A creamy keto pumpkin pie filling with a tender almond flour crust. If you want a light and airy Thanksgiving dessert, then this Pumpkin Cream Pie is for you. With only 7g total carbs per serving, you can afford to indulge this holiday season.
Who wants pie?
The dreaded words that anyone on a low carb diet hates to hear at the end of their Thanksgiving meal. Because that pie…oh my! It has a lot, and I mean a LOT, of carbs. Pumpkin or pecan, it doesn’t matter. With all that pie crust and all that sugar, it’s bound to be carbalicious.
Except that it really doesn’t have to be and this low carb pumpkin cream pie proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
This pumpkin pie recipe is a keto dieter’s dream and I promise you that it will be the highlight of your holiday meal. You will be looking forward to dessert all dinner long!
Adventures in making Pumpkin Cream Pie
A shout out to the reader who suggested I try my hand at this. I believe it was over Instagram, and she said I was the queen of keto cream pie recipes. How could I resist such flattery?
I thought I knew what I was doing. I thought I would make it exactly the same way I made keto Strawberry Cream Pie and the Mocha Cream Pie from Easy Keto Desserts. Oh boy, was I wrong.
For some reason, when I added my pumpkin mixture to my whipped cream, the filling completely curdled. It tasted great, but it was remarkably ugly. All little bits of orange pumpkin puree mottled by little bits of white whipped cream. It wasn’t uniform at all and nothing I did made it come back together. And I knew it wouldn’t set properly either, since they wouldn’t mix together.
Don’t make the same mistake I did! I tossed that filling and started over.
Many pumpkin cream pie recipes rely heavily on cream cheese for the filling, but that’s more of a pumpkin cheesecake and that wasn’t what I was after here. But I knew it would help give the filling some structure so I used only half of a brick of cream cheese. And then I also used some gelatin dissolved in hot water to give it a lighter, more airy quality.
I also used the new Swerve Brown sweetener for a true pumpkin pie flavor, with that hint of caramel or molasses. You could use all powdered Swerve here, if you prefer. The second filling turned out just as I wanted it, a light pumpkin mousse rather than a dense cheesecake, but so rich and satisfying at the same time.
For the crust, I highly recommend using my Almond Flour Pie Crust. It’s so easy because it’s simply a press in pie crust, but it ends up being tender and flaky, and it holds up to any filling you want to put into it. You could make it no-bake, but in this particular application, I highly recommend baking it. It has more crispness that way, which contrasts deliciously with the creamy no-bake pumpkin filling.
But you know, if you wanted to skip the crust altogether and eat this as a delicious pumpkin mousse, I wouldn’t stop you.
Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie Recipe
It’s so wonderful to have sugar free options to some of our favorite traditional desserts. This pumpkin cream pie isn’t like your traditional custard pie. It’s not nearly as dense or heavy, but it’s still full of amazing pumpkin pie flavor.
And only the crust is baked, so it’s really easy to make. Be sure to use the gelatin to make sure it sets properly, but you shouldn’t have any worries that it won’t turn out well. Sometimes regular pumpkin pie doesn’t set or makes the crust soggy but it won’t happen with this pumpkin cream filling.
Here’s to a happy and healthy keto Thanksgiving! Who wants pie?
Keto Pumpkin Cream Pie
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Almond Flour Press In Pie Crust
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ⅓ cup Swerve Brown
- 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 ½ teaspoon grassfed gelatin
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the pie crust according to the directions and bake at 325F for about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool.
- In a large bowl, beat together the pumpkin puree, cream cheese, brown sugar substitute, and pumpkin pie spice until smooth.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the water and gelatin. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then whisk again to dissolve the gelatin. Beat into the pumpkin mixture.
- In another large bowl, beat the whipping cream with the powdered sweetener and vanilla extract until it holds stiff peaks.
- Fold the two mixtures together until no streaks remain. Spread in the prepared pie crust and refrigerate at least 2 hours until set.
Video
Carol Barrer says
After reading through the recipe for the pie crust and the filling, I’d love to try swapping out the almond flour in the crust with pecan flour, the regular sweetener with a brown sugar Swerve, and then adding a bit of cinnamon or pumpkin spice to the crust as well! Thanks for the wonderful recipes and inspiration! You rock!
Laurel says
I’m just curious if adding a little tumeric to your pumpkin pie recipe would add color and also great nutrients since this spice doesn’t have much flavor anyway!?
Thanks for the great recipes!
Carolyn says
Feel free to try!
Felicity says
This turned out to be pure perfection and I’ll be making it every fall. One question: I had some issues with the gelatin/water boiling over in the microwave. Following a tip from your espresso chocolate mousse cake, could you bloom the gelatin in the 2 T of water, add a little of the cream and warm it on the stove? Thanks for another staple recipe!
Carolyn says
Yes, you could do that. I think for the microwave, you need a bigger bowl and you need a lot less time. You don’t want it to boil!
Felicity says
Thanks Carolyn! The saucepan method is seeming to tame the gelatin’s behaviour better so far (I’m part way through making the mousse cake as we speak). No blobs! Will try it on the pumpkin pie.
Carol Burnside says
My husband and I love this pie. It’s so light and fluffy, yet has such great pumpkin pie taste! I made it for Thanksgiving 2021, then had to have it again as one of our Christmas desserts. Thanks for taking the time to get the texture right. We appreciate your hard labor with every bite. Keep creating recipes!
Carolyn says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Diane says
Can regular Knox gelatin be substituted for the grassfed gelatin?
Carolyn says
Yes but it gels more so only use 1 tsp.
Dianne says
I have mine chilling in the fridge right now, and if the pie itself is even half as good as the tastes I stole from the base as I was preparing it we are in for a treat on this Thanksgiving day!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us! Not one I have tried has disappointed me!!! They have ALL been yummy!
Carolyn says
Happy Thanksgiving!
Karen Hoffman says
Hi Carolyn,
The nutrition stats for carbs on the pie recipe, does that include the crust also or do you count that separately ? BTW, I just got your book this week. I love it. Just in the beginning I learned so much about measuring, pans, storing, etc. it is like an encyclopedia! Well worth the money. Can’t wait to try more recipes.
Carolyn says
My nutritional info always includes all the things I used, so yes, it includes the crust. Hope you enjoy the book!
Karen Hoffman says
I had originally clicked all the 5 stars but after I posted it it only showed two. I tried to find out how to edit but couldn’t figure it out. I am not familiar with Pinterest. I love the book and am making the pumpkin cream pie as I write this. I felt so bad. The stars didn’t match what I had said.
Katie says
It’s simple and delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
Leslie says
I’d like to make this pie before I’d get the Great Lakes gelatin in the mail. I saw a comment about using Knox, but with 1/4c of cold water for 5 minutes, then warm it up to dissolve. I wonder how much of it to use once ready since the GL brand says to use only 2T
Carolyn says
Use 1 tsp of Knox. Sprinkle it over 1/4 cup water and let it bloom, then warm gently (pot or microwave), stirring until it dissolves. Then proceed as directed.
Stephanie Dion Young says
This is delicious and easy to make.
Denise says
Not usable for me. Tried to use the recipe directly from email, I get pop up after pop up advertising baking lessons, no way to X out of it. So I go to the computer and again, so advertisement popping up everywhere, I can’t see/follow the recipe. May be my equipment but I doubt it, made keto bread from another site yesterday without all the interruptions and blocking.
Carolyn says
There is most definitely a way to close it. I wouldn’t have it otherwise. I see it myself on occasion, and it’s specifically set to show up only once (per device) per person for 45 days… 🙂
Susan M Babb says
what about a recipe for a traditional baked pumpkin pie? can I just swap out the sugar with Splenda (brown) sugar ?
Barbara T says
Turned out very well. Thanks. How do uou think it would freeze?
JuJu says
This recipe looks amazing. Is there anything I could substitute the gelatin with? Thank you.
Carolyn says
You need gelatin for structure. You could try a vegan gelatin replacement like agar agar but I cannot guarantee the results.
Eve Anderson says
Have you ever tried Mascarpone in place of cream cheese? Wondered if it would give the same type of body, but with a slightly more neutral flavor profile.
Carolyn says
Mascarpone is softer, with no fillers so it may not set quite as well.