Delicious Pumpkin Pie... Just in time for Thanksgiving!

I love the website www.foodgawker.com. I am on there sometimes to just gaze at the pictures. A lot of the food is unhealthy or full of gluten, but it is like a food magazine where it is just fun to check out the photos and get ideas. I was recently looking for things with pumpkin and came across this recipe for Vegan 4 ingredient pumpkin pie. It is healthier than traditional pumpkin pie, using soaked cashews to get a creamy filling and maple syrup for sweetness. I made my first homemade gluten free crust which was actually yummy too. The whole thing was a success! My mother in law was in town and she got to taste it for me. She is a wonderful baker and she said she liked this version better than her own! Thanks Mrs. Dorenda!
   I am happy to be sharing this recipe with you to try for thanksgiving dinner. Life is about choices and each day we choose what food we eat. Each choice either moves us closer to health or further away from it. Although this is still not a great choice, it is better than most of the traditional thanksgiving desserts. If you are going to have dessert, this is a delicious better choice and something worthy of having a piece of to celebrate with family.

 FOUR INGREDIENT PUMPKIN PIE

Adapted from: www.kblog.lunchboxbunch.com

Serves: 8-10

Crust:

2 cups gluten free baking and biscuit mix

1/2 cup cold, unsalted organic butter, cut into cubes

9 Tbs ice cold water

Pie Filling:

1 cup raw (unroasted, unsalted) cashews

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (NOT pie filling)

1 cup maple syrup

3 tsp pumpkin pie spice

THE DAY BEFORE YOU WANT TO BAKE AND EAT YOUR PIE: 

For filling: place cashews, water and salt in a large bowl. Stir. Place in refrigerator overnight to soak . I soaked my cashews about 22 hours, but you could do less (12-24 hours). 

THE DAY YOU WANT TO EAT YOUR PIE:

Allow yourself three hours prior to when you want to eat pie. 

Crust:

Place baking mix and butter in a food processor. Pulse a few times until combined (It will not look much different at this point. It may resemble small peas) Add cold water and pulse until combine and mixture starts to form into a clump/ball. Remove  and place dough on saran wrap sprinkled with gluten free baking mix. With your hands, combine dough into a ball. Sprinkle with gluten free flour. Roll out into a 12 inch circle ( large enough to cover bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan). Place circle in pan and cut edges to fit pan and crimp edges to be pretty! Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. 

Filling: 

Drain cashews and place 1 1/4 cups in a food processor or blender (I used my blentec blender). Add pumpkin, syrup and spice to blender. Blend 3-5 minutes until smooth. Place in prebaked pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 35 minutes. 

Remove pie from oven and allow to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Place cooled pie in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Serve!