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This diabetic-friendly pumpkin pie sweetened with stevia is the great addition to a Thanksgiving feast. Make it when you can’t (or don’t want to) use cane sugar!
Years ago I was anointed “pie maker” for both families’ Thanksgiving dinners and I chose two classics to bake: pumpkin pie and apple pie.
There was a twist, however, with making sweets for my in-laws: they’re diabetic.
Unlike my husband who is also diabetic, my in-laws stayed away from anything with real sugar in it. I’ve found that everyone with diabetes has a body that reacts differently to various foods in terms of blood sugar spikes and lows.
With my husband, we’ve learned that he can eat things with real sugar, he can eat carbohydrates, and his blood sugar is just fine.
What we control is portion and how many carbs he’s eating (which after all this time of watching and measuring, happens to be regular portions).
This has made me VERY happy because I really don’t like to use artificial sugar substitutes, since they’re often made by or made from chemicals.
On the other hand, sugar substitutes, like products made from the stevia plant, have finally become mainstream. So when I was cooking for my in-laws, and I needed something to replace cane sugar, stevia’s the route I went.
The ratio of stevia for cane sugar is one-to-one in terms of recipes, and while the flavor doesn’t taste exactly the same as cane sugar (I get a lingering aspartame taste), it’s okay — and it’s natural.
The pumpkin pie I made is a close take on the Silver Palate Cook Book recipe, with the exception of using whole milk instead of half-and-half and cream, and stevia instead of cane sugar.
(I’m not against half-and-half and cream, I simply forgot to buy it and didn’t have time to run back out to the store.)
Also, the recipe calls for a little brown sugar, and I happened to have some Splenda brown sugar mix in my pantry, so I used it. I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “Liza, you just said you don’t like sucralose. And here you are using Splenda brown sugar mix!”
It’s true.
The reasons I used it are simple:
- It was in my pantry.
- The recipe only calls for a little.
- My in-laws ate stuff with sucralose and aspartame all the time already.
Once it’s gone, I won’t be replacing it.
And, in hindsight, I could have used molasses as a substitute.
Oh well.
So, PUMPKIN PIE! Doesn’t it look pretty?
PS: I often cheat when it comes to pie crust and use pre-made from the fridge section, but I do occasionally make homemade easy pie dough.
PPS: Check out my traditional easy pumpkin pie if you don’t need a diabetic-friendly recipe.
Diabetic Friendly Pumpkin Pie
This diabetic-friendly pumpkin pie, sweetened with stevia, is the perfect addition to a Thanksgiving feast. Make it when you can't (or don't want to) use cane sugar!
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 28-ounce can of pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup granulated stevia
- 1/4 cup Spenda brown sugar mix
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- pecan halves, for garnish
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line two 10" pie plates with the pie crusts. Crimp the edges.
- Whisk the eggs and the sugars together with a mixer for 1 minute, until it's light and frothy. Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and salt, and continue mixing for one more minute. Add the milk and mix it until it's *just* incorporated, about 30 seconds. Pour the mixture equally into each of the prepared pie plates.
- Bake the pies for 10 minutes at 400°F, then reduce the heat to 325°F and continue baking them for 1 hour (or until the middles are set and just a tiny bit jiggly).
- Remove the pies from the oven and garnish the outsides with pecan halves.
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