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Do not even think of bring over the usual Thanksgiving pie to my house this year. Please bring this orange-spiced Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie made with coconut milk instead!
While dessert for two typically shares small-batch dessert recipes, it’s turkey week so I made you a full pie. My theory is that pie is a delicious breakfast, so this dairy free pumpkin pie is dessert after Thanksgiving dinner and breakfast the next day. Don’t worry too much about leftovers, trust me!
If you are serving just two people, here’s a recipe for mini pumpkin pies. However, I am definitely not saying you can’t enjoy this full-size pumpkin pie after making a small Thanksgiving dinner for two, though!
Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Milk:
This pie came about because I couldn’t find the can of evaporated milk in my pantry. So, I took the famous Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe, and substituted coconut milk for the evaporated milk. I also added orange zest along with the usual spices of cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
Then, I doubled down on the coconut flavor and made coconut whipped cream. If you buy the small cans of coconut cream, refrigerate overnight so that it’s firm. Beat it just like regular whipping cream, and you’ll have dairy free whipped cream that is even better than the regular stuff.
Important Tips (please read)
- Pie Crust: I just want to be very clear here: this recipe calls for a pre-made frozen pie crust, but it MUST BE DEEP DISH. Do not try to use a regular pie crust here, because the filling will overflow.
- Coconut Milk: When you’re using the coconut milk, it is not the whole can. It’s only 12 ounces, or 1 3/4 cup. Make sure the coconut milk is room temperature, and give it a good shake to dissolve any fat globules. You can slightly warm it if you need to in order to make it perfectly smooth before adding it to the bowl.
Ingredients
- Pie Crust. As mentioned above, this recipe needs a frozen, pre-made DEEP DISH PIE CRUST ONLY. If you bake this with a regular pie crust, you will have too much filling and it will overflow. Look in the freezer section of your grocery store and find the Marie Callenders brand of frozen pre-made deep dish pie crust. There are 2 per pack, typically.
- Sugar. Three-quarters cup of granulated sugar.
- Salt. Don’t skip the 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt for flavor balancing.
- Cinnamon. And now for the essential pumpkin pie spices: One teaspoon of ground cinnamon (Ceylon cinnamon is the best!)
- Ginger. One-half teaspoon of ground dried ginger.
- Cloves. One-quarter teaspoon of ground cloves.
- Eggs. Two large eggs.
- Orange. Usse a microplane to remove the zest from half of a large navel orange.
- Pumpkin Puree. One 15-ounce can of pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The Libby’s brand pumpkin is the most intense orange, but use whatever you prefer.
- Coconut Milk. Listen up: you need 1 3/4 cup of canned coconut milk. This is the full-fat, plain unsweetened coconut milk. And yes, it must be canned. The carton or refrigerated stuff is way too thin and runny. Shake the can and measure out 1 3/4 cups. You will have some leftover (use it in your latte!)
- Coconut Cream. Please understand that canned coconut cream is NOT THE SAME as ‘cream of coconut.’ Canned cream of coconut is for making cocktails, is runny and will never whip up. Ensure that you can says ‘Coconut Cream Unsweetened’ on it. You can refer to my recipe video to see the exact label and brand I use when making this dairy free pumpkin pie with coconut milk.
- Powdered Sugar. Just one tablespoon of powdered sugar to sweetened our coconut whipped cream on our dairy free pumpkin pie.
How to Make Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie
In a large bowl, stir together with a spoon the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, eggs, orange zest, pumpkin puree and coconut milk. (Do not use a whisk or electric mixer).
Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven after 15 minutes to 350, and bake another 30-40 minutes.
Let the pie cool overnight (in the fridge is best). Then, whip the coconut cream with the powdered sugar, garnish the pie and serve.
Storage and Make Ahead Info
I always make the pie part the night before Thanksgiving. I do not recommend making the coconut whipped cream ahead of time, because it might melt. Whip the coconut cream just before serving.
Leftover dairy free pumpkin pie keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also slice and freeze individual slices (with the whipped cream on top) for up to 6 months. Defrost each slice in the fridge overnight.
Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Milk
Dairy free pumpkin pie with coconut milk. You will love this fun twist on pumpkin pie: orange spice pumpkin pie made with coconut milk instead of coconut whipped cream.
Ingredients
- 1 9" DEEP DISH frozen pie crust
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 large eggs
- zest of 1/2 an orange
- 1 15-oz. can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 12-oz. can of full-fat coconut milk (not lite)
- 1 5-oz. can of coconut cream, chilled at least 24 hours in the fridge
- 1 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pull the frozen pie crust out of the freezer, and place it on a baking sheet.
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- In a large bowl, stir together with a wooden spoon the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, eggs, orange zest, pumpkin puree and coconut milk. (Do not use a whisk or beater because it will put too much air in the batter and your pie will sink as it cools). Use a spoon to stir it all together until it's homogeneous.
- Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 15 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 350 and bake for another 40-50 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned. The pie filling will jiggle slightly in the middle, but it will set as it cools.
- Let cool completely, overnight in the fridge is best.
- Before serving, use a paper towel to blot off any excess moisture that has accumulated on top of the pie (this is water from the pumpkin puree).
- Scrape the chilled coconut cream out of a can and into a bowl. Add the powdered sugar into a bowl and beat it with an electric mixer until it resembles whipped cream, about 1-2 minutes. Decorate pie with whipped cream (and add toasted coconut, if you like), slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 130Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 150mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 2g
Hi- We tried this recipe last night in advance of Thanksgiving and I’m glad we did. It’s very similar to Ina Garten’s pumpkin pie recipe minus the rum and cream. The orange flavor is delicious but the pie never set. When I retraced our steps this morning after the pie sat in the fridge all night I realized what had happened. Above you show a picture of the ingredients with a Thai Kitchen can of coconut milk, which is what we used. However your recipe calls for a 12 oz can- and their cans are sized 13.66 oz (per what we got yesterday at Whole Foods) or 14 oz (as pictured on their website). Even though they stand the same height as a 15 oz can of pumpkin, like your picture also shows, it’s not the amount you specify in the recipe and this should be emphasized. In this way people need to pour off some of the coconut milk from their can to get the smaller amount specified in the recipe. Makes sense since most recipes using a full can of condensed milk or heavy cream use less liquid- and it’s thicker than the coconut milk. We will try this again for Thanksgiving because the flavors were great- but use less coconut milk- probably less than even the 12 oz in the recipe- because what we have right now is a thinner version of pumpkin coconut mousse in a crust. Can only spoon it out!
Hi Randi,
First, thanks so much for writing me. And second, I am so sorry! I am so glad you tested the recipe before your Thanksgiving celebration! I would be mortified if I ruined your pumpkin pie expectations. I’m still mortified that this recipe did not work for you.
Let’s see…hmm..I made this recipe last year, and I do remember using the entire can of coconut milk that you see pictured. I am racking my brain to figure out why it didn’t work for you. Is there any chance your eggs were smaller than large? The eggs should set the custard. Did you measure the sugar very well? Sugar is a liquid ingredient and can be blamed for things ‘not setting’ sometimes. What about pie pan size? Did you happen to use a deep dish pie dish? That would alter the baking time. When you pulled it from the oven, did it only jiggle slightly in the middle? I’m wondering if you under baked? I just have no idea! I’m so so sorry, though. I’m going to make this pie again this year and see if I have any problems. I made it twice last year before posting it.
Thanks for writing, and best of luck!
Christina
Hi Christina- Just seeing this as I returned to your website to make it again for tomorrow. It really was delicious even though it was soft. I happily ate it for breakfast with whipped cream each day til it was gone :). I think it was the discrepancy in coconut milk size. (Actually baked it close to an hour because it wasn’t setting, and had so much extra filling I made 3 cupcakes too). Thai Kitchen may have just changed their can size this year as the ounces vary (within 1-2 oz) online when you look at the product. I will pour a small amount of the coconut milk off in favor of the thicker cream. I’m sure it will be scrumptious. Thanks for a great recipe!
Whoops- just to clarify baked the 350 degree portion for about an hour; typically our oven is spot on with the lower time recommendation for recipes so I’m sure it was just the extra liquid!
Pie was a HUUUUUUGE hit last night!
I Just face planted into the photo of your pie, (that’s how good it look)
Planning our Thanksgiving dinner, and I keep coming back to this! My husband is a pumpkin pie purist, but kicked up ginger and orange zest are SO my jam. I may try it with heavy cream instead of coconut milk first to ease him into it.
I made this for thanksgiving this year and it was. AMAZING. I don’t even like pumpkin pie! I do love pumpkin, and coconut milk, and coconut cream… so I just had to try it and I’m so happy I did! Thanks for another great recipe!
Oh thank you, Jill! So glad you & your family loved it! :)
Well heck… I no longer have full size, deep dish pie pans.. I’m a Dessert for Two fanatic now..
Maybe I can find one to borrow, if I promise to share.. Well, no… Not promising to share.. ;o)
This looks gorgeous! I’m in Australia and we don’t really have pre-made pie bases available, so may I ask the dimensions of the pre-made ones you use are so I can make the base to the right size? Thanks :)
Hi, Amy! It’s a 9 or 10″ deep dish pie.
Hi Christina! This looks amazing! It’s in the oven as we speak. I missed your note about using deep dish and I bought a regular pie crust instead. I’m wondering if I can freeze the remaining filling? I can buy some mini frozen crusts next time I’m at the grocery store so the filling doesn’t go to waste!
I wouldn’t freeze it up, because eggs don’t freeze well. I would bake the extra in ramekins or muffin pans :)
Wowza! Great recipe! It’s baking in the oven as I write this, but I tasted the filling and it’s delicious! I used 1/2 cup allouse and 1/4 cup stevia (truvia) because I’m diabetic and candy have the sugar. The allouse ‘sugar’ is best w/pumpkin pie when you are using non sugar- sugar. It just looks better after baking. I also added a 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract cause I love the flavor.
Thank you for a great recipe! :)
I could have eaten the whole thing by myself, it was just perfect as it was, thank you!
Thanks so much, Anita :)
I finally got to try this after having the recipe saved for years, and it’s now our forever pumpkin pie recipe! My spouse was really skeptical about coconut milk especially, but the orange was the biggest and most pleasant surprise. Even my toddler and baby loved this, so much that we already made a second one.
I will say that I have a pretty strong aversion to the refrigerated pie crust since learning to make real shortcrust pastry, but we tried it this year anyway. The first pumpkin pie I put the refrigerated crust in the deep dish pie pan (it just barely comes to the top edge), poured in the filling, and baked it…and it was the typical overcooked noodly texture I know-and-don’t-love from my childhood. For the second pie, I blind baked the crust until it was just barely cooked and then filled/baked it, and the result was MUCH better.
We also made 2 pecan pies this year (one went to a small friendsgiving so we only got a slice each and HAD to have more) using the filling recipe from your pecan pie bars and for whatever reason, THAT recipe makes the refrigerated pie crust turn out amazing. Golden brown, flaky for days; it’s some serious voodoo magic.