FOUR INGREDIENT PUMPKIN PIE....REALLY??!!!! IT'S TRUE!

Photo Credit: Happy.Healthy.Life. lunchboxbunch.com

Are any of you starting to get that I just won't attempt a recipe with a lot of ingredients? All of the recipes I try for Snapshots of Wellness have less than 10 ingredients......it's just so much easier (0:  I am a minimalist true and true, what can I say (smile)!

Pumpkin everyyyyythingggggg!!!! It's Fall! Pumpkin....pie, muffins, cake, cookies, latte's, beer, carving, candy, caramels, cupcakes...it's pumpkin season!!!! Yip!

I came across this FOUR Ingredient VEGAN Pumpkin Pie recipe over at Healthy. Happy. Life. LunchBoxBunch.com. And read Kathy's Bio (the curator of the site)!!!! How amazing is SHE?! She is this fabulous vegan food blogger that I am just now finding out about! The recipes on her site are seriously......just awesome. 

So yeah, Kathy creates this too-good-for-words pumpkin pie recipe and I am delighted!!! Why? Because it's FOUR ingredients which means 'easy - quick - affordable'. How does it taste? It tastes delish - like traditional pumpkin pie that you had no idea was vegan. I didn't add her coconut whip though which I will next time.

Here is the recipe below! And please go here for all of the details, photos, etc. on her site!

P.S. The following (below) was taken directly from Kathy's site so, it's Kathy speaking below and not me. Let's get to making pie.....

Pie Crust. I was a bit annoyed at myself for not making my own crust for this pie. I used a vegan frozen crust from Whole Foods - easier since I was experimenting with recipes. I WILL for sure make a from scratch crust when I make this again for Thanksgiving. Flaky, vegan buttery, homemade vegan crust is oh-so-much-better than anything frozen. My how-to make pie crust instructions here will assist you. And watch my How-to Vegan Pie Crust Video too.

I hope you serve up this easy Vegan Pumpkin Pie - get in and out of the kitchen in a flash so you can spend the holidays with your guests.

Four Ingredient Pumpkin Pie
vegan, makes one pie

1 1/4 cups raw soaked cashews
1 cup maple syrup
1 can organic pumpkin puree (16 ounces) (or use fresh puree)
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

optional: 1/2 tsp salt to taste (depends how much salt you soaked your cashews in)

ingredients notes: using high quality spice is helpful. Also, I prefer grade B maple syrup for its rich amber tones and caramelized flavor - but grade A works too.

One standard vegan pie crust - or make your own using my instructions in this post. Also reference my crust-making how-to video here.

To Make:

1. Soak about one cup of raw cashews in about 2 1/2 cups of water in a large bowl. Add about 1/2 - 1 tsp of salt to the bowl - mix to dissolve. The salt allows the water to absorb more efficiently into the cashews and also adds some salt for your recipe. Note: you may want to soak more cashews than needed and make two pies - or use in other recipes like my vegan pumpkin spice cashew cheese!

2. Soak this cashew bowl overnight in the fridge. You want well-soaked cashews so that your pie mix blends up perfectly creamy. I soaked my cashews for about 18 hours. At least 8 is optimal. Don't soak for more than two days or the cashews can get grimy in my opinion.

3. The day of your actual pie making allow at least 3 hours from the time you start to the time you wish to serve the pie. I like a cool time of at least 2 hours.

4. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

5. Drain the water from your cashews. They should be very soft to bite and a slight purplish dark hue. This is normal. Add 1 1/4 cups of cashews to your food processor - or even better, a Vitamix or high speed blender. Get your own Vitamix here with free shipping!

6. Add pumpkin to blender. Next, add in the maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. Blend on low -> high for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture is completely creamy. If your mixture is a bit thick for some reason - you can add in a few teaspoons of either water, maple syrup or even non-dairy milk. After blending, do a taste test and add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt if needed. I added in about 1/3 tsp extra salt. But taste before adding.

7. Pour your mix into a par-baked vegan pie shell (I toast my raw pie shell in the 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes). You can buy a frozen crust or make your own per instructions linked in recipe above.

8. Bake pie at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes - or until the edges look fluffy and a darker caramel orange tone. Use a toothpick in center if unsure. The tooth-picked filling should come out slightly wet - but very thick and dark. It is important to remember that your pie will firm up significantly upon cooling and chilling in the fridge.

9. Remove pie from oven. Cool on counter for at least 30 minutes. Then place in fridge until ready to serve. At least 2 hours cooling and/or chilling time is my preference. A warm pie will be tasty, but still a bit "wet" to slice.

10. I serve chilled with a swirl of my vegan coconut whip on top!!

Kathy, I don't even know what to say but a big ole thank you for this recipe!!!! And you have a new 'regular' reader via your site.  I cannot wait to try your Blondie & Cacao Cookie Dough Bites (insane)!