Pumpkin Pie Lite

Pumpkin Pie Lite

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baking, food, healthy, lifestyle

I LOVE me some pumpkin pie & with the seasons turning I have been bombarded with recipe inspiration from all corners of the Internet. However, as many of you may know, pumpkin pie is notoriously fattening. Seriously, that stuff is secretly evil. It masquerades as health food, being stuffed full of pumpkin which is crazy healthy, & then you realise that the amazing creamy filling isn't just pumpkin, it's also cream or sweetened condensed milk or something equally rich & fatty. So however much I want pumpkin pie it is off limits right?
Well I decided to test that & it seems that in actually fact pumpkin pie is fine.

I started off with the best pumpkin pie recipe known to man & trimmed it down a little, replacing the refined sugar with maple syrup & honey/agave nectar & the mascarpone with non-fat Greek yogurt.

Okay, so I had to get rid of the pastry which I was sad about, but I did replace it with a crunchy topping of oats & pecans (so SO good!) which you could probably make into a crust if you really HAD to have one. I don't know, I liked it being a crunchy topping because then I could control how much was on the pie... Whatever, this is pie a delicious alternative for when you're not willing to splurge on a standard pie. In fact I know a few people who would testify that this is even better!

Okay so the recipe for my low fat 'pie'.

Ingredients

• 1 can pumpkin puree (if you are using home made pumpkin puree try to drain all the moisture)
• 250g 0% fat Greek yogurt
• 6 tbsp. maple syrup
• 4-6 tbsp. honey/agave nectar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground  allspice/cloves
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecan nuts
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. oil (you can use whatever oil you have, it doesn't matter)

1. Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200°C/400°F.
2. Combine the pumpkin puree, yogurt, maple syrup, honey/agave nectar & spices in a blender (or with a spoon). Taste & adapt to your liking then blend in the eggs.
3. Pour the pie mix into your baking dish & bake for 40 minutes (if you are using individual dishes you may want to reduce the time, maybe about 20 minutes? but keep an eye on it).
4. Once the pie is done, reduce the oven to Gas Mark 1/140°C/275°F.
5. Combine the honey & oil in a pan over low heat until they boil & then combine with the oats & pecan nuts. You can also add some vanilla & spices to this mixture.
6. Place the oats & nuts on a baking sheet & bake for as long as possible (2-3 hours is best but if you want it faster you can turn up the heat a little but keep an eye on it).
7. Once everything is done top your pie with the crunchy oat & pecan nut mixture & you are done.

If you have any leftover topping, lucky you. It will keep for months in an air tight container & it is brilliant as a cereal (my mum's been making it for my dad for years) or as desert topper (I actually ate it with a spoon...).
If you want to experiment I think it could be made into a base but as a crunchy top you eat a frack of a lot less....

Good eating :)

P.S. if you want to cut slices you need to leave it till it gets very set because otherwise it's a faff.



baking, food, healthy, lifestyle

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