Square Pie? Pie Squared?

I decided I wanted to make a pie crust for our pumpkin pie that didn't involve flour. I'm not a huge pie crust fan. One of my daughters is though, so, on Thanksgiving, we'll have traditional pumpkin pie for her. For me and the two other little girls, we're trying some new things. Today, we experiment!

I took this recipe from Straight Up Food

&

this recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie (this was for a very small amount of pie crust)

and combined them into:

15 dates (the 365 brand from Whole Foods that come in a bag, I don't know what kind)
3/4 cup of oats
4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
3/4 cup of walnuts
1 tablespoon soy milk (or as needed)

Process the dates and walnuts until pretty smooth, then add the cocoa and walnuts. After the mixture is processed determine if you need the soy milk (it should be pretty darn sticky). I needed about a tablespoon to get it to a good texture.

Press into a pie pan.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

On the Straight Up Food blog, there are instructions on how to roll the pie crust out and transfer it into the pan. This method did NOT work for me. I rolled on a silicone sheet, but I couldn't get it to come off in one piece. It was okay; I just mashed the pieces back together in the pan. I was going to use my round glass pie pan, to make the pie, but I didn't think the crust would EVER come off of the glass since the mixture really stuck to the silicone. I opted instead to use my square silicone baking pan, instead and that's why we have a square pie (I'm buying a round silicone pan right now!)

For the pie filling, I made (mostly) this recipe from my blog; but of course, I changed it! No oil! Less tofu! Cashew cream!

Here's what I did this time:

1 package of silken (soft) tofu
2  15 ounce cans pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cashews
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cloves (optional)
2/3 cup maple syrup

(optional chocolate chips)

Add cashews, maple syrup and tofu to the blender. (Drain as much of the liquid from the package of tofu as you can (easily), but you don't need a tofu press or anything like that.)  Blend until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate chips, and blend! (I don't feel I can get a good texture from my mixer, so I just use the blender. Plus, if you're using cashews you need the blender and why dirty up more bowls/appliances?)





















Scatter chocolate chips on the crust. Here's what my scattered chocolate chips looked like:

Pour the filling on top.


Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Here are the nutrition facts for 1/12th of the filling (I think it would make 2 pies if I had pie pans.) Note, these nutrition facts do NOT include the chocolate chips or the pie crust. Often times, I make pumpkin pie with no crust. I always include the chocolate chips, but I lie to myself and tell myself that chocolate is medicinal and that calories don't count in medicines--but that's just me. 

The results?

The girls love it and I like it! I think it's a little too sweet and will do a version with less maple syrup. The texture was GREAT; I'm still debating about how I feel about nutmeg. The crust was good; definitely what I'd use for an "everyday" crust--lower fat, healthier, but I might try with more walnuts and less or no oats for Thanksgiving. Truthfully, I like pumpkin pie filling on top of chocolate chips best. 

(Despite the review, note, I've eaten a lot of this pie--going to spend some time on the treadmill. Heh.)

Currently, the plan is: one pie like this--er, with more walnuts and less oats in the crust; one pie with regular crust and no chocolate chips; one with regular crust and chocolate chips; one with chocolate chips, less sweet, and no crust. We'll see if we need more than 4 pies.

Edited to add:
I liked this crust, but am not sure I love it and I didn't end up making it for Thanksgiving.