Healthy Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crust (Recipe)

I LOVE this pumpkin pie! No surprise it got rave reviews when it was featured on Good Morning America for Thanksgiving a few years ago! Typically, a pumpkin pie is made with a regular pie shell made up of white flour, shortening, sugar and salt and the custard contains molasses, salt and sometimes butter or cream. Instead, this luscious pie uses a nutty/ puffin cereal base that is more like a cookie crumb crust that adds fiber and healthy fat from pecans instead of the saturated or trans-fat from shortening, and of course no added salt. This pie also contains more pumpkin than the typical recipe calls for, so it is even richer in fiber (I like this brand but there are others). The little addition of dark rum makes it so rich tasting and just perfect! The result is a delightful (gluten-free) creamy gem of a pie you will love; and even better – it will love you back!

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients:

2 ½ cups canned organic pumpkin (100%-no added sugar or salt)

3 large cage free eggs

1 cup fat free sweetened condensed milk

2 Tbsp dark rum (not imitation, the real thing!)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground allspice

Crust:

2 cups regular puffins corn cereal (Cuisinicity Tip: Be sure to use Barbara’s Bakery Corn Puffins that specify gluten-free if you are gluten sensitive.)

1 cup chopped pecans

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

¼ cup melted regular smart balance or Melt Buttery Spread

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place puffins cereal, pecans and brown sugar in food processor and grind finely.
3. Add melted smart balance and process again.
4. Place the crust at the bottom of a lightly greased (smart balance or Melt Buttery Spread) 10-inch baking pan and press down firmly with your fingers to make a compact crust.
5. Place all the wet ingredients in a bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy.
6. Pour the creamy pumpkin custard on top of the crust and bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.

Originally published on Cuisinicity.com, reposted from NaturallySavvy.com