Monday, November 5, 2012

Pumpkin Pie w/ Cinnamon Hazelnut Crust (Low Carb) and Crustless Pumpkin Pie

It's Monday, and as much as I really enjoyed getting the extra hour of sleep this weekend with the time change...I really don't like coming home when it's getting dark so early!  Yesterday, we celebrated my son's girlfriend's birthday and I made one of her favorites for dinner, "Sheri's Shepherds Pie" and also made a smaller low carb version for myself.  I sent almost all of the leftover regular version of shepherd's pie home with them (and sent home all of the cake).  I did keep enough shepherd's pie for us to have for dinner again this evening which means I don't have to cook tonight!  Since I was already in a baking mood yesterday, I decided to experiment with making a low carb pumpkin pie.  I created a Cinnamon Hazelnut Crust and for the filling, I used the basic recipe on the can of Libby's pure pumpkin puree as a general guide (with a few minor modifications).  I substituted 3/4 cup of Swerve (for the 3/4 cup of sugar in the original recipe).  I also substituted a combination of 8 ounces half-n-half (light cream) and almond milk (4 ounces each) for the 12-oz can evaporated milk called for in the recipe to help reduce the carbs a bit and reduce the liquid from 12 ounces to 8 ounces so the filling wouldn't be as liquidy.  To keep the nut crust from over cooking, I also reduced the pie's baking temperature a bit as well.  In case you've never baked with hazelnuts before, they are much darker than when using almond flour (might be partly due to the fact I usually use blanched almond flour too).  If you prefer to have individual crustless pumpkin pies instead, you can pour the filling into greased custard cups or ramekins and bake according to the baking instructions.  I did both -- 2 small pies with crust as well as a crustless pie baked in a small ramekin and both were good.  Making the crustless version makes it really quick to put together  See the photos of both below as well as the recipe.  Enjoy!

Voila!
These two are 6-inch "mini-pies"
BOOM!
Individual crustless pumpkin pie made by pouring the filling into a greased ramekin

Pumpkin Pie w/ Cinnamon Hazelnut Crust (Low Carb) 
or Crustless Pumpkin Pies (made without crust)

Ingredients:

Crust
2 cups Hazelnut meal
1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup Swerve sweetener (or equivalent sweetener to 1/4 cup sugar)
4 tablespoons cold butter, diced into small cubes
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Filling
1 can (15-oz) pumpkin puree (100% pure pumpkin)
3/4 cup Swerve sweetener (or equivalent sweetener to 3/4 cup sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs (or 1/2 cup Egg Beaters)
1/2 cup half-n-half (or cream)
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Place all crust ingredients in a medium bowl.  Cut butter and egg into almond flour, hazelnut meal, cinnamon and Swerve sweetener with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles small pebbles and the flour is thoroughly moistened (the same way you prepare a pie crust).  Press crust mixture into pie dish (I use a 10" pyrex pie dish) or 2 smaller 6" pyrex pie dishes or tart pans.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes; remove from oven and set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, mix all filling ingredients well until smooth and well blended.  Pour filling into pie pan, dish or tart pan(s) with the lightly baked Cinnamon Hazelnut Crust.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes; reduce heat one more time to 325 degrees and bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool for about 2 hours; serve at room temperature or refrigerate.
 
***Note:  If making 2 smaller 6-inch pies or tarts like shown in the pictures, reduce almond flour to 1/2 cup and hazelnut meal to 1-1/2 cups as well as reduce cinnamon to 1/2 teaspoon.  If you have extra pie filling left or prefer to have individual crustless pumpkin pies, pour filling into small greased custard cups or ramekins and follow the baking instructions.  The pie is done when a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

   

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, THIS looks divine!! I haven't decided what I am doing for thanksgiving yet and now this gives me ONE MORE choice!!

Love LOW-CARB and SWERVE :)

Blessings!
Gail

Unknown said...

This looks divine!! Love all things low-carb, pumpkin and Swerve. Glad to find your blog :)

Blessings!
Gail

Vivian said...

SOoo glad to find your blog, Gourmet Girl, via Dr. Davis at WheatBelly! Believe me,I will be diving into your site and reading everything. Thanks for your sense of adventure and committment in making "regular" recipes over for those of us who have gone wheat/grain free.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks Gail! It's nice to have choices isn't it? I might just end up making the crustless version of the pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and use all cream/half-n-half to make it rich! Yes, I am really enjoying using Swerve -- love it. Hope you enjoy!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks Vivian -- I hope you find something you like on the blog. I am determined to be able to enjoy everything I did before (with a few modifications). I think that makes it much easier to follow the program. This has been the easiest program I have ever followed -- this one actually feels like it could easily be forever! Enjoy!

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC:

I made this pie a couple of days ago and we both love it! I'd ordered some hazelnut flour just for this recipe, but after getting the crust together, I discovered that I was out of half-n-half and cream. I *really* wanted to make this pie Right Then, so I poured a small can of coconut milk into a 1-cup measure ... it was about 2/3 of a cup. I didn't want to open a new carton of almond milk for only a couple of tablespoons, so I added in some ricotta to bring it up to 1 cup. The pie turned out great! Next time, though, I'm going to try to make it according to the recipe. I'm getting so-o-o daring with ingredients, don't you think! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis! Glad you liked the pie. The hazelnuts give a different flavor -- you just have to watch it a little closer because it seems to burn easier than the almond flour (for me, at least). Wow...good job on the substitutions. I think it's great to experiment a bit, especially when you are making it for yourself and/or immediately family -- you probably don't want to experiment too much on a major holiday or a special occasion (just in case it doesn't turn out like you hoped). I bet it turned out nice -- it sounds great. You are REALLY becoming daring! ;-)