Golden Pumpkin Pie

I know, I know. The season is totally wrong for pumpkin pie. But when you have a stash of canned pumpkin and are being hosted for lunch by a pie loving Texan, the natural thing to do was make pumpkin pie. Besides, pumpkins are in season here in Israel and who doesn't love the comforting flavors of cinnamon and spice any time of year? I mean, do I need to justify my decision anymore? Good. Because it was very well received. And picture perfect, too. Please don't burst my bubble. This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book. I chose it because of it's whole grain crust. Using a combination of oats, whole wheat and regular flours, the crust came together pretty easily, although it does require an overnight rest in the refrigerator. Due to the heat of my kitchen, the dough softened making it difficult to roll, it kept sticking and cracking. I just patched the dough into the pie shell and no one was the wiser. The filling was as simple as whisking all the ingredients together. I substituted parve milk for the half and half, oil for butter/margarine, and used a combination of honey, brown sugar, and white sugar instead of all honey because I ran out of honey and then brown sugar :). Next time, I'd like to try it with just honey. I also omitted the rum because I don't generally keep alcohol on hand. The pie, when it cooled, was beautiful except for some burned crust at the top. Be sure to be smarter than I was and put a pie shield on top to avoid this issue. To store short term, just cover with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature. I suppose for longer storage, you should refrigerate. But I dont think it will last that long. Who can resist a slice of homemade pumpkin pie? See if you cant control yourselves from second helpings. The original recipe can be found here.

Golden Pumpkin Pie
my way
Crust:
2 1/4 ounces oat flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup white flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp margarine
3-4 tbsp milk or half and half-- I used non dairy cream

Filling:
1 can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup non dairy milk or cream
3/4 cup mix of honey, sugar and brown sugar, or all honey
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Add all the dry ingredients into a bowl, whisk until well combined. Add the fat, and cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some big pieces also. I used my hands. Drizzle in the milk a bit at a time.

When the mixture clumps together easily when squeezed, you know you've added enough liquid.

Turn out onto a clean surface and round. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

This is my dough all rested. Let it take the chill off for a bit before rolling.
Roll out into a large enough circle to fit your pan.

Place the crust into the pan. Or if you have trouble as I did, just patch it in. No one will be the wiser. Refrigerate until ready to fill. Preheat the oven to 425.

In a bowl, place all of the filling ingredients.

Blend until completely smooth. Pour the filling into the chilled crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Dont forget to shield the crust! Turn the oven down to 350 and bake another 35 minutes.

Here is what it looked like straight out of the oven. Set it on a rack to cool. As it cools, you are rewarded with a picturesque pie. Dont forget to trim the burned parts! Enjoy this little bit of autumn in the summer time!