Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

With a perfectly flaky, buttery pie crust and a creamy filling bursting with spices and flavour, this gluten free pumpkin pie really is the perfect fall dessert. The recipe couldn’t be simpler, with lots of helpful tips for avoiding soggy bottoms and cracks in the filling!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Gluten Free

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Chilling Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings

Author Kat | The Loopy Whisk

Ingredients

For gluten free pie crust (for a 9 inch pie):

1 3/4 cups + 1 1/2 tbsp (225 g) plain gluten free flour blend (I've used Doves Farm Freee plain gluten free flour, which doesn't contain added xanthan gum)
3/4 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your gluten free flour blend contains added xanthan)
pinch of salt
2 tbsp (25 g) caster/superfine sugar
1 1/3 sticks (150 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into ~1/2 inch cubes
9 - 10 tbsp (130 - 150 mL) ice-cold water

For pumpkin filling (makes 4 cups of filling):

1 can (15 oz, 425 g) pumpkin puree
1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar
1 cup (240 mL) double/heavy cream
3 medium eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp (15 g) cornstarch
1/2 - 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of ground black pepper
pinch of salt

Instructions

For gluten free pie crust (for a 9 inch pie):

Sift together the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, salt and sugar.
Add the butter and toss it in the flour until all butter pieces are covered with it.
Using your hands, pinch together the butter pieces and flour until you get a mix of fine pea-sized pieces and larger thumb-sized pieces.
Add the ice-cold water, 1 tbsp at a time, and mix the pie dough with a fork until it comes together. You will need about 9-10 tbsp of water.
The dough at the end should be only just coming together. If it looks a bit "shaggy" and like it wants to crack, that's to be expected and perfectly OK.
Shape the pie dough into a disc (if needed, knead it slightly so it holds together – but don't overwork it!), wrap it into cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For pumpkin filling (makes 4 cups of filling):

Mix all pumpkin pie filling ingredients together until smooth.
Set aside until needed.
NOTE: This recipe makes 4 cups of the pumpkin pie filling, I ended up using 3 1/2 cups of the filling. Depending on the depth and diameter of the pie dish you use, you might need to adjust the pumpkin pie filling ingredient quantities. To determine how much filling you'll approximately need, measure the number of cups of water that fill your pie dish about to about 3/4.

Rolling and crimping the pie crust:

Get a 9 inch (23 cm) round pie dish ready to have on hand.
Remove the pie dough disc from the fridge, allow it to soften slightly at room temperature (for about 10 minutes) and roll it out into a roughly circular shape about 3 mm thick. The pie dough circle should be at least 2 1/2 - 3 inches larger than the pie dish diameter (to account for the pie dish sides and crimping).
I recommend rolling out the pie dough between two pieces of parchment paper or cling film, to reduce the amount of flour you incorporate into the dough while rolling.
Transfer the rolled out pie dough into the pie dish, and shape it so that it's snug against the pie dish sides. Trim off the excess pie dough, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of excess that you'll use for crimping.
To crimp, fold the excess pie dough under itself, so that you get about 1/2 inch (about 1 cm) of essentially double-layer pastry available for crimping. Create the desired crimp design (this is a wonderful resource for different ways in which you can crimp pie edges).
Prick the bottom and sides of the pie crust with a fork, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Blind baking the pie crust:

Pre-heat the oven to 390 ºF (200 ºC) with a baking sheet inside.
For best results, bake the pie on the hot baking sheet at all stages of baking.
Line the chilled pie crust with baking/greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans or dry rice.
Bake the pie in the pre-heated oven at 390 ºF (200 ºC) for 15 minutes.
Then remove the baking/greaseproof paper and baking beans, reduce the oven temperature to 375 ºF (190 ºC) and bake uncovered for a further 10 minutes.

Baking the pumpkin pie filling:

Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the blind baked pie crust (no need to cool the pie crust!) until it's 80-90% full (filling it only 3/4 full will give you a more prominent pie crust edge).
Bake the filled pumpkin pie at 375 ºF (190 ºC) for about 40 - 45 minutes, until the centre of the filling is very slightly jiggly (or wobbly) when you shake the pie dish. The very edges of the filling should be set at that point, and if you insert a toothpick halfway between the edge and the centre of the pie, it should come out mostly clean.
If the pie crust edges start browning too quickly, cover them with some aluminium foil, shiny side up.
Allow to cool and enjoy.

Serving:

The gluten free pumpkin pie is best served slightly warm or cold, with some whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Storage:

The gluten free pumpkin pie keeps well covered tightly in a cool dry place for 3 - 4 days.