when you could mind your own business instead.
Sarah says
Thank you for this recipie—I am also choosing to have a whole30 compliant Thanksgiving, albeit without the staunch “no dessert”rule the program requires. Your work is appreciated!
m0mmaT28 says
Quick question...ingredients list says 2 eggs for the pie filling but directions says three beaten eggs. Which one is accurate, please?
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi There,
Thanks for noticing this. It will be two eggs for the filling. We have corrected the directions accordingly. Thanks for commenting and please let us know how it turns out!
Stephanie says
This was really good! I did not see the update of the 2 vs. 3 eggs and used 3 just to be sure and did canned pumpkin and thought it was really good even though crust was a little over done (I even covered with foil). Wonderful option for those of us doing a Whole30 for the holidays (not my first round so I felt it was ok to bend the rules).
Stephanie says
Hi, I finally cooked one of our beautiful, home grown pumpkins and tried this pie. The crust was pretty easy and tasty. The pumpkin pie mixture was good but was missing something to my palate. I might add vanilla next time (bean if vanilla extract with alcohol isn’t compliant) and might increase the cinnamon and ginger a little.
I was happy with this first try. Thank you for sharing it!
Jess says
SOOOO tasty! I put the crust in the freezer for an additional 7ish minutes and backed it with some tin foil around the crust so the bottom would bake more - no issues with the crust not falling apart. I also added orange zest to the filling and a tablespoon of the juice and it came through with a great flavor.
Thanks again for this recipe. People who are interested in doing the strictest version of the Whole30 don't have to make this but for those of us that were looking for healthy ways to make our favorite foods for a long term diet changes- we couldn't be more grateful!
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi Jess! Thanks for stopping by. I love the additions you made and imagine it would be super tasty. Appreciate the kind words!
Cacie Crawford says
Hi I was interested in making this but live in alaska and am not able to get fresh dates can you sub dried dates and if so how much
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi Cacie,
Yes, absolutely. You can use dry dates and soak them in a little bit of warm water for 10 minutes before using to soften them up. Try 3/4 cups of dried dates and 1/4 cup warm water.
Katy says
The first time I tried this recipe about two weeks ago, I didn't want to bother with the crust, so I poured the custard into muffin tins and baked for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees. It was very tasty. The second time I made it, today, I had more time and actually followed the recipe, including crust. Except I hate rolling out crust. So I patted the crust mixture into the pan, following the recipe as written the rest of the way. It was even better than the custard by itself! The savory crust is a good accompaniment.
We pretty much live Whole30, mostly making and buying compliant food. Other than when we do an actual, real, true, Whole30.
This is a delicious solution for someone who wants to stay mostly compliant , but is craving pumpkin pie. Thank you!
Chef Sous Chef says
Excellent! We're so glad you enjoyed the recipe Katy. Congrats on your Whole30 journey and we definitely agree that it's nice to have options, especially when you continue on Whole30 beyond the initial introduction. Happy Thanksgiving!
Nancy says
Are the dates supposed to stay in the filling? It doesn’t mention removing the pits.
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for the question. The pits should be removed from the dates as part of the ingredient preparation. I have updated the ingredient list to reflect that. Thanks for stopping by and happy thanksgiving!
Elizabeth says
Should I melt the coconut oil or use it as it is?
Philip + Mystique says
Hi Elizabeth. You can use the coconut oil as is. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Laura says
Holy cow I cant believe how good this turned out! I was soooo sad and craving pie like mad this week. Whole 30 really sucks when it comes to desserts, but this one is perfect! I havent had sugar in weeks and this one hit the sweet spot. The crumbly crust is like Graham cracker and the filling is creamy. Mine came out a little dark from the dates, but overall- 5 stars!
Philip + Mystique says
Wow, Laura, thanks for taking the time to leave a review. We're so happy you enjoyed the pie so much.