Thanksgiving desserts: crustless gluten free pumpkin pie

After last year’s struggles with the gluten free pie crust mix, I’ve decided to make a pumpkin dessert that does not require a crust. When my mother-in-law eats out, she carefully scoops out the pie filling and leaves the crust anyway, so no point in stressing myself out about pie crust.

This one comes from VeryBestBaking.com* and is based on the classic Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe. It uses CARNATION®** Evaporated milk, which I’ve started using in pumpkin soup and mini quiches. It gives dishes extra creaminess without the fat, so I consider it a healthier alternative to cream and half and half. (Then again, you can use evaporated milk to make this Gluten Free Pumpkin Fudge, and be as unhealthy as you want. Oh well.)

This recipe has only 3 Weight Watchers POINTS per slice. Use CARNATION Fat Free evaporated milk to lower the POINTS to 2.

Lite 'n Easy Crustless Pumpkin Pie
Yields – 8 servings

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 envelopes (7 grams each) unflavored gelatin
• 2 1/4 cups CARNATION Evaporated Lowfat 2% Milk, divided
• 1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar or low calorie sweetener equivalent
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Light whipped topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Coat 9-inch deep-dish pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place water in medium bowl; sprinkle gelatin over water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes or until softened. Mixture may be firm.
3. Bring 1 cup evaporated milk just to a boil in small saucepan.
4. Slowly stir hot evaporated milk into gelatin. Stir in remaining evaporated milk, pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract.
5. Pour mixture into prepared pie plate. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. Garnish with whipped topping if desired.

Nutritional Information: Serving Size 1/8 of recipe

• Calories 140
• Calories from Fat. 15
• Total Fat 1.5g
• Saturated Fat 1g
• Sodium 85mg
• Carbohydrates 25g
• Dietary Fiber 2g
• Sugars 22g
• Protein 7g

Weight Watchers POINTS = 3

Tips:

• Try using a dark agave nectar instead of dark brown sugar, which will help lower the glycemic index of the pie. Madhava recommends substituting 2/3 cup agave nectar per 1 cup sugar. To compensate for the moisture in the agave nectar, reduce other liquids added by 1 FL OZ per 2/3 cup agave used. To avoid overbrowning, oven temperature should be reduced by 25 deg. F and baking time increased by 6% to compensate.
• You do not have to use Libby’s brand canned pumpkin. I’m using Farmer's Market Foods Organic Canned Pumpkin, which is on sale this time of year so stock up! Or you can make pumpkin puree from scratch.

Other crustless pumpkin pie recipes worth checking out:

• Crustless, Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie from Gluten Free Easily (gluten free)
• Wayne's Pumpkin Smash from Hungry Girl (low cal, low fat)
• is it still pie without the crust? from Use Real Butter (decadent)
• CrockPot Pumpkin Pudding (crustless pumpkin pie) from A Year of Slow Cooking (gluten free)
• Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Recipe from Karina’s Kitchen (vegan and gluten free)

• Impossible Vegan Pumpkin Pie from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen (low fat, vegan)

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Disclosures and explanations ad nauseum:

*Yes, I know VeryBestBaking.com, CARNATION and Libby’s are all owned by NESTLÉ. I sympathize with the boycott and support those who choose to boycott NESTLÉ. However, as a non-breastfeeding mom, I personally feel hypocritical supporting it since I relied on formula to feed my kids. (Let’s just say that I’m physically unable to breastfeed. And now you know more about me than I really wanted you to.) I have even visited the NESTLÉ museum in Switzerland, and like that country I wish to remain neutral on this subject.

Bottom line, YOU should decide what’s best for you and your family. You can read NESTLE’s side here, an overview of the boycott at Wikipedia, and some excellent blog posts by Ph.D in Parenting and Crunchy Domestic Goddess.

**I received free product coupons from CARNATION’s PR firm to try out their evaporated milk. I was not asked to blog about it. (The posts for pumpkin soup and mini quiches were done by another PR firm.) I have used CARNATION Evaporated Milk since I was a child.

Finally, all links to Amazon.com are affiliate links. A commission may be earned from a referred sale to their website.

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Posted on November 19, 2009 in Desserts,Gluten Free,Thanksgiving,Weight Watchers and tagged as pie, Thanksgiving

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