Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie

Mid-November. Thanksgiving prep is on. This year forty people coming. Mai's house is too small. My house is barely big enough. We are setting up tents in the backyard. The kettle smokers and the offset are both staying lit through the holiday. James will be off the restaurant kitchen for the first time on Thanksgiving — Lily insisted that for one year, on this one holiday, James gets to be at our house instead of his. Carlos the sous chef will run the restaurant's Thanksgiving service (which the restaurant has decided to do — a special prix fixe Thanksgiving menu, Vietnamese-Texan style — and which has booked out completely).

The full guest list grew to: Mai, Linh, Richard, Mei, Camila, David. Tyler, Jessica, Marcus (almost two), Jade (fourteen months). Emma, Daniel, Ava (three years three months), Ruby (one month). Lily, James. James's mother Grace from Chicago. Bill, Helen. Kevin, Trang. Thanh and his new girlfriend Anh. The Hernándezes (six of them). Mr. Washington and Marlene. The new Vietnamese family across the street, Phuc and Lan and their two boys. Charlie from Galveston with his son. Plus six more — relatives of Jessica's sister who happened to be in Houston for the weekend, which Tyler had asked me about and I had said yes to without thinking. Forty.

The turkey order: three large birds (eighteen-pound, twenty-pound, twenty-two-pound). The marinade: fish sauce, lemongrass, garlic, brown sugar, black pepper, five-spice. The injection: forty-eight hours in advance. The smoke: post oak with apple wood. The plan: the first turkey on the smoker at midnight Wednesday, the second at 2 AM Thursday, the third at 6 AM Thursday for staggered finishes. James has the schedule. I have the schedule. We will hand off the smoking shifts. The neighborhood will know it is Thanksgiving from the smoke alone.

With forty people coming and three birds on the smoker from midnight to noon, I needed at least one thing on the table that required zero tending and zero babysitting — something I could make ahead while James and I mapped out our smoking shifts. Pumpkin pie is non-negotiable at Thanksgiving regardless of how the rest of the menu runs, and this dairy free version means Grace from Chicago, Phuc and Lan’s boys, and anyone else with sensitivities can have a real slice without a second thought. Make two. Make three. At forty people, you will run out.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes (plus cooling) | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin puree
1 (13.5 oz) can full-fat coconut milk
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (dairy free store-bought or homemade)

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 425°F. Place the unbaked pie crust in a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges. Set aside.
Make the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and vanilla until completely smooth and uniform.
Fill and bake at high heat. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes — this sets the crust edges and gives the filling a head start.
Reduce heat and finish baking. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes, until the edges are set and the center has just a slight jiggle. Cover the crust edges with foil if they brown too quickly.
Cool completely. Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing. The filling will firm up fully as it cools. Refrigerate if making a day ahead — it holds well for up to 3 days covered.
Serve. Slice and serve as-is or with dairy free whipped coconut cream. At a gathering this size, consider making two pies — one will disappear faster than you expect.

Nutrition (per serving)

Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie — The One Dessert That Has to Show Up for Forty