Oh my poor poor wife. Her absolute favorite dessert in the entire world is pumpkin pie.
And not just pumpkin pie, but she loves everything pumpkin. Although she'd love it if I could just make her a classic pumpkin pie. You know. A classic pie crust. Normal ingredients like eggs, heavy cream, and sugar added into the pumpkin puree and spices.
But there's this thing that foodies like to do.
They like to find one ingredient that everyone loves and go absolutely crazy and off-the-wall with it. Whether it's pumpkin, gingerbread, s'mores, peppermint, or whatever. We just can't stick to the classics. We gotta go crazy.

Over the years, I've made Pumpkin Danishes, Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream, Pumpkin smoothies, Pumpkin overnight oats, and even a Pumpkin Pasta. I've made a whole hell of a lot of pumpkin recipes.
Yet, I've never made my wife's absolute favorite dessert.
I thought, you know what? I'm going to make her so damn happy this year by making her favorite treat. And I'm going to post it on her birthday. She's going to be so excited!
So I made it last week and couldn't wait for her to get home and see what I had done.
"Honey, I made you your favorite! I finally made you a pumpkin pie!"
"You did?!" she was thrilled. She walked into the kitchen and looked at it.
wife: "The crust... that's not normal."
me: "Well, yeah, I made my yummy healthier crust."
wife: "Huh."
me: "But it's still super yummy! Try it!"
wife: "So everything but the crust is normal?"
me: "Yup! Well, I did use a flax egg instead of real eggs. Plus I used almond milk instead of cream. But everything else is normal."
wife: "That's what I thought."
me: "So what, I veganized it."
Poor wife. I can't seem to just make a normal classic recipe. I gotta go and healthify or veganize it, don't I?
There is definitely a high to this story. One that I am entirely proud of.
SHE LIKED IT!
My pumpkin pie lovin' birthday girl liked it and didn't complain one bit about it being vegan. She ate it. She loved it. And there were zero peeps from her mouth about flax eggs and almond milk.
Phew!
Maybe one of these days I'll actually be a nice wife and follow a recipe to the T. Ha! That's highly unlikely.
Happy Birthday Tiff! I love you just as much as you love pumpkin pie - and I know that's a lot!
[Tweet "This Vegan Pumpkin Pie will please vegans and non-vegans alike this holiday season!"]
If you want to make this pie with a more traditional (and still totally vegan) crust, head on over here where you can find my super easy and fool-proof Vegan Pie Crust.
I'm not gonna lie, I actually prefer the updated, more traditional pie crust above (and in the below video) more than the raw walnut/oat version. I do absolutely love that crust, but it's a little more health-conscious. So if it was just me eating the pie, I'm all for it. But for serving to a mixed crowd - especially peeps who aren't on the health train yet - this more traditional pie crust is the one for you to make.
Ingredients
For Crust:
- 1 ½ cups walnuts
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- 10 pitted dates
For Pie Filling:
- 2 Tablespoons ground flax seed
- 6 Tablespoons water
- 1 ½ cups plain almond milk
- 1 16- ounce can of pumpkin
- ½ cup powdered stevia blend (or granulated sugar)
- 2 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine ground flax seed and water in a small bowl. Set aside.
- To make crust, pulse walnuts, oats, and dates in the bowl of a food processor until everything comes together. You'll know it's mixed completely when it sticks together if you press on it.
- Press crust mixture evenly into the bottom and sides a 9-inch pie plan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond milk, flax+water mixture, pumpkin, stevia (or sugar), and pumpkin pie spice. Mix together well.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and bake for 45-60 minutes, until the center is mostly firm.
- Let cool completely to room temperature, at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. This will allow the pie to completely firm up.
Video
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture, upload it to Instagram and tag me (@happyfoodholly) and use the hashtag #inspiredbyholly
Catherine says
Happy Birthday xxx
Yvonne says
Happy birthday to my husbands birthday buddy (great day to be born)! Hope you had a super awesome day!
Cherelle says
Wishing you the most gorgeous day for your birthday. Happy birthday!
Paula says
Happy happy birthday.
Amber says
Happy Birthday Tiff, from one pumpkin loving girl to another! I hope your day is exceedingly full of love and blessings!
Janelle says
Happy Happy Birthday Tiff!
Have a fantastic day and continue to get super spoiled by Holly!?✨
Linda says
Happy birthday Tiff!
Ashli says
Happy, Happy Birthday!!
Ashley says
Happy birthday to your wife!!
Leah Crafts says
Happy Birthday!!!!
Lisa says
Happy Birthday to a fellow Scorpio! Hope you have a wonderful day