The Best Vegan Pumpkin Pie Ever!

As I was talking to my sister this week, she told me she was going to give up dairy. Now being the 10 year old sister of a vegetarian, on and off vegan, I was pretty proud of this mature decision! I can see another vegetarian in the making!! Once she older, she'll see the light! Anyway, this inspired me to join her, and lay off the dairy... BUT WAIT! It's fall and that means my favorite dessert is in season, Pumpkin Pie! And let's be honest, Pumpkin Pie cannot be made dairy-free, right? WORNG!! There is a plethora of vegan Pumpkin Pie recipes (heck if you're already omitting dairy, might as well go full force and kick those eggs out too!) out there on the web just waiting to be tested, so I collected my ingredients at the Winco yesterday and here we go!

iPad optional.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie:

3/4 lb. silken (soft) tofu

16 oz. canned pumpkin puree

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. molasses

1 pre made pie crust (Marie Calendars is usually vegan)

Pre-heat oven to 450.

Blending magic!

Before anything, put the tofu on a stack of paper towels and soak as much moisture up as possible, I seriously used like half a roll of paper towels. You really don't need the extra moisture, it will throw your pie's feng-shui.

Ok so here's the super secret key to a silky pumpkin pie, because if you're like me and you tried to mix it with a whisk, the tofu was all chunky and unappetizing. 

So mix all the ingredients (besides the crust, DUH.) and then....

Use a blender!!

CRAZY! I know. I was like, no way Jose! That's a bit too obscure, even for my liking... But then again this is already a vegan pumpkin pie, which I thought was all myth before I tried, so do it! BLEND AWAY MY LOVLIES!

Before baking, isn't she pretty??

So now pour that silky goodness into the pie crust, and marvel at it's beauty. I'm not kidding, it looks gorgeous!

Put your pie in the 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, and then drop the temperature down to 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

After baking!

So I was a bit concerned when I checked it at 1 hour and it was still jiggly, so I kept it in for seriously like 30 more minutes, until finally taking it out for fear of total burning. So now that its chilling, it should solidify, right??? Fingers crossed!!

While we're waiting for the verdict of taste... Rather than watching a TV show or a movie whilst baking today, I jammed out to some Julia Nunes' Settle Down, which I am currently addicted to! Seriously go look her up on Youtube, some of the best 'female singing' music ever (I really don't listen to many female artists, so she must be incredible!) I saw her over the summer in Santa Ana at the Constellation Room, and she was awesome live! So go jam out to her intense ukulele playing. She's a pretty cool chick.

Julia Nunes on Conan.

VERDICT:

Ok, so after letting it cool all day in the refrigerator, I came home to finally taste my creation! And let me tell you, the taste is really incredible! All the spices really come out and it is so pumpkin-y delicious that I could eat the whole thing right here, right now! The only issue I have is that it didn't completely set, boo! But I think that's because I didn't get enough moisture out of the tofu, so it added too much liquidity to the filling... So guess who get to make another delicious pie in the future? This girl!! 

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I am going to, it's amazing because it's easy, delicious and somewhat healthy!!

Vi Ses!

Holly

Recipe Source:

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/tofupumpkinpie.htm

Julia Nunes:

http://www.junumusic.com/

Les Photos: Par Moi!!