Okay, so, I take NO credit for the genius idea (and undoubtedly effort and time involved) to make a vegan, gluten-free pumpkin pie. That was all Chocolate Covered Katie's doing. She is amazing. Truly. And she shares her recipes with us for free! And I shall purchase her cookbook when it comes out as a show of my gratitude (and because I will WANT to try every recipe that can be done gluten-free!). And I shall purchase more than one copy to give out as gifts because they will be worth it AND I don't feel bad 'wasting' money when recipes are available online because:
1. CCK's recipes are tried and true (The only time I had one not turn out is when I accidentally omitted an essential ingredient- my bad! Even then, when I tasted it, I thought... hmm, what did I do wrong, Katie's recipes are always a hit! Sure enough, that'd be me, forgetting to add SUGAR to the cookie recipe, lol. Made it again and they're favorites!)
2. From the limited ability that I have to judge a person's character solely through reading blog posts, I deem Katie to be a genuinely good human being who presents herself in a respectable and humble manner. I don't see that on every blog.
Okay, now that I made that shameless plug for Chocolate Covered Katie's site (and, no, I do not know her, nor did she ask or tell me to write this), here's the part I actually contributed to. I took Katie's great pumpkin pie recipe and tweaked the spices to mimic my memories of my mother's pumpkin pie. My mom wasn't an amazing cook by any means, but there some things she could bake that were incredible!
If you don't typically like pumpkin pie, or if you aren't totally thrilled with the pumpkin pie spice that comes premixed, I would encourage you to try this:
1. Omit any cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger, and/or pumpkin pie spice called for in a recipe containing pumpkin. (Do not omit salt, sugar, or other ingredients, only the ones listed.)
2. Replace the above mentioned seasonings with the following ground spices (amounts given here are what you would use to make one pumpkin pie, which uses 15 oz of canned pumpkin):
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. cloves
I find that the amount of cloves and/or the addition of allspice often called for are a major turn-off for us. I do not know the exact exchange to substitute this for pumpkin pie spice. All I know is that the above listed amounts are used in 15 oz of canned pumpkin, so if you're a math-person, good luck!