The Ultimate Healthy Pumpkin Pie

 
This past summer when my family and I flew to San Diego to visit my grandparents, Grandpa arranged a little surprise for us on the last afternoon of our trip. While he and Grandma moved around the living room furniture and set up a serve-yourself salad-and-sandwich lunch buffet in the kitchen, the rest of us stayed in the guest rooms. Grandpa was adamant—no sneak peeks!  

When Grandpa announced that they were ready, we walked out to the kitchen, loaded our plates with homemade sub sandwiches and potato chips, and settled into the comfy sofa and chairs. After handing everyone a bottle of water, Grandpa turned on the TV and pressed “Play.”
 

 
The screen lit up with a DVD of videos shot more than 25 years ago, starting with the Christmas before I was born where Mom and Grandma bought Grandpa his first camcorder and filmed their own version of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” complete with ten Fords a-honking and nine diapers leaking. The video then moved through the weeks and months after my birth, and many of the scenes captured Grandma singing to me, desperately trying to calm me down after a crying fit.

Towards the end of the DVD, Grandpa recorded my third Thanksgiving, held at their house in San Diego. It began with documentary-style footage of following my dad around the grocery store, picking out various potatoes and green beans and declaring them “perfect,” before cutting to my mom back in the kitchen demonstrating how to bake pie.

As an incredible lady, she simultaneously mixed the ingredients for the crust on one side of the countertop while supervising me standing on a chair in front of the sink, stretched out as far as my little arms would go to wash my hands so I could help (and then “wash” a few of the dishes too when I grew bored with my fingers…). Mom soon switched to holding me on one hip while measuring the remaining water and stirring it into the dough to keep me out of trouble. She’s superwoman!
 

 
Then the time came to roll out the dough for the pie crust… And of course, I wanted to help. Mom tried to give me a little piece of the dough to play with while she moved the rolling pin back and forth over the rest, but I had other ideas. A few weeks earlier, Mom and I had made plaster of Paris plaques with my handprints indented into the centers for all of my grandparents as Christmas gifts, so I now thought that I needed to press my handprints into everything… Including that pie crust dough!

Whoops.

Somehow, Mom managed to get the pumpkin and pecan pies filled and into the oven handprint-free, but we all laughed around the TV while the Thanksgiving footage played when Mom retold that story!
 

 
And now as an adult, I’m able to resist any temptations to press my hands into the dough on my own, so my parents put me in charge of the pies for this year’s Thanksgiving feast. Although our family’s tradition always includes my Great-Grandma’s pecan pie, I perfected this Ultimate Healthy Pumpkin Pie to serve for the other half of dessert. And with how much my family enjoyed taste testing it… I think I’d better bake two!

Warning! I’m about to explain each and every step of baking this Ultimate Healthy Pumpkin Pie so that you understand what you’re doing and why to ensure that your pie turns out perfectly. There are lots of step-by-step photos too!
 

 
This pie recipe begins with the crust. The crust is more than just a means of holding the filling… It’s its own masterpiece: delicate, crisp, buttery, flaky bliss! Although I’m not usually a crust person (shh, don’t tell!), I actually snuck “broken” pieces of the crust around the entire rim of one of the pies I baked while testing this recipe… Whoops!

Our healthier pie crust differs from traditional ones in a few ways. First, you’ll use white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. White whole wheat flour is made from a special type of white wheat, as opposed to the red wheat that regular whole wheat flour comes from, which gives it a lighter taste and texture that’s very similar to that of all-purpose flour. You can find white whole wheat flour on the baking aisle of most grocery stores, as well as Walmart. Whole wheat pastry flour would be a great substitute, if you prefer.
 

 
Next comes the butter. Whereas Greek yogurt or applesauce often can be used as substitutes for butter in other baked goods like muffins, scones, or cakes, they do not work here and make the pie crust gummy. You simply cannot make a crisp, flaky pie crust without butter!

However, there’s good news! Unlike traditional recipes that use a full stick or two (that’s 8 to 16 tablespoons!), this healthier pie crust only requires 4 tablespoons of butter. Cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. I highly recommend a pastry cutter like this one for that! They’re relatively inexpensive, and they do the job in half the time of a fork or two knives. Pastry cutters are great for my scone recipes too!
 

 
Next you’ll mix in the remaining ingredients until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Shape that dough into a 4”-wide circle, and place it between two very large pieces of plastic wrap. After chilling, you’ll roll out the dough while it’s still sandwiched between the plastic wrap! This method makes much less of a mess compared to the traditional way of rolling out pie crusts with flour, and it makes transferring the pie crust to your pie plate much easier, too.

Now for the important part… For the best flaky crust that’s cooked all the way through—yes, including the bottom!—you must parbake the pie crust. Parbaking, also called pre-baking or partial baking, is a technique that ensures that the bottom of the crust fully cooks, instead of staying soft or chewy. Pies with creamy custard-like fillings (like pumpkin pie!) are usually parbaked because the filling cooks at a different rate than the crust.
 

 
To parbake your crust, fit it into the pie plate, and add a sheet of foil or parchment paper to the center. Pour pie weights—or uncooked rice, if you can’t find yours like me!—into the center, ensure the foil is fully touching the pie dough all the way around the steep edges of the plate, and bake the crust at a slightly higher temperature for 15 minutes. Foil works slightly better than parchment paper here because it conducts heat better, so it warms the bottom of the crust that it touches.

Do not skip the pie weights or rice, and do not prick the crust with a fork instead of using the pie weights or rice. Either of these will result in a shrunken parbaked crust with big bubbles in the center and around the edges from where the steam tried to escape. The gravity from the weights or rice is what keeps the bottom of the pie flat while baking.
 

 
Now that you have your perfect crust, it’s time to make the filling! The fillings starts with one full can of pumpkin purée. You want regular ol’ pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling! The latter contains refined sugar, which we’re avoiding in this healthier recipe. And of course, you can’t have pumpkin pie without the spices! You’ll use the ultimate trio of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. I tested this pie with many different amounts of these three, and all of my taste testers agreed that the recipe version below was absolutely perfect.

Instead of heavy cream or evaporated milk, you’ll use nonfat milk and Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is one of my favorite ingredients in healthier baking! I’ve used it in muffins, cupcakes, scones, cakes, brownies, pancakes, and even frosting. It adds a rich, creamy quality for a fraction of the calories of heavy cream, and it provides a little protein boost too.

To help the filling set, you’ll use egg whites and cornstarch. To avoid clumps, whisk the cornstarch together with the milk before mixing it into the filling, and lightly beat the egg whites separately as well. This ensures the filling turns out smooth and creamy after baking.
 

 
Finally, you’ll sweeten the pie with a combination of pure maple syrup and vanilla crème stevia. Remember to use pure maple syrup, not pancake or sugar-free syrup! The latter two include refined sugar and corn syrup, among other things, and they’ll create a different taste and texture.

As for the other sweetener, stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly. I really love this vanilla crème stevia by SweetLeaf. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, as well as online. Stevia is very concentrated, so a little bit goes a long way! You’ll only need ½ teaspoon to sweeten this entire pie.
 

 
For the best results, cool the pumpkin pie completely to room temperature before chilling for 8 hours. This long chilling time allows the flavors to meld, and it also makes for the cleanest cuts when slicing the pie to serve! If you can’t wait the full 8 hours, make sure you chill the pie for at least 3 hours. I promise it’s worth the wait!
 

 
And of course, you can’t have pumpkin pie without whipped cream! For this healthier, lightened-up version, you’ll beat a small amount of heavy cream to the soft-peak stage before adding Greek yogurt and more vanilla crème stevia. It has the same consistency as regular whipped cream made entirely from heavy cream but for a fraction of the calories!

My dad assumed that meant he could douse his entire slice with it… And I didn’t blame him!
 

 
Now who else wants a slice??
 

View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points