Healthyish Pumpkin Pie

Happy Halloween from The Plate! I celebrated at a low-key pot-luck house party in the Richmond. Because of my love affair with all things pumpkin, I made a couple semi-homemade pumpkin pies. While we are all capable of making our own pie crust, my girl Marie Callender's has been doing this longer than I have and her recipe happens to be dairy free (bring on the lard instead!) 

You make two pies so you can give one away and then have one leftover to reward yourself for your generosity with the first pie. Also, lunch dessert is a thing during the holidays. Keeping your health in mind, pumpkin pie is a slam dunk. It's about as close as a dessert gets to a salad since it is made up of mostly vegetable. Win, win, win. 

Healthyish Pumpkin Pie

Adopted from Skinny Taste

• 15 oz canned pumpkin 
• 2 tbsp whipped butter, softened (I used coconut oil)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, unpacked
• 1/2 cup fat free milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 frozen pie crust sheet

*Double recipe for (2) pies. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly dust a large cutting board or flat surface with flour. Roll out a room temperature pie crust sheet, so that it becomes thin enough to cut off about 30%, so that your final crust is 5 oz. Place into a 9-inch pie dish, cutting off excess dough. (I didn't do this, but it cuts out a ton of calories).

Place pumpkin puree in a large bowl. Add butter/oil, and mix well. Using an electric mixer, mix in brown sugar, milk, eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust.

Bake about 70 to 75 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cut into 8 slices and serve with whipped coconut cream or whipped cream if desired.