This Healthy Squash Pie With Oat & Apple Cider Crust is simply amazing!! My favorite dessert recipe to date! You can enjoy it guilt free, as it's high in potassium, salt-free, and full on sweet flavor with a touch of warming fall spices. A perfect holiday dessert!
When I researched how to make a substitution for evaporated milk online, I found a few options, including using either all half and half, all heavy cream, or using milk or nonfat milk powder, but adding a tablespoon of cornstarch. I used nonfat milk powder blended with water, a little half and half, and a little kudzu root, which worked perfectly. You can make your own substitution as you need, including those just mentioned, but it will change the total fat content.
Remember, you can always make a real whipped topping, so maybe save your fat splurge for that?
Actually, I even made a creamy topping with nonfat milk powder if you can believe it! The 'whipped topping' recipe is on the package. It worked! It just takes longer and doesn't quite come out as whipped, but it did come out thick enough and tasted great on the Squash Pie.
Nonfat milk powder is my new favorite ingredient to use as it is a good source of calcium. It provided the same texture and taste I was expecting from my limited experience with both tasting and making a Squash Pie.
Our absolute favorite, super dense and sweet squash is a kabocha squash, which I recommend for this pie. However, they have been harder to come by locally this year, due to more rain I am told by local growers.
Buttercup is another good choice, which can look similar to kabocha. Both have a forest green color, and more mottled texture versus the smooth forest green acorn squash. Kabocha has a bit more of a pumpkin shape; buttercup typically has a flatter top, and sometimes what looks like a cap on top. Both may have some orange coloring on the surface, and both should be a nice deep orange flesh color inside. If either is pale yellow inside, it's probably not worth using for Squash Pie. Unfortunately, it may not taste very good at all.
Choose squash that are heavy for their size. Butternut or honey butternut squash can also be used in lieu of kabocha or butternut.
Roast squash first by cutting in half, removing seeds, then baking on a baking pan lined with parchment paper, open side down, at 375º until squash is soft to the touch, about 40-45 minutes. Let cool, or prepare the night before.
Amazing Healthy Squash Pie With Oat & Apple Cider Crust Recipe
- Preheat oven to 350º and butter or grease a 9 inch pie baking dish.
- Grind oats in a food processor or blender until resembling stone ground flour
- Place in a bowl, add flour, then stir in oil with a fork until combined, and oat flour is crumbly
- Add sugar. I actually used a little coconut sugar and a little regular sugar. The original recipe called for only 2 teaspoons of coconut sugar. I upped my sugar a bit, using about 1&1/2 tablespoons total, half coconut and half granulated sugar. Use less if you prefer.
- Add in very cold or iced apple cider 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until it comes together as a dough. It may be a little sticky but should stick together like a ball. Add more flour if too sticky. Or, if not sticking together add a bit more cider or water.
- Press evenly into pie dish. Bake 10 minutes until crust is lightly golden brown. Remove and set aside while preparing batter.
SQUASH PIE BATTER (My base recipe for the Squash Pie batter is from Eating Well, found here.)
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, add 2/3 cup of cold water, then whisk in 5 Tbsp. of nonfat dry milk powder. It should be a bit thick. Use a skinny whisk or spoon to stir, adding a bit more milk powder if too watery. Add half and half to now have about one cup or a little more combined. Separately, place 1-2 Tbsp. cold water in a tiny bowl, and stir in kudzu root or arrowroot / gelatin / cornstarch until well dissolved, then whisk in to the milk + half and half mixture. Set this aside. (See notes below)
- In a food processor or bowl, lightly whisk or pulse the eggs.
- Add squash, honey, vanilla and spices, and blend/whisk.
- Pour in milk mixture and thickener, and blend.
- Do a quick taste test. Adjust to your taste for sweetness, and/or if you need a little more spice.
- Pour into the pie crust. Place on a baking pan, and bake at 350º until the outer layer turns light brown, about 45 minutes.
- Carefully cover the crust and outer brown area with strips of foil. (I started to add foil before it was brown enough, and accidentally messed up the pie, as you can see in the picture below.) Bake another 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
A little splotch on the left from trying to put foil around the edge a bit too soon. Didn't ruin the flavor tho! |
NOTES:
Amazing Healthy Squash Pie with Oat & Apple Cider Crust ~ so good, you'll want to eat it for breakfast! |