This keto pumpkin pie is everything you expect (and more!) from this Thanksgiving classic: a deliciously silky custard, all wrapped up in my famous flaky pie crust!
Gluten Free & Keto Pumpkin Pie
An Absolute Classic!
I don’t know about you, but imo pumpkin pie is too much of a classic to mess around with! And so, beautifully spiced and incredibly flavorful, you’ll find that this keto version varies little from the tradition in both taste and texture.
Supreme and stunning results, surely worthy of your Thanksgiving table!
Plus, you’ll be happy to hear that making this keto pumpkin pie is not particularly difficult at all. Though like any custard-type dessert, just be mindful of a few details below to ensure the perfect slice. Read on!
How Make A Delicious (& Pretty!) Keto Pumpkin Pie
Let’s face it, when it comes to Thanksgiving, you most definitely want to put your best pie forward! So let’s talk about a few details (and cheats!) of what you need to look out for when making this keto pumpkin pie so you get a real stunner.
- Make sure your pie crust is very cold, and work quickly in a relatively cool environment (i.e. not next to your preheating oven!). This will keep it more manageable, and if you feel like it begins to melt away simply pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes before carrying on. Did it break a bit? No worries, just patch it right up! Oh, and you can also crimp the edges (as you can see!), but it feels a bit more like play-dough than pie crust (you’ll know what I mean).
- To blind bake or not is perhaps the eternal pie conundrum. I’ve done it both ways here, and while you do get a slightly flakier pie crust with a blind bake, it’s also honestly debatable if it’s worth the extra hassle here. So I suggest you just bake it all at once and save yourself a couple hours (cooling down time etc).
- The right spices are clearly important. And while you can buy ready-made pumpkin pie spice, I will always advocate for freshly ground nutmeg (it’s a game changer always guys!). And I also borrow a tip from the peeps over at King Arthur, and add a dash of freshly ground black pepper. You won’t taste it, but it will add a great deal of depth to your pie.
- Don’t overcook! Cracked pumpkin pies made with sugar are the result of over-baking (as the egg proteins continue to cook as they cool). Now, when I baked this pie with erythritol, it cracked close to the edge from minute 25 of baking. Could be my 20-year old oven (reliable, but can run a bit hot)… but this didn’t happen with allulose or xylitol. Didn’t affect the final texture, just a heads up. Otherwise, just like with sugar pies, you want to take it out of the oven while still jiggly in the center. But note that, unlike their sugar counterparts, the pie doesn’t feel fully set around the edges even after minute 60 (but a toothpick inserted will come out mostly clean, not drenched).
- Get your leaves on! I whip up a double batch of the pie crust, and make some crackers and pretty cutouts with it (leaves are my favorite). Good for your cheese platter and some pie decorating; particularly handy if you do end up with some cracks. Or some good-old whipped cream will do the trick just as well.
- Did your pie become opaque? Yup, erythritol tends to do that in custards as it cools! I simply gave mine a very light (and gentle!) brush with some Lakanto syrup and everyone was non the wiser. Oh, and it doesn’t affect the taste or texture at all; so not a biggie!
The Sweetener
As you can read from the previous section, this is probably the thing you need to consider the most when whipping up this pumpkin pie is the sweetener.
But you’ve also got plenty of options: Allulose is my favorite for best texture and no aftertaste now (you do need to add 30% more though), Lakanto Golden (slightly opaque results, but no cooling aftertaste here imo), xylitol (non-corn though to avoid tummy troubles!).
1. Xylitol and allulose behave fairly similar in custards, and are probably the ‘best’ choice in terms of both taste and looks. Absolutely no aftertaste and there are no problems with crystallization. Allulose is 70% as sweet as sugar (i.e. you need to add 30% more).
Note: I’ve been testing different brands of xylitol and have noticed Health Garden and XyloSweet are two solid ones (particularly if you tend to get occasional tummy pangs with the NOW brand).
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup (or kitty!) around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys!
2. I also tested the pie with erythritol (Lakanto golden), and while there was no aftertaste there were a few issues with crystallization here and there (as in the pie slowly became opaque, rather than nice and shiny). The pie also did seem to crack a little bit as it baked, but cooled down just fine and I didn’t find there to be any cooling aftertaste at all.
How much sweetener? Traditional pumpkin pies generally call for a cup of sugar (half brown, half granulated). I find this is a bit too much for keto adjusted palates, and added 2/3 cup to mine. Still felt quite sweet and dessert-like, so you could probably even go down to 1/2 cup if you wish to just lightly sweeten it.
And… The Video Story!
The Best Keto Pumpkin Pie (with our flaky pie crust!)
Ingredients
For the pie crust
- 1 batch our keto pie crust
For the pumpkin pie filling
- 2/3-1 cup golden erythritol xylitol or allulose*
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch ground cloves
- dash black pepper freshly ground
- 3 eggs
- 425 g pumpkin puree (1 15-ounce can)
- 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- See recipe video for guidance on the pie crust!
- Lightly butter a 9 inch pie pan. Roll out pie crust into a roughly 13-inch circle, between two sheets of parchment paper. Feel free to lightly dust with coconut flour as needed. Transfer to the pan, using the parchment paper as an aid. Crimp the edges (or simply trim). Refrigerate and preheat oven to 400°F/200°C while you make the filling.
- Mix together in a small bowl the sweetener, salt and spices. Set aside.
- Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add in the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, vanilla extract and continue to beat until thoroughly incorporated. Beat in the sweetener and spices mix.
- Place the refrigerated pie pan on a baking tray and cover the edges with aluminum foil (to prevent over browning). Pour in the pumpkin filling and bake for 50-65 minutes, uncovering the edges around minute 40. A few things to note: the filling didn't begin to rise for me until about minute 35, and with sugar alcohols the pie will appear to still not be set even after 60 minutes. Having said that, a toothpick inserted 2-inches from the edges should come out barely moist, and the center should still be jiggly.
- Allow the pie to cool completely at room temperature, as it will continue to cook and set while cooling. I also always like my pumpkin pie best after a couple hours in the fridge.
Curious how to make this with FRESH pumpkin that I grew this year
Roast the pumpkin and make your own purée!! Sooo good 🤌🏼
For the cutouts of the crust on top of the pie… did you bake those separately? And if so, did you cover them in tinfoil as well?
Sorry I’m replying late Tyler, but yes I bake those separately until golden brown (about 12 mins, depends on the size of your cutouts!)
Hi! Can this be made in advance? Maybe kept unassembled… anyone done this successfully?
TIA
I always suggest making it the day before so it sets properly overnight in the fridge 😉 xo!
When I made it, cut and tasted better the 2nd day!
I make it ahead and freeze. Just made it today for Thanksgiving.
If I freeze the rolled out dough, should I bake it from frozen or let it thaw out?
Opaque does not mean dull.
Thank you for that. I was really confused about an opaque pie! All pies are opaque. The opposite of opaque is transparent. What the recipe creator means is that the surface of the pie may be shiny or dull (matte), not opaque or transparent!
Lol thank you, I literally translated from Spanish (my first language!). I think it still made sense through 😉
Hi there – do you mean that the top of the Lakanto pie was a little whitish on top where it crystallized?
I tried a pumpkin pie w/ Lakanto and this happened to me- that’s why I’m asking. Thanks!
Is it possible to make this dairy free by subbing in coconut cream for the heavy cream?
Does this recipe work without the crust? If not, could it be converted to muffins?
Pie/Custard texture is nowhere close to a muffin texture. I think you’d be far better off locating a low carb pumpkin muffin recipe.
Trying to convert this to muffins is like converting Pudding to Jello
I made muffins it was great
This was probably one of the best pumpkin pies I’ve had!! I added homemade keto whipped cream, to cover the cracks around the edges from the monkfruit/erythritol blend I used. I left the dough for 24 hours in the fridge then froze it for about an hour before attempting to roll it out quickly, because its summer and its warm in my house. Then I refroze it in the glass pie dish , and took it out 10 minutes before filling it and then shoving it in the preheated oven. I cooked it 60 minutes at 400, and I covered the edges of the crust with foil the entire time. Then I let the pie rest for 4 hours on the counter on a wire rack in the pie dish until it was cool, and then I covered it, and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator. I whipped up a batch of whipped cream (powdered monkfruit/erythritol lakanto blend , heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and gelatin) and topped the pie with that. I also added a cutout I made, and baked separately from the extra dough ( made a double batch of dough) . This was amazing! Hands down a success and I honestly thought it was going to fail because i slighty oversized the dough and it resembled cookie dough because i added the liquid in all at once, and I think I blended a few pulses to many in a hot kitchen! (This is the first pumpkin pie I have ever made, so I’m super satisfied!) The crust was cooled perfectly and slid right out of the glass pan upon serving, as well as the texture was right on point, and the flavor of the filling and crust was perfect. I used 3 tsp of pumpkin pie spice in my filling that replaced your homeade spice blend because that’s all I had on hand. I did use 1/2 fresh lemon zest and 1/2 dried Valencia orange zest in the crust for the zest portion. I added 1/2 Tbl of the lakanto brown sugar into the crust, (because I like my crust with a hint of sweet). Next time I will take the foil off for the remaining 5 to 10 minutes of cooking to get a better brown, and crisper crust edge, and I will try making this with boca sweet, or swerve (especially in the whipped cream) next time. However I couldn’t taste the sweetener difference in the pie itself. Thanks for this recipe!! It is forevermore my pumpkin pie go to!!!
Thank you! You answered all my questions!
I bake pies with fresh pumpkin. I have some left in the freezer, so when I thaw it out I let it drain to get the water out. I use 3 cups of pumpkin in my regular recipe. I assume this recipe will work with fresh pumpkin as well?
I made this for Thanksgiving and used xylitol. It was amazing! I made one yesterday, I used erythritol and was not nearly as happy with the results. I will be making another on Christmas and using xylitol. Stick with what I liked.
Made this for Thanksgiving 2019 and it was absolutely delicious! Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfect!
Thank you!!
It was delicious! What are the Net Carbs please?
Made this tonight with the crust and it was the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever made, low carb or not! Everyone loved it. I never have to look for another pumpkin pie recipe ever again. Thank you!
Thank you for your recipe. One issue that I found was the fact that the pie wasn’t done enough after 40 minutes. I gave it another 10 minutes before I took the foil off, then another 15 minutes (400 convection oven), but the toothpick, 2 inches from the side was still a little moist. I would recommend just keeping the foil on there the whole time because the crust cooks anyways. Now my pie has very dark brown to black crust.
Hi Dave! I’m sorry to hear, what sweetener did you use? Different Keto sweeteners have varying melting points, so its hard to create a ‘universal’ recipe for custards (and I do my best to give you guys guidelines on what to expect). xo!
How many servings are in this pie?
Paola, could you please answer my previous comment? Would very much appreciate it, thanks!
“If i don’t have all the spices separately, can i use pumpkin spice instead? What spices would it replace and how much of it should i use? Thanks”
I’m new to GF/SF/Keto baking. When measuring golden/brown sugar subs, do you pack I notice these tend to be more moist.
If i don’t have all the spices separately, can i use pumpkin spice instead? What spices would it replace and how much of it should i use? Thanks
I was wondering the same thing!
Probably 1 tablespoon
1.5 tsp is a traditional amount for a regular 9 in pie. I usually add a dash more, as I like the pie spice flavor.
The amounts of spice in this recipe would be a stronger flavor, and I agree that’s better. I would add 2 tsp to mine using the premixed pie spice.
This recipe turned out great! However, I used 1/2 cup of Swerve sweetener and it was perfect. No sugar alcohol taste what so ever.
Absolutely divine! This recipe is amazing. The crust-perfection! The filling-smooth, delicious.
EXCELLENT!!! IM having a piece for breakfast
I’d suggest checking the pie sooner to see if the crust protector should be put on earlier.
Question, maybe sometime can answer. Part of the crust stuck to the parchment paper. I put it back into freezer. Still, it broke into pieces when I tried to lift it out. So there’s a lot of patching, that might stick to the pan.
Should I put coconut flour on the parchment paper before rolling out the dough? Would that help? Thanks.
Can I use all almond flour or all coconut flour or do I have to use both?
Made this tonight and the first thing my fiance said was “there is no way you can make a keto pumpkin pie”. Boy was he wrong! This is as good as the real thing—better in my book because it doesn’t have all the sugar the original does.
The crust—oh my goodness! It’s the BEST textured keto pie crust that actually HOLDS TOGETHER. The only change I will probably make next time is adding some cinnamon into the crust for a little more flavor. But that’s just how I am used to my pumpkin pie crust being
I would love to make the flaky Keto Crust, but have a bad reaction to coconut flour, (or anything coconut actually)
What may I substitute for the Coconut flour?
Oat flour
Paola! Have you ever used Bocha Sweet for your sweetener? Since I found it, I have given up all other sweeteners. I would love your opinion of it! I hope it works for this gorgeous pie of yours!
Tbh I haven’t tried that sweetener yet (on my list!)… but from what I’ve heard from you guys it works similar to xylitol and allulose?
I burnt the bottom of the crust, as you said it was sudden, but tasty nonetheless. I have the pie filling ready to go and will be baking it all tomorrow. I’d like to know how many net carbs are in a slice. I don’t see a figure for sugar alcohol and it looks like there’s something like 15 or so grams per slice which wouldn’t make sense. Do t know how to calculate it. Since it’s a keto recipe and on keto we use net carbs, not total, I was hoping you might know. Thanks! Can’t wait to try it tomorrow!
Any other suggestion for sugar? I have a bad reaction to the Erythritol.
Read the section on sweeteners please Elizabeth 😉
Made this for Thanksgiving and was given many compliments on it and my fellow Ketoers were so surprised to hear it is keto.
Thank you
My absolute pleasure Terry! How wonderful to hear 😉
Any recommendation on turning these into mini pies for a party? Also wondering if freezing the finished pie is recommended?
Hi Amy! I’m actually just going to refer you to our hand pies (there’s a pumpkin flavor even!!) 😉 https://www.gnom-gnom.com/gluten-free-keto-hand-pies/ xo!!
i made mini pumpkin pies for a party and they were amazing!!! actually cooked better because if less filling, in a mini muffin tin just bake maybe 30 minutes just keep checking but they were stunning!!!
have you done this by hand or in a KitchenAid? I don’t have a good processor.
OMG Paola! I made this and it is out of this world!!! The best pie I ever ate- no joke! Thank you!!!!
P.S. My guests were speechless after I told them it’s keto!!
Fayrooz that’s crazy awesome to hear!! Keep on spreading keto holiday cheer this season 😉
I kept the crust protector on the entire time and my crust on the edges is over cooked. What did I do wrong?
Hi Paola,
I want to add the cutouts to my pie. Do you have directions for when they should be added? Bake cutouts first and add to pie at the end, add cutouts to pie in the beginning or add to pie mid-bake? Thanks!
Bake them separate and just add them before serving 😉