Coconut Milk Pumpkin Pie (and Grandma’s regular version) |

Can you tell which pie is made with coconut milk?!

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to think of a quick and easy dessert to make for the parent teacher conferences that our church supplies meals for and what I thought of was…pumpkin pie! “Quick and easy?!” you may ask. Well, with the shortcut of using a store bought graham cracker crust, yes! Of course you can make as fancy of a pastry crust as you want (which I do make on the occasion that I am making some sort of a fruit pie), but I discovered a couple of years back that I REALLY, REALLY like the taste of pumpkin pie with a graham cracker crust. Of course, you can make that yourself as well, but I didn’t have the time or desire to do so that day.

If I am going to go to the trouble of making one or two pies to give away, the only *rational* thing to do is make one or two more to keep, right?! (Don’t worry, not all for me…there are 8 of us that live in this house!) Now, I have a daughter and a father-in-law that cannot eat dairy and so I had to adjust my grandma’s pumpkin pie recipe to accomodate that fact. A non-dairy pumpkin pie certainly wouldn’t taste, or bake as well, using water, so what did I use? Coconut milk. Not the refrigerated carton version (although that is a staple in our house as well), but the coconut milk in a can version (not the sweetened, cream of coconut kind of can either).

Options for the cans of coconut you can use. You can’t tell that we use coconut milk in our cooking at all, can you?! These just were spares hanging out in the cupbard. 🙂

And so I made 4 pies…2 with the regular recipe using cans of evaporated milk and 2 using cans of the rich, creamy coconut milk.

Now, for those of you who aren’t sure about the coconut/pumpkin combo I assure you it is very good! We had a side by side taste test of the pies and the coconut was the winner all around in our house!! In fact, I dont’ know that I will ever go back to using evaporated milk in the making of my pumpkin pies. The coconut milk just gives the pie a great flavor and texture…very creamy!

So, if you are looking for a great dairy-free pumpkin pie recipe (or just want to try a twist on a fall favorite) please try this recipe out! Or, if you are just wanting a great, regular-ol-dairy version of pumpkin pie this is sure to be a winner as well! After all… it is Grandma’s recipe!! -Shelley.

**(For those of you who are interested, my next, quick post will be the recipe for an Egg & Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie. My sister was asking for it because she has a little one that has a couple of allergies. One of my daughters used to have both an egg and dairy allergy, but has since outgrown the egg allergy. I won’t have a picture of it because I haven’t made one since last year, but I was pleasantly suprised with how it turned out when I did make it because I didn’t know initially what to expect. If you, or someone who know, would appreciate an egg and/or dairy free version please let them know where to find it, thanks!)

Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie Recipe & Coconut Milk Pumpkin Pie Recipe:

(the recipe is the same for dairy/non-dairy version, just substitute a can of coconut milk for evaporated milk for the non-dairy version):

*preheat oven to 425 degrees

1 regular size can pumpkin (or 1 3/4 c fresh pumpkin puree)

1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice (or I just used 1 1/4 t cinnamon + 1/8 t nutmeg + 1/8 t cloves)

3/4 t salt

3 eggs

1 can coconut milk (non-dairy version) OR 1 can evaporated milk (dairy version)

1 1/2 c brown sugar

1 – 10 in pie shell/crust (I personally enjoy Graham cracker crusts with my pumpkin pie but do whatever sounds good!)

*whisk spices and salt together in small bowl and then whisk spice/salt mixture into the pumpkin purée in a larger bowl and mix well to avoid any spice clumps

*next whisk brown sugar into pumpkin mixture and mix well

* add eggs and mix well

* after everything is mixed well then add can of milk or coconut milk and whisk well, scraping sides of bowl occasionally to make sure all is combined

*Pour into your favorite pie shell

*Bake at 425 degrees fifteen minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes.

*Cool, refrigerate and enjoy!

* makes approximately 1-10 inch pie