With the holiday quickly approaching, I wanted nothing more than my traditional pumpkin pie. I am a pumpkin pie aficionado. Pumpkin anything really. So this one was near and dear to my heart 🙂
If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know I realllllly don’t like using too many alternate ingredients in my cooking/baking. Rather, I prefer to take a non-vegan recipe and find ways to get the same result without the offending ingredient(s).
That being said, I decided to attempt the impossible using Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe as my test recipe. This, in and of itself, presents a few challenges. The first being evaporated milk. Evaporated milk is nothing more than milk with 60% of its liquid evaporated. Condensed milk is evaporated milk with sugar added. Libby’s recipe calls for evaporated milk, but I chose to make the condensed version. I feel like the added sugar aided in the thickening process.
So my experiment began here. I used almond milk for it’s thicker consistency and overall complementary flavor. Not a huge coconut fan, but you could use coconut milk (or really any non-dairy alternative) if you prefer. I would stay away from rice milk as it is rather thin and watery to begin with. If you try it and it works, let me know!
To that, I add sugar and salt. Over a medium-high heat, whisking frequently, I reduced the mixture by 60%. This is the time consuming part, but I was already working around in the kitchen and just had to tend to it occasionally. The best part is that the now condensed milk can be refrigerated for up to two weeks. And it should be refrigerated for at least two hours prior to using to be sure it reaches the correct consistency. I was skeptical, but the end result? Pretty much identical to canned sweetened condensed milk!
Click here to view the complete Vegan Sweetened Condensed Milk Recipe tutorial.
The rest of the recipe (aside from the eggs) remains exactly the same. I prepared the entire recipe up to this point and equally distributed the filling between four bowls.
I chose to try this pie using four popular methods of egg-replacers.
1. 1/2 C Silken Tofu, pureed until very smooth. The only way I ever really eat tofu, is as an ingredient and rarely on it’s own. If you can’t find the silken tofu, use soft tofu and blend, blend, blend until smooth. If you puree it enough, it should look like yogurt!
2. 1/2 C Silken Tofu, pureed until very smooth COMBINED with 2 Tbl Cornstarch.
3. 2 Tbl Ground Flax Seeds plus 6 Tbl Cold Water, allowed to sit in the refrigerator for up to 30 minutes. It will be gelatinous similar to the consistency of an egg.
4. A Starch Mixture consisting of: 3 tsp Tapioca Starch, 3 tsp Potato Starch, 1/2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum and 6 Tbl Water. Let rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to thicken and then whisk it until it appears lighter in color. It will also slightly increase in volume. The idea is to take advantage of the trapped air bubbles to aid in leavening in the same manner that eggs do.
While this one does require a few specialty ingredients, they can easily be found in most grocery stores these days. Any Whole Foods, Trader, Joes, etc. and of course, my go to…Amazon.com
Each of these work in very different ways and I was unsure how they would work in this custard-like dessert. I was not only looking for consistency that resembled the original, but also taste.
So how did they perform? Let’s take a look.
Here they all are before baking. Top Left = 1, Top Right = 2, Bottom Left = 3, Bottom Right = 4
You can see that 3 and 4 begin slightly thicker and darker, but all in all – pretty much the same.
Now here they are after baking and refrigerated overnight (sorry for the camera flash glare). Again, pretty consistent.
I cut a wedge out of each pie. If you had rearranged them, you would not have been able to discern which was which.
Then, a bite from each. Again, very similar but here is where you could taste the texture variances. To me, there was a clear winner. It was number 2. The Silken Tofu plus Cornstarch blend. It was the closest to the original as I could determine.
I do want to mention the runner up. That was number 4. This was the multiple starch mixture. During baking, this one showed the most potential as it had the correct rise, it just looked beautiful. But it was missing something in the end. I am going to do this one in the near future using this starch blend with tofu. I can’t give up on this one based on the appearance during baking. Wish I had snapped a pic…
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Libby’s Pumpkin Pie Copycat Recipe {Vegan}
Ingredients
- Serves: one 9" pie
- 3/4 C Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
- 15 oz . Can of Libby’s Pumpkin Puree
- 12 oz of Vegan Evaporated OR Condensed Milk
- Egg replacer of your choosing
- *
- FOR THE PIE CRUST:
- 6 Tbl very cold Vegan Margarine such as Earth Balance
- 1-1/2 C All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1-1/2 tsp Sugar
- 2 Tbl + 2 tsp cup very cold vegetable shortening
- 3-4 Tbl Ice Water
Instructions
- Instructions
- Prepare ahead the Vegan Evaporated OR Condensed Milk – {101 Series} vegan evaporated OR condensed milk recipe and refrigerate for two hours, preferably overnight.
- Prepare pie dough by placing all ingredients into a food processor except ice water. As the dough becomes crumbly and with the processor running, add the water slowly until a ball forms. You may not need all of it. Finish bringing the dough together with your hands. Do not overwork.
- Wrap the dough in plastic, shape into a flat disk and refrigerate for two hours.
- Prepare egg-replacer of your choosing.
- Combine all ingredients, whisking until smooth.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Roll pie dough on a floured surface to 1/4? thick. Place into your pie dish and create decorative edges.
- Pour filling into prepared pie dough.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes or until filling tests clean with a knife and dough is golden brown.
- If the edges start to get too brown prior to being done, use some foil to protect the edges.
- Allow to cool completely on a rack.
- Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
- Serve with our]Coconut Whipped Cream or the New So Delicious Coco Whip if you can find it!
Jessica @ Jessica in the Kitchen says
Loved your in depth analysis. SO helpful!
aimee says
Thanks for saying so Jessica. Just followed you on all social media 🙂 Always happy to support a fellow blogger!
Ilene says
Thank you for your recipe. You might consider this option for your piecrust which is much less labor-intensive. I don’t remember where my Mother found this but I’ve used it for years. Here are the ingredients: flour 1 1/2 cups; salt 1 teaspoon; sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons; oil 1/2 cup; milk 2 tablespoons. Sift dry ingredients into the pie play, create a well, pour liquid ingredients together after beating with a fork then mix the liquid with the dry ingredients until you have a dough then press into the shape of the pie plate. For baked crust, bake at 350° until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. For the pumpkin pie I don’t bake it first I use a fork to create those air holes through out and then I placed my pumpkin pie mixture into it. Enjoy ?
Sarah says
Thank you so much for this recipe! Your trial and error is saving me lots of time prepping for my 1st vegan Thankgiving. Just made this as a practice bake before the big day. I loved it. The consistency is perfect. It’s hard to replicate the egg in the traditional recipe, but your vegan method for condensed milk gave it a lovely caramel flavor. This is the closest I’ve gotten to the original in texture – I think it’s a bit sweeter, but I do love the rich caramel flavor it has. I used almond milk to make condensed milk in the slow cooker and an egg replacer similar to your starch method. Thank you so much!
aimee says
Hi Sarah, I am so glad you made it! How smart – using the slow cooker. You just taught ME something 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your pumpkin pie.
Kelly says
Yay! So glad to have found this! I just made 2 pies for Christmas ( I assume 1 of them will make it that long and the other will be gone tomorrow!)
I used the silken tofu and made condensed soy milk using your method, I probably ended up using less condensed milk that the recipe called for, but it is still awesome! I also used some pre made frozen organic vegan crusts I found at Whole Foods… just to save myself some effort, ( and they taste good!) but maybe I’ll make crust next time. The texture is a little bit lighter than I remember the original recipe being, but I prefer that considering it is dessert after an unusually heavy meal.
I think my family will be requesting these pies regularly regardless of if it is a holiday!
aimee says
You just made my day! Happy holidays 🙂
Cam says
Hi, I have the canned versions of both condensed coconut milk and evaporated coconut milk. Should I mix the two or just use one? Thanks.
aimee says
Hi Cam, sorry – I think I made that a bit confusing in the way I worded it. It’s one or the other. In the original from Libby’s (which I drew from), they used Evaporated. I hope that helps clarify 🙂
Tiffani says
Did you get to try #4 method with the tofu?
aimee says
Hi Tiffani, I have not yet tried this BUT I am working on some more pumpkin pie experiments. So stay tuned… 🙂
Kim says
This is exactly the vegan version I have been looking for! I’ve done vegan pumpkin pies with tofu and other ingredients in past years but they were never the same as the Libby’s version I remember as a kid. I’ve recently got my hands on some vegan condensed milk and am itching to try your version! Thank you for your diligent testing!
Rhona says
How many eggs are being replaced in this vegan recipe?
aimee says
Hi Rhona, this is the original recipe if you are interested in viewing it: https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/18470/LIBBYS-Famous-Pumpkin-Pie So, it’s 2 large eggs we are trying to replace with a vegan alternative 🙂
Beth says
This is DELICIOUS. I have rarely had a pie pastry work out for me, and this one was absolute perfection. The high temp made it perfectly crispy and flakey. I covered it with foil about half way through and then uncovered for the last ten minutes just to firm up the filling. I also used a little less sugar as the sweetened condensed milk made it sweet enough. I will definitely be making this again and passing this recipe on.
aimee says
Thanks so much Beth! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Pumpkin pie is my favorite thing on earth. I’ll never stop trying to perfect this one lol
Padmani says
Have you tried making any of these recipes crustless? Which replacer do you think would make the thickest filling? I am hoping to make this sugar free as well (probably monk fruit or Stevia combo). If crustless won’t work I may go for custard in rammekins😉
CC says
I have a 30 oz can of Libby’s pumpkin pie mix. It says the mix makes one 9 inch pie. This is twice the amount your recipe calls for. I am using eggs and evaporated coconut milk. I made a crust using ground walnuts & plant butter. Would 15 oz of Libby’s pie mix still work? Thank you for the recipe!
Excited to see how it turns out. 😊
Alison says
Oh Aimee! Yum! I’m so glad I found your recipe, this looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it!! What egg alternative did you use? Does flax egg work? Or maybe just egg?