I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about a dish as I am about this pumpkin pie. Even my Raspberry Chocolate Pie had nothing on this one.
I mean, this… this is just beyond words.
This pie is, well, please pardon my French, better than sex. Really.
It’s.THAT.good.
I died. With every bite. It was like one of the most decadent desserts I’ve ever had in my entire life. And I am not talking healthy desserts here, I’m talking desserts. Period. As in all of them.
And you know what?
This gorgeous pie is also… wait for it... SUPER HEALTHY! For real! It’s loaded with all kinds of things that’ll do your body good!
Unbelievable, isn’t it?
Well, mind you, you haven’t tasted it yet, so you can’t tell just how unbelievable it is to say that this pie is healthy. But take my word for it. It’s just plain out of this world creamy and smoooooth. It rivals with some of the richest cheesecakes that I’ve eaten in my life. It has a texture that is kind of like a cross between a creamy cheesecake and a decadent sugar pie, only it doesn’t have the overpowering sweetness of a sugar pie. Its flavor is a bit tangy, due to the addition of cheese and yogurt and buttermilk, but the pumpkin and various spices are always there to remind you that “Hey this is a pumpkin pie you are eating!”
Really, it’s like a cross between a creamy cheesecake, a non sweet sugar pie and a spicy pumpkin pie.
Oh man, I can’t believe I can’t find better words to describe that sublime dessert. How I wish I could make you actually taste it with my words alone, but so far, I am doing an extremely lousy job.
Mind you, I might already have convinced you at It’s better than sex…
But seriously, I was lying… it’s ten times better! 
OK, now I might be exaggerating… slightly! 
I guess you’ll have to try it and see for yourself!
Oh, and if you happen to have a little too much filling because your pie dish is not quite deep enough, or if like me, you made the crust a little bit on the thick side and didn’t bring it all the way to the top, by all means, don’t throw it out.
In fact, you might even want to save a cup on purpose…
Why? Well, take a look!
That recipe my dear friends is coming very soon to a blog near you!
But for now, I give you this:
INGREDIENTS
- 1½ cup graham flour
- ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 75g crushed pecans
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp liquid honey
- 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp allspice
- 3 cups pumpkin puree
- ½ cup 0% fat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup 1% fat cottage cheese
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 whole eggs
- ½ cup egg whiles (or 4 egg whites)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp each: allspice, ginger, freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground clove
- ½ tsp salt
- 30g crushed pecans
- ¼ cup oats
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp raisins, chopped
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Add all the ingredients to food processor and process until well combined.
- Transfer to a removable bottom deep pie dish and press to the bottom and sides of the pan to form a crust.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden.
- Set aside
- Lower oven temperature to 350F
- Add all the ingredients to the bowl of your food processor and process until smooth and creamy, about one minute.
- Transfer to the reserved pie crust.
- Bake in 350F oven for 50-55 minutes, until filling is set.
- Turn off the oven and open the door slightly. Allow pie to cool for a couple of hours, then take it out of the oven and let it cool completely before to transfer to the refrigerator, where you will leave it to cool for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat a small pan over medium high heat. Add the oats, pecans, salt and cinnamon and toast until fragrant and the oats start to turn brown.
- Add raisins and maple syrup. Stir until well combined.
- Set aside and allow to cool completely.
- Sprinkle over pie.
Notes
Nutritional Information based on 10 servings
I’ve never had pumpkin pie! It looks to die for, if you could wrap me up a slice and have it shipped to me ASAP I’d be EXTREMELY grateful!
Oh, Michelle, you HAVE to have pumpkin pie. I wish I could send you a piece… unfortunately, that one is long gone. I’ve got a great Apple, Pecan and Honey Caramel Cheesecake on the way though… Can’t wait for tomorrow to give it a try!
So I take it you liked this pie?
But really, this pie looks amazing. Invite me to your dinner! INVITE ME!!! 
I love your take on a pumpkin pie- giving it a super healthy twist. Love it, saving it!
LOL, yeah, I think I did like this pie indeed!
Thanks much for your great feedback. Pumpkin is such a healthy ingredient to start with, it’s easy to just stay in that track! Hope you end up making this one! 
Wow, what a gorgeous pie! Seriously, your photography is out of this world!! I’ve never eaten pumpkin pie (I hear that’s more of an American thing), but it looks delicious. When I decide to make it, I’ll be back asking for substitution suggestions, as I don’t think I’ll be able to find all of the ingredients here, ok?
Thanks much Jessy! Of course you can come back and ask! It’ll be my pleasure to help you out as best I can!
Single woman is my guess. You have convinced me to try this one, but I’m not into raisins. Do you think it would be okay without?
LOL, how’d you guess, Cindy?
I don’t know. about leaving the raisins completely out.. I find they really add a lot, both in the flavor and in the sweetness department… maybe try using another dried fruit that you like better?
I love your pictures. Thank you for always inspire me!
This looks amazing! We are on the same wavelength! But I think your pie is the mother of healthy/decadent pumpkin pies! Mine is a little simpler. You’ll see this week
Thanks Lauren! I’m really looking forward to your post!
I love thick crusts too! This recipe looks even better every time I read over it. I like how you only use 2 eggs instead of 4 or 5 like some other recipes.
Also, I read that pies sometimes explode in the oven at a high altitude… or is that just a silly rumor? Because I live in a high altitude area and I reaaally want this pie… like, right now… but I don’t want to destroy my dorm’s oven.
Thanks!
Quite frankly, I have no idea! I seriously doubt, however, that such a heavenly pie could ever be responsible for destroying any oven. At worse, it will make an awful mess!
I say you should take your chances and try it anyway! I really really like your blog by the way… I get the feeling that I will be spending quite a bit of time checking out your delicious recipes and getting inspired. 
I love that you put a crumble on this. One of the things that pumpkin pie needs is some sort of chunks to break up the creaminess. A crumble does this well.
And this one also adds a lot of depth to the flavor of the pie! Really, the pie just wouldn’t be the same without it.
o my gosh. i am sooo making this! this looks amazing!
I LOVE pumpkin pie and this one looks amazing even down to the homemade crust! I’m bookmarking it now.
Hey! I love your website! If you are interested in ideas, my website is vegan, and vegetarian gourmet food! http://gangybuffet.com/
I am a college student journaling my way through cooking.
I love pumpkin pie… I’m a little scared to try one that is *healthy* but I think I’m up to the challenge
Can you give us the dimensions of the pan you used? I’d hate to ruin the recipe by using the wrong size. The fluted edges give me the impression it was a tart pan, yes? I’ve not heard of a removable bottomed deep-dish pan, but that may be my limited knowledge of what’s out there.
I used an 9½ inch deep pie dish, exactly like this one. I love using a deep dish, because it allows you to choose just how high, or high low, you want to bring the crust.
I’ll definitely be making this! If I find proper cottage cheese (I don’t live in the U.S.) that is. I had a horrible feeling at the beginning of your post that this would be full of tofu. I’m all about making desserts healthy, but tofu isn’t my thing. Hooray for non-tofu healthy desserts.
What if you couldn’t tell that the tofu was there?
I used to not really care for tofu either, but soon realized that, when used well, it’s easy to just make it go completely unnoticed. Plus, I find the more I eat it, the more I like it… But still, I promise I won’t overload all of my desserts with tofu! Maybe just a few of them! 
I just went through your posts tagged as tofu. Your photography is amazing! Wow. I really dislike vegetables but you somehow made them look good. And if you made a dessert with tofu, and you really couldn’t tell there was tofu in it, then that would be something to consider.
Thank you so much, Erin! That is so nice of you to say! Now I take it as a personal challenge to come up with a dessert that has tofu in it but that cannot be detected at all!
And if you come up with one, I pledge to make it. As long as I can find all the ingredients.
Why couldn’t this have come 2 days earlier for Canadian thanksgiving?! I guess I’ll just have to wait until Christmas to try it now.
Why wait, Kristin? Go for a practice run!?
DROOL! This looks absolutely INCREDIBLE plus I am ecstatic about the fact that’s it is good for you and features one of my all-time fav ingredients – pumpkin!
LOVE this and your photos are just stunning.
The addition of the crumble makes it over the top and a must try on my list! I need to start a page of all the recipes from your site that I HAVE to try!
And me from yours!
Thanks for yet another super nice comment, Nora. Something tells me that you would absolutely love that pie! I hope you try it someday, I would LOVE to hear your impressions!
Better than sex? I’m going to have to give this pumpkin pie a try.
Wow! Might have to give this one a try, even though I’m not the biggest pumpkin pie fan…
Looks really, really good!!!
Can you give me an idea of cupwise how much is 75 g (pecans) and 30 g. I don’t have a scale.
You’re looking at about ½ cup and ¼ cup. Roughly. Luckily,in the case of pecans, the measurement is not an exact science, so you can feel free to add a little less or a little more…
Dang that looks amazing for being so healthy!
Looks wonderful! I have been stuck on making pumpkin recipes lately with fall approaching and will have to try this one. Love that you used greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Always looking for good, healthy dessert recipes. Thanks!
I hate to be the one to bring this up,but I have to ask. I love pumpkin pie and yours looks so fabulous and yummy…how many calories are in a serving? I do watch my calories and it would really be nice to know. Thanks so much. I love your site.
Argh! Sorry Michele, I have no idea, really, I didn’t calculate. I might do it though, I am curious also! If I do, I will let you know for sure!
This looks delicious!! Is there a way to make this recipe diabetic-friendly? I would like to switch the maple syrup for splenda, but I’ll be losing the wetness the syrup provides.
Hmmm… honestly, Lune, I don’t know anything about cooking with Splenda. How about using agave nectar, instead? If it’s safe for you to use, I would definitely go that route…
This looks so good, I can’t wait to make it. I got the ingredients but my dh is not a fan of raisins either. I think I can get away with the crumble and if he doesn’t care for that he can scrape it off.. but could I use a regular pie crust without totally ruining it?
Oddly enough, I’m not a huge fan of raisins either, but I find they work real well with certain things, like carrot cake, for instance, or most things apple. I find they go extremely well with this pie. And like you said, the crumble can be scraped off in the event that someone didn’t like it.
As for regular pie crusts, I’m really not a fan, as they are usually loaded with fat, and not the good kind, but I really don’t see why it wouldn’t work…
I’m going to make this for Halloween next weekend … although here we don’t celebrate it, but it’s still a good excuse to finally make pumpkin pie, right?
However, I need substitution ideas for these ingredients: graham flour (I think I might find it, but just in case I don’t), blackstrap molasses, buttermilk
Hey Jessy! Quite right, any excuse is a good excuse to make pumpkin pie…
Graham flour is basically another kind of whole wheat flour. I think you could use regular whole wheat and maybe sub a couple of tablespoons with natural wheat bran, just so you get the “coarser” texture of graham flour. Blackstrap molasses, well, you could use fancy molasses, but it doesn’t taste as strong as blackstrap, plus it’s a lot more refined. If you can get your hands on blackstrap, definitely grab it! As for buttermilk, I think half yogurt half milk or water should give you fairly similar results.
I got your email, btw. Do not despair! I shall get back to you soon! Let’s just say I’m a little swamped at the moment!
This pie was sucked! I spent all this time and extra $$$ on ingredients total flop! Though I donT disagree that it look decadent certainly no where near better than sex and some of my other pumpkin fav’s. Literally I threw it OUT!
I’m really sorry to hear that the pie did not work for you, Mandy. What made it a total flop to you? I sure would like to know!
I just made the pie and I dont know what happened for Mandy but mine turned out really great! I had a scare when my food processor started to leak so I ended up adding some more syrup and molasses after I put it in the crust (just stirred it in before baking) and it worked fine. I would probably make a little bit less filling next time since I had extra but otherwise it was awesome. Not super sweet but very filling because of all of the fiber and protein. Also you don’t crash from a sugar high since its not all sugar. I loved this pie and can’t wait to make it again!
Also I didnt use blackstrap molasses… I just used regular.
Oh, thank you so much for that Jodi, that makes me feel SOOOO much better! Real glad you liked the pie and that it worked for you.
You do need to use a deep pie dish if you’re going to use all the filling. Else, I guess one could probably even make two of the standard pies… Say, did you try the instant bake with your extra filling? I hope you didn’t end up throwing it out! 
I ate some and froze some.. it seems to freeze pretty well!
Oh, good to know! Thanks a bunch for that piece of information, Jodi!
We were quite disappointed by this pie. I made it exactly as written, and am an experienced cook – especially with natural, whole, healthy foods. I am used to less-sweetened foods and more earthy, natural flavors, so I was particularly excited to try this recipe out. But this pie really lacked the “most decadent dessert, better than sex, out of this world” title you gave it. I suppose it might be a difference of taste, but really, I was expecting a lot more from this. I feel bad because I put a lot of time and money into making this. I ended up feeding it to my chickens. I did love the crumble topping, though, and am going to try and make a granola based on it. So thanks for the inspiration there! I’m sorry for the bad review, but I thought it might be helpful for others to know that they might be cautious when baking this – and to maybe not have as high of expectations as I did. (It seems that Mandy may have had a similar experience.)
I’m really sorry to hear that this pie didn’t meet your expectations, Reagan. However, it seems like you were only disappointed with the taste, whereas Mandy seemed to imply that there was a problem with the recipe itself.
While I am somewhat disappointed that you didn’t like the pie as much as I did, there is no way I can ever guarantee that, because I absolutely love a recipe, everyone who tries it will like it just as much. It’s all a matter of taste, really, and taste is a very personal thing. There are those who will do backflips for dark chocolate, and those who don’t even care for chocolate at all…
I hope your chickens liked it…
Hi!!
Looks delish. But what is graham flour and where do I find?? If it had unrefined sugar in it, do you have a substitution you could recommend?
Emily
Graham flour is just a different kind of whole wheat flour. No refined sugar in it whatsoever. If you can’t find it, I guess you could use regular whole wheat and add a little bit of wheat bran to it, for a coarser texture.
I just made this pie. It could have tuned out very good, however the cottage cheese bits remain intact and taste as rubber. So what is the secret there, a special type of cottage cheeze, or …I really could not break the pieces…
Disappointing after 60$ in ingrediants and time and effort. I hope that the guests do not notice this tomorrow but I do not know how …
Gee, Tanya, I don’t know what to say… May I ask where you are from? Normally, cottage cheese, when processed, turns into something that is very similar to ricotta in texture… I’ve never heard of any cottage cheese that could resist the food processor treatment and not break down to a creamy consistency. Intact, you say? And you really used a food processor, not a mixer? Really, I’m stumped. And I am truly sorry that I can’t be of more help!
As for the $60 that you spent on ingredients, I certainly hope that they will make you way more than just this one pie!
I think when Tanya says she spent $60 it is because she didn’t have all of the ingredients already in her cupboard. I’m sure that when she bought a packet of spices, there would be some left over for instance! Btw this looks aaaamazing, however, as I live in Australia a lot of the ingredients are not available and so that’s disappointing. I hope I can find something to make! :]
For real? Like which ingredients, for instance? I’m really curious… I guess we tend to take for granted that whatever is available to us is available to just about everyone out there!
The photography is really great on this blog!
If I were to give some advice to those who want to make this pie, it would be to not expect too much (like, for the pie to be “better than sex” or even better than other whole/healthy desserts you’ve made), because then hopefully you will be pleasantly rewarded in your eating experience. Much better that than to be disappointed, after having such high expectations. I made this pie this weekend, and unfortunately my experience was the latter (disappointment). It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great, in my opinion. Today we ate lunch with our neighbors, and I sprinkled some sucanat (natural sugar cane) on top of the pie and put it the oven to warm. When it came out I sliced it up and put a dollop of whip cream on top of each piece, and everyone said “thanks, this is tasty” about it. So it got good reviews today, but I felt like it definitely needed the sucanat and whip cream, which does diminish the health value (at least the whip cream does). Live and learn, I guess.
I’m sorry to read that you didn’t like the pie as much as I did… correct me if I’m wrong, but did you warm it up before you ate it on both occasions? Did you try it cold? This pie isn’t meant to be eaten warm… much like a cheesecake. It should be eaten real cold.
I should clarify that I made two standard size pies, since the filling was so much. We ate one Saturday (which I wasn’t overly impressed with), and we had the other one Sunday as I mentioned above. The one Sunday, with the sucanat and whip cream, was better than the one Saturday.
So sorry – just saw your comment today! Not sure why email didn’t tell me it was there. You are right, we warmed it up both times. On Saturday, we warmed it only slightly, and on Sunday we warmed it more. So if I make it again I’ll try it really cold like you suggested. Thanks.
Great recipe! Will be linking back to this in my post tommorow
AWESOME!!! Thanks so much! I am honored!
Waswondering. How do you get the pie out of the pan?? I want to make this but have no idea how you got the pie out? I assume it has to be you got the crust out then filled it but I just want to check. I have never made a pie before. Lol
You need to use a pie dish that has a removable bottom, it’s as simple as that!
After making this tonight, i read through the comments and noticed all of the negative reviews. talk about bummer, but I still have my hopes up and will be having a slice for breakfast.
Well, I certainly hope YOU like it, Hannah. Please, do share your impressions!
Wow, this sounds amazing!!! I’m totally going to make this. I love pumpkin but have never made a pie (it’s not that common in the UK) but this sounds too good to be true. Thanks for posting! and stop by if you ever need some happiness inspiration. Peace x
Thanks Harri! I really hope you like it as much as I did. Please let me know how it turns out for you if you do give it a try.
Mmmh look really delicious, have to try!!
When are you publishing a book with all your healthy baking goods?!
Thank you Camilla! Hopefully I will, someday! I sure would love for that to happen!
Can this be made the day before Thanksgiving and still be good?
Of course! If anything, it’ll only be better!
I just made this pie and it indeed was a let down. Its taste came out lacking sweetness in such a way that it almost tasted sour / plain. The crust was quite good and the crumble helped a little but you might want to check your recipe and make sure its not accidentally missing something because it definitely didn’t live up to the better-than-sex description.
I mean, there is nothing sweet in it besides a fourth of a cup of maple syrup and 2 tablespoons of the molasses… It just really doesn’t seem balanced. It was edible – these other people are being a little dramatic. It was okay, for my tastes at least.
Also the cottage cheese stayed in visible balls for me, but I did use a hand mixer because I don’t have a food processor. That didn’t really seem to taste badly, but it was a little visually unappealing.
Candace, I’m sorry to hear that you found the pie to not be sweet enough for your taste. Maybe there’s a slight difference in the ingredients that we used… did you use pure maple syrup and blackstrap molasses? I find the pumpkin in itself also contributes to the sweetness of the pie, which made it ample sweet for my taste. Perhaps you had different expectations. Some like milk chocolate, some prefer the dark variety! Taste is a very personal thing and cannot be discussed.
As for the cottage cheese being visually unappealing, it’s not event relevant to bring that up, since you didn’t use the proper equipment…
The only reason I brought it up was because some other person said the cottage cheese turned out rubbery or something for them, I was just saying that wasn’t the case for mine.
I wouldn’t doubt the outcome could be partially my error… I did use regular maple syrup but it wasn’t like the log cabin fancy type, I’m not sure if that counts as “pure” – I noticed it didn’t have a very thick consistency. Also, the only molasses I could find at the store was called “Grandma’s Molasses” and it indeed looked black – but it’s possible that maybe this wasn’t the right kind.
I can see how this might appeal to someone of the “dark chocolate” variety – It is still flavorful and has a richness to it, but didn’t come off as rich and decadent for me as I had expected – maybe misplaced expectations – and I think for me I was expecting more sweetness.
I love the complexity and art of this pie but think my expectations were out of alignment. Do you have any suggestions for a modification that might add more sweetness for someone whose of a more “milk chocolate” sweetness palette like me? I think this is the only thing that made the pie not as pleasing to me.
I really don’t mean to even have a negative review; this is a very complex recipe and, like most healthier foods, if not handled properly can easy degenerate the taste. But I’d appreciate if you had a way to sweeten this up for people like me who want a bit more sweetness with dessert – what do you think about adding some brown sugar? Is that crazy? Haha
Oh, thank you so much for taking the time to reply, Candace. I truly appreciate that.
I see where you were going with the cottage cheese thing. Thanks for clearing that out! As for the lack of sweetness, I am guessing your sweeteners probably did have a role to play in this. The molasses that you used it what’s called “Fancy Molasses” and it’s not quite as strong in flavor as the blackstrap is, and it sounds like your maple syrup may not have been as “potent” as mine, which is a really dark amber color and pretty thick, too. I have to admit that Quebec IS the place to be when you want good pure Maple Syrup!
I think if I wanted to make it sweeter, I would probably add some date paste to it, and I would probably make said paste using half dates and half raisins… I think half a cup would probably do the trick!
Or… maybe replace the maple syrup with liquid honey and use twice as much?
And if one wanted the pie to be really sweet, I guess a combination of both could be done. As in adding an extra ¼ cup of honey AND ½ cup date paste. I can’t guarantee that it would actually work, for I haven’t tried it, but I’m pretty confident that it would give great results, AND kicked up sweetness!
Again, thank you very much for taking the time to discuss this and explain your point of view. You are super cool!
No problem Sonia,
Yeah, I’m thinking the ingredients I got probably had a big part to do with the results.
I’ll have to try your suggestions next time I make this… I really like the fact that it is indeed fairly low in sugar because my mother is actually diabetic and I like to keep the sugar down when I can – so this seemed like a good dessert to try. Plus I just love trying healthier recipes anyway! It’s great when you can find delicious things that are still good for you and don’t make you feel so guilty!
No problem on explaining myself – too often people (online in particular) are critical without even explaining in detail, and I feel that is very rude and insulting. Everyone deserves some respect and kindness! And I can see from your blog and responses to those negative comments that you seem to believe that as well
Anyway, great blog and I’ll be checking out more of your recipes soon. Thanks for sharing!
Thank YOU Candace. I truly enjoyed having this discussion with you and sincerely hope that you will try more of my recipes and that you will share your insights again!