I could no more envision Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie than I would settle for ham rather than turkey!  Blasphemy!  Not that I don’t add to everyone’s choices at the Thanksgiving dinner table, of course…but my children and I all love pumpkin pie at least once a year, as well as a fully tricked out monster turkey!

We all know there are many other sources of knowledge about the history of Thanksgiving, the survival of the pilgrims, how critical the native americans were to those first colonists, and the hardships and challenges of the new world…but let’s face it, I am about food not history, today’s food, not historic foods.  So when my daughter shows an interest in a gluten-free diet, I explore.  And pumpkin pie is certainly an important jumping-in-with-both-feet place to start this journey.

Lindsay is aiding me in my explorations into the gluten-free world of possibilities.  One of her several hyperlinks on the subject directed me to Elana’s Pantry, a very experienced, insightful and beautifully put together blog on all things gluten-free.  The following gluten free pecan pie crust, very easy to make,  comes to us from Elana’s Pantry, where you can find the following recipe and instructions:

http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-pecan-tart-crust/

Those of you who are digestively challenged will benefit from a visit to Elana’s insightful website.

Elana’s Paleo Pecan Tart Crust

All you need are 4 basic ingredients:  pecans, salt, coconut flour, egg

I used my mini-food processor to grind the nuts down along with the salt and coconut flour, then added the egg and pressed it a pie plate.

So far, so good, huh?

The pumpkin filling is equally easy, and I’ve been using it for years.  If yours is a PG audience, simply eliminate the rum.

Pumpkin Rum Pie

Ingredients:

• 1  9″ pie crust
• 1  15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbl melted butter
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (I use Amber Grade B for more flavor)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch ground cloves
• pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbl dark rum

If using a regular pastry crust, prebake shell.  I usually use a pecan shortbread crust which I don’t prebake.  If using the above paleo pecan crust, do not prebaked either.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until well incorporated.

Pour into pie shell.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes @ 350 degrees, then turn down oven to 300 degrees for 45 minutes, until edges are set and an instant read thermometer reads an interior temperature of 175 degrees.

The middle will still shake as though unset…but will firm up as the pie cools.  Dropping the temperature seems like an extra step, but in fact prevents the custard from curdling, thus preventing a weeping of the liquids when it cools, making for a runny pie filling.  Removing the pie at the correct doneness prevents the custard from becoming overdone with a resulting crack across the surface….and don’t forget that the pie continues to bake an additional few minutes after removal from the oven from residual heat.