Recipe: Hooray for the Low-Cal Pumpkin Pie
They take polls over everything! And according to a poll by YouGov, one third of Americans rate pumpkin pie as their first choice for Thanksgiving, with more than twice as many votes as second place pecan pie. Frankly, your trusty PWM web gal writing this blog loves just about every kind of pie there is but I still stand firmly with the poll—it’s not Thanksgiving without the pumpkin pie. I just don’t love the average 300 calories a slice of pumpkin pie adds to my Thanksgiving meal. Or the 300 calories added a few hours later when I sneak to the fridge for another piece of pie. So I’m grateful for this recipe that delivers full pumpkin pie flavor with as little as….drumroll please…45 calories per slice.
How does it do it? The biggest secret is replacing traditional sugar with one of the modern zero calories alternatives. This recipe uses a brown sugar version of Swerve to give the pie the real caramel sweetness you’re used to—so you can relive all the childhood memories of mom’s pumpkin pie without the traditional added holiday pounds. The second secret? In place of heavy cream or half & half, this recipe uses almond milk to give the pie the proper creamy texture. Instead of half & half’s 300 calories per cup, the almond milk adds only about 30 calories to the whole pie.
Feel free to skip to the recipe at the bottom of this page but, as always, we have some helpful tips we discovered while preparing this Hooray for the Low-Cal Pumpkin Pie. So keep reading!
First, the ingredients—which are canned pumpkin, Swerve, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, eggs, almond milk and salt.
The basic recipe really couldn’t be simpler. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly spray a pie pan with cooking spray. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl, whisk them all together until your pie filling is nice and smooth, and then pour it into your pie pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the center is still slightly jiggly and the internal temp is 180 degrees.
But wait! You do have a few options:
Option 1: To deliver the lowest calories possible this recipe omits the crust, but you can bake it instead in a store bought pie crust or a homemade crust. Your guests could eat their entire slices while you leave all or most of the crust on your plate. I can’t recommend sharing your crust with the family dog but can’t deny that I’ve done it either!
Option 2: Instead of a pie pan, bake your filling in oven safe ramekins for a fancier presentation at your table. You’ll need to reduce your baking time. As with the full pie, the mini-pies will be done when the center still jiggles slightly and internal temperature is 180 degrees. Note that your calorie count will be altered if you use fewer than six ramekins.
Have room in your daily quota for a few more calories? Top each slice with a spritz of light whipped cream or a small scoop of ice cream. Or have the whipped cream handy for your guests while you pretend it doesn’t exist!
You’ll notice the crustless slice is a bit difficult to remove from the pie pan cleanly. After the first slice has been removed, a small spatula may be used to remove the crustless pie slice more easily. Or follow our optional ramekin method for a more attractive serving. But it tastes great regardless! Honestly, this recipe tastes just like the pumpkin pie you know and love!
