Classic Baked Pumpkin Pie (Grain-Free)
The pumpkin pie most of us grew up with, made grain-free: a simple almond or hazelnut crust filled with a silky spiced pumpkin custard and baked until just set, served with maple whipped cream.
Yield: one 9-inch pie (serves 8) · Active: 25 min · Total: 1 hr 30 min, plus chilling overnight for the cleanest slices · Season: sugar pumpkins are harvested September–November across the Northeast, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, and keep for months in a cool spot; canned pumpkin works year-round · Cuisine: American, grain-free · Best eaten: afternoon or after an early dinner, ideally the day after baking.
Want something different? My Half-Baked Deep-Dish Pumpkin Pie with Vanilla Mascarpone Cream only bakes the crust and sets a silky stovetop custard in the fridge. For no-bake, try my Raw Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake or Raw Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bars with Salted Caramel.
A note on the pumpkin: homemade purée from a small sugar or pie pumpkin (not a jack-o’-lantern carving pumpkin) is darker, denser and more flavorful than canned. To make it, halve and seed a 3–4 lb sugar pumpkin, roast cut-side down at 400°F for 45–60 minutes until very tender, then scoop out the flesh and blend. If it’s watery, let it drain in a fine sieve for 30 minutes. Single-ingredient canned pumpkin works well too; just make sure the label says “pumpkin,” not “pumpkin pie filling.”
Ingredients
Crust
2 cups blanched almond flour or hazelnut flour (a 50/50 mix is lovely)
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
2 tbsp grass-fed butter or coconut oil, melted
1 large pasture-raised egg
2 tbsp coconut sugar (optional, for a slightly sweeter crust)
Filling
1¾ cups pumpkin purée (homemade or single-ingredient canned)
3 large pasture-raised eggs
½ cup grass-fed cream (raw if you have it) or full-fat coconut milk
⅓ cup pure maple syrup
1 tbsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch Baja Gold sea salt
Maple whipped cream
1 cup cold grass-fed heavy cream (raw if you have it)
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch ground cinnamon, for dusting
Optional maple-spiced pecans
½ cup pecan halves
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
¼ tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
Pinch Baja Gold sea salt
Swaps
Butternut squash purée works in place of pumpkin and is a little sweeter.
Dairy-free: use coconut oil in the crust, coconut milk in the filling, and whipped coconut cream on top.
Method
Make and prebake the crust. Heat the oven to 350°F. Mix the almond flour, salt and coconut sugar (if using), then stir in the melted butter and egg until a dough forms. Press it evenly into a 9-inch pie pan, working it up the sides. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake 10–12 minutes, until just golden. Let it cool slightly. Prebaking keeps the crust from going soggy under the custard.
Make the filling. In a blender, blend the pumpkin and eggs until smooth. Add the cream, maple syrup, spices, vanilla and salt and blend until completely smooth.
Fill and shield. Pour the filling into the crust. Cover the crust edges with a ring of foil so they don’t burn.
Bake. Bake 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake 15–20 minutes more, until the edges are set and the center still has a slight wobble (about 175°F). It will keep setting as it cools.
Make the pecans (optional). While the pie bakes, toss the pecans with the maple syrup, cinnamon and salt. Spread on a parchment-lined sheet and bake alongside the pie for 8–10 minutes, until fragrant. They crisp as they cool.
Cool and chill. Cool the pie completely on a rack, then refrigerate overnight for the cleanest slices. Pumpkin pie is best the day after baking, but you can serve it slightly warm if you can’t wait.
Whip the cream. Just before serving, whip the cold cream, maple syrup and vanilla to soft peaks.
Serve. Slice the pie and top each piece with a swoosh of maple whipped cream, a dusting of cinnamon and a few spiced pecans.
Storage: Refrigerate the pie up to 4 days (it’s even better on day 2 and 3), or freeze individual slices up to 1 month. For Thanksgiving, bake up to 3 days ahead. Whip the cream within a few hours of serving. For 12+ guests, bake two pies at once.
Cream note: the cream in the filling isn’t raw once baked, but the whipped cream on top stays raw.
Nourishment Notes
Pumpkin is one of the richest sources of carotenoids, including beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, which support eye health, skin and the body’s antioxidant defenses. The body turns beta-carotene into vitamin A, and it needs fat to absorb all of these. The eggs, cream and nut crust take care of that.
Pasture-raised eggs bring protein, choline and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K2. Their lecithin is a natural emulsifier, and it’s what gives the custard its silky set.
Almond and hazelnut flours bring vitamin E, magnesium, monounsaturated fats and protein, so the crust is more nourishing than a white-flour pastry. Hazelnuts add a toasty depth that’s lovely with pumpkin.
The warming spices each bring their own aromatic compounds: polyphenols from cinnamon, gingerols from ginger, eugenol from cloves and allspice, and myristicin from nutmeg. Together they’ve long been used to help digest rich, creamy dishes, and they make the whole kitchen smell like fall.
Grass-fed cream brings fat-soluble vitamins and butyrate. Maple syrup adds trace manganese and zinc, but it’s still sugar, so a modest ⅓ cup sweetens the whole pie. Pecans add vitamin E, manganese and healthy fats.
For your cycle: in the luteal phase, a slice of this with whipped cream is a steadier way to answer pre-period sweet cravings than a flour-and-sugar dessert. The eggs, nuts and cream bring protein and fat, the pumpkin brings slow carbs, and the pecans and almonds add magnesium.
Sourcing
Pumpkin: sugar or pie pumpkins from a farmers’ market in fall, or any single-ingredient canned pumpkin, ideally in a BPA-free can
Almond and hazelnut flour: finely ground and blanched, organic if you can find it
Eggs: pasture-raised, from a local farm or Pete & Gerry’s
Cream and butter: grass-fed (raw from realmilk.com or a local farm if you like)
Maple syrup: pure, from a small Vermont or Quebec producer such as Crown Maple or Runamok
Spices: fresh, organic whole spices, ground at home when you can. Use true Ceylon cinnamon, not cassia.
Pecans: raw, from a Southern grower in fall
Sea salt: Baja Gold
— Anna aka Food Marshall