Indeed, raw pumpkin pie tarts! I may have gone a little pumpkin crazy lately, but when Halloween came and left without any trips to the pumpkin patch or carved pumpkins, I realized I was in a pumpkin deficient (not yet an official medical diagnosis). Plus, I would rather eat pumpkin than decorate with it!
It started one morning with the leftovers from whipping up pumpkin butter from the night before, creating a delicious smoothie. That led to making healthy pumpkin pancakes for Whitney, my involuntary Crouse kitchen test subject. Then pumpkin chia pudding for a snack. My next pumpkin attempt will be Hemp Chickpea Pumpkin Fritters! Really?
But by far my favorite pumpkin treats are these raw tarts from RawManda. Her recipe calls for dried white mulberries - which I ordered and tried - but I prefer my crust better and as the ingredients are easier to find.
Here's the recipe with a few tweaks of my own:
Ingredients
Crust:
1 cup of dates
1 cup of pecans
1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut
Filling:
2 cups of pumpkin puree
2 cups of soft dates
1/3 cup of coconut butter
1/4 cup of almond milk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and ground ginger
Instructions:
- Blend crust ingredients together in a food processor until you have a crust like texture.
- Place crust in bottom of a parchment lined muffin pan creating a bowl shape.
- Put crust in freezer while preparing filling.
- Blend filling ingredients together in blender or food processor until creamy.
- Fill muffin pan with filling and put back in freezer for at least 2 hours.
- Take tarts out for 10-20 minutes before serving. (or eat them right out the freezer like me)
I am taking these to our Thanksgiving reunion, hoping amid the chaos of 90 relatives together in a 160 year old house, that along with the traditional fixings, someone will enjoy my raw pumpkin treats... besides me!