In Praise of Pumpkin, Part 5: Good Old Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving will be at our doorsteps before you know it. I have to go out on a limb here and say that next to going to an all you can eat buffet, Thanksgiving has to be one of the most discouraging times to eat gluten free, don't you agree? Last year I hosted Thanksgiving at my house and my father in law insisted that I cook the stuffing inside the turkey, which made me worry about the turkey being contaminated, which made me not want to use the drippings for gravy, which led to about forty other things I was worried about. And it was at MY HOUSE! If you are worried about food you are cooking yourself, you've got some serious relaxing to do. One of the things I wasn't worried about, however, were the two beautiful gluten free pumpkin pies I made for dessert last year. So, to finish off pumpkin week, let's talk about the apex of pumpkin consumption: The Pumpkin Pie.

I have enjoyed using the Perfect Pie Crust Mix from Gluten Free Pantry for my pies for a few years now. I think it gives a great flaky crust, which is probably due to the fact that it has 10 tablespoons of BOTH butter and shortening in it.

The one problem I do have with it is that I never want anyone to see me get that crust into the dish, because it doesn't matter what I do, I can never keep it in one piece. I have chilled it, I have skipped the chilling, I have rolled it super flat, I have rolled it thicker, I have cursed at it, and I always end up rolling it out a little thicker than I would normally do and then taking the pieces and pressing them into my pie pan and just smooshing the cracks together. Does anyone out there have this problem, too? As I am typing this I'm thinking it may be a good idea to roll it out onto a silicone cooking mat (Silpat) and then flipping it over into the pan. Hmmm. That may work. Anyway, the crust finally gets into the dish and then I just add the Libby's Pumpkin Pie filling recipe from their can. It really is a great traditional pie filling, and so easy to do if you use the Pumpkin Pie Mix.

So then I bake it all up according to the regular Libby's directions and no one can tell which is the gluten free crust and which is the wheat crust. This crust usually comes out pretty flaky and light, and I haven't come up with a better substitute on my own.

What I have come up with are excuses to make pumpkin pies for blogs so that I can eat them and share the creamy, sweet slices with my gluten free buddies and feel normal for one afternoon. One afternoon a year, that's all we ask.

Happy eating!