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
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup Swerve Brown
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 1/2 tsp grassfed gelatin
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp 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.
Jenny D says
This was simply fantastic. Not just good for keto, but GREAT for pie! Thanks, Carolyn, for another successful keto holiday feast. Your recipes have made all the difference on my being successful on Keto for more than 5 years! You’re a lifesaver!
Andy says
I just did a pre-Thanksgiving run of this recipe, and was NOT disappointed, this will definitely be on the menu!
pam says
The pale color makes me wonder about a lack of pumpkin flavor. I was wondering if you used less cream and more pumpkin how it would turn out.
Jenny says
It’s really nicely pumpkin-y, actually. Brighter than your typical pumpkin pie, though, roasting your own pumpkin and making your own puree would certainly elevate it further.But we used Libby’s and it was great.
Sarah says
This is amazing!!!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe. With pumpkin sweets everywhere, this pie came to my rescue. I think I will make it with out the crust next time and have it like a mousse. Thanks for being so awesome!
Jennifer D says
I’m making this for an early (Canadian) Thanksgiving this weekend. (Canadian Thanksgiving is not for another week, early celebrations!) I Know it will be delicious…. all of your recipes are! But, I have one teeny comment…. wish list…. whatever you want to call it. Could you please link the recipe for the Almond Flour Crust in the recipe, also? That would be helpful for some of us! I tracked it down before I went to the store…. but some readers may miss doing that….)
Thank you! And Thank You for being our Test Kitchen……. I’m off to make this now….
Carolyn says
It’s already linked right in the recipe. Have a great Canadian Thanksgiving!
Jen Richard says
I won’t be missing traditional pumpkin pie this year AT ALL! Thank you so much!!
Tina says
Help!!! I forgot to get the gelatin! Is there anything else I can use??
Carolyn says
You really need gelatin to set the filling. I am not sure what to day.
Erica B says
Late reply, but…I’d probably put the pumpkin in a sauce pan with a few tablespoons of cream and butter, whisk in a couple of egg yolks and cook briefly and very gently, then let it cool. I’d also add a good pinch of xanthan gum to the whipped cream at the firm peaks stage. The yolks, butter, and gum should firm up the filling at least a little. It wouldn’t be the original recipe, but maybe it’d hold its shape at least. 😄
Bonnie Eckard says
I used fresh pumpkin and this recipe was superb. I recently bought a copper bowl and a balloon whisk and the peaks of the cream formed just nicely and folded into the pumpkin beautifully. I just needed my pie shell just a bit bigger there was mixture leftover I put into a container to eat later. Thank you dearly for the confidence to continue baking Keto! I think everyone is going to want this pie instead of my regular cooked pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year.
Carolyn says
That sounds lovely, glad it worked out so well!
Heather says
I love this recipe!! Even my non-keto sugar-addict family members love it! I like my pumpkin pie a little spicy, so I did add cinnamon, cloves, ginger & all spice to taste. Also, I found that there is just enough room in the crust to make a second batch of the whipped cream & spread it over the top. I’ve made it about 8 times in 2 months!! Thank you!
Karen McGowan-Olyott says
I love this pie! I’ve made it 2 times already, my family also love it and they are not doing keto here in the uk, not many make use of the pumpkin sadly.
Thank you for your wonderful recipes
FIONA says
What can I substitute for Swerve….I can’t do anything with erythritol?
Carolyn says
What powdered sweetener do you like?
Elita in L.A. says
The crust is hands down the best pie crust I’ve eaten, keto or not. SO GOOD! I doubled the filling mostly because it was easier than splitting the can of pumpkin and trying to figure out what to do with the rest. I also added a lot more pie spice. The filling was delicious, albeit I do wish it had a stronger pumpkin flavor, it was muted by the whipped cream. Don’t get me wrong, I still couldn’t stop myself from adding another sliver and yet another sliver to my plate after eating a whole piece! I delivered half of the pie to a friend (I clearly could not be trusted with the whole pie in my house) and she and her husband also thought it was fantastic! THANK YOU for yet another delicious keto treat!
DavetteB says
If I skip the crust, how does that affect the carb count? I’m the only low carb person in my house and I’m trying to keep my numbers tight.
Carolyn says
I don’t know so you will have to run those numbers yourself. Should be pretty easy to do in an online nutritional calculator.
Ana says
I had also originally made the strawberry cream pie and when fall came around I wondered if I could turn the berry cream pie into a pumpkin cream pie, so I’m really happy someone has already tried it! It’s now my new favorite kind of pumpkin pie! I also added some chopped pecans to the crust and sprinkled some on as a topping which added a great flavour. Definitely recommend.
Carolyn says
Sounds delicious!
Karen Kelleher says
What eggs????? I do not need them listed in recipe ingredients.
Carolyn says
Yes, a mistake on my part, I was trying to identify why this person’s filling curdled.
Alana Jones says
I made this today and it was delicious! I started keto 10 weeks ago and have lost 21 pounds and having the option to still eat sweets like this is life-changing! Thank you!
Carolyn says
Congrats and good luck on your keto journey!