Looking for a smooth, creamy pumpkin pie while avoiding carbs? This crustless keto pumpkin pie with gingerbread crumble topping has a guilt-free creamy texture and is full of pumpkin and gingerbread cookie flavors.
The secret behind Pumpkin Pie
Here’s the critical secret– all pumpkin pie is actually pumpkin custard pie. All (traditional) pumpkin pies utilize eggs as a key ingredient. Hence, what is most commonly referred to as pumpkin pie is truly pumpkin custard pie. Once you rethink pumpkin pie as pumpkin custard, it’s easy to leave off the crust. To prevent the bottom of the pie from having a strange texture without a crust, there are a few options. You can try baking your regular recipe in a pie dish at a lower temperature for a longer time, use ramekins, or switch to a crockpot. Around the holidays, I treasure having spare oven space. I opted for the crockpot method.
Making crust less pumpkin pie
The biggest contributors of carbs in pumpkin pie are the crust and sugar and evaporated milk in the filling. But the crust is truly optional. The sugar is easily replaced with my favorite sugar substitute, Swerve (erythritol and oligosaccharide blend). And heavy whipping cream is a great substitute for evaporated milk.
Equipment Needed
- Crockpot: any classic crockpot or slow cooker would do. One with a smaller surface area would yield a thicker pie, while larger surface areas yield thinner pie. My crockpot has a larger surface area, and my pie was about 2” thick. It looks like my crockpot model isn’t on the market anymore (it’s over five years old), but it’s very similar to this one.
- Immersion Blender (optional): I keep on raving about my immersion blender in recipes. Once you get used to using it, you see applications for it everywhere. I expect you could get the same results in this recipe if you used a hand mixer in a bowl before adding ingredients to the crockpot. Using the immersion blender is easier, faster, and results in less clean up. I have the Cuisinart model like this one.
Cuisinart Smart Stick Immersion Blender – $65 at Amazon
Key Ingredients
- Canned pumpkin puree: This ingredient is versatile to be used in a variety of recipes like cookies, muffins, bases for stews and soups. It is essentially a cooked pumpkin blended in a food processor until it forms a soft pulp like consistency. In the United states, this is sold in a canned form thus contributing to its popularity as an ingredient in many fall and winter recipes.
- Heavy whipping cream: Heavy whipping cream or heavy cream are the same thing. It has at least 36% milk fat which makes your recipe creamier and thicker. Whipped cream has a lesser fat percentage in the 30-35% milk fat range. It has a lighter profile which can be used for recipes that are airier or as a topping.
- Swerve – Swerve is a popular brand of sugar free sweeteners sold in the United States. It isn’t necessary that you use Swerve but any favorite sugar free sweetener of choice can be used in this crust less keto pumpkin pie with gingerbread crumble recipe.
- Eggs: a key ingredient in any custard or pie. The key thing to remember is that the eggs need to be at room temperature before using it in your pie. Just leave the eggs outside on your kitchen counter for about 30 minutes. If in a hurry, place them in a bowl with warm water for about 10 minutes.
- Unsalted butter: Similar to eggs, the butter needs to be at room temperature too. Using butter straight from the fridge will make the recipe a lot denser than needed.
- Vanilla Extract
- Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, ground cloves
Steps
- Place all the ingredients in your crockpot.
- Cream together everything with an immersion blender. I’ve previously tried using just a fork to blend the ingredients together. This recipe comes together best and yields the creamiest, silkiest pie if you beat/cream/combine the ingredients with some sort of blender.
- Cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Tip: it’s a good idea to prevent any condensation from falling back onto the custard. To prevent this, place a large paper towel underneath the lid.
Alternately if you don’t have an immersion blender:
- Place all the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Cream together everything with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth and well-blended. Again, I really recommend combining this with the assistance of an electric mixer/blender of some sort rather than relying on elbow grease and a whisk or fork.
- Spoon into a crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 4 hours.
Pairing suggestions
- Whipped cream
- Gingerbread cookies. I used my keto gingerbread cookie both as decoration and as a crumble on the bottom.
- Keto pumpkin spice latte
- A cup of tea, especially ginger-flavored
Substitutions
I use a spice blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and clove. You could use “pumpkin pie spice” or otherwise change up this spice blend to whatever tickles your taste buds.
Storage
This will store easily in your refrigerator for a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
No! Here, I substitute the liquid dairy component for heavy whipping cream. The heavy whipping cream has a similar very thick texture, like evaporated milk, without the gobs of sugar. There are 9.8 g net carbs in 1.5 cups of heavy whipping cream versus 37.9 g net carbs in evaporated milk.
Pumpkin pie mix already has added seasonings and potentially evaporated milk or extra sugar. Obviously, I recommend just getting canned pumpkin if you wish to make this a keto recipe.
You could purchase a regular pumpkin, remove the seeds, slice it, and roast it. This process would take me at least 1-2 hours. You would need to add additional Swerve to sweeten the pie unless you purchase the higher carb pie pumpkins (smaller than regular pumpkins). Honestly, Libby’s canned pumpkin puree has the same result, with a known carbohydrate content. I recommend using whatever canned pumpkin puree you like.
Keto Crustless Pumpkin Pie with Gingerbread Crumbles
Equipment
- 6 Quart Slow Cooker/Crockpot
- Immersion blender
- Mixing Bowls (Optional)
Ingredients
- 15 oz Canned Pumpkin Puree (about 1 can)
- 1.5 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
- ½ cup Swerve, Granular (or sugar free sweetener of choice)
- 4 Large Eggs
- 4 Tbsp Unsalted butter, ,room temperature
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- ½ tsp All Spice Powder
- ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
Optional Toppings
- ½ cup Keto gingerbread cookie crumbles
- 1 tbsp Whipped cream
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Cream all the ingredients together with an immersion blender.
- Transfer the creamed ingredient mixture to the crockpot/slow cooker.
- Cook on low heat for 6 hours, or on high heat setting for 4 hours.
Optional Topping
- Spoon crumbled keto gingerbread cookies on top of the custard.
- Serve with whipped cream and an additional gingerbread cookie.
Notes
- This recipe will keep well for up to a week in the refrigerator.
- The gingerbread crumbles are an optional topping. The crust less pumpkin pie recipe tastes very well just on its own.
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