This butternut squash pie is oil-free and sugar-free using only wholesome ingredients. Butternut squash is a great alternative to bananas when baking as it’s so incredibly sweet and creamy.
1. Make sure your walnuts are at room temperature. In a food processor, process walnuts with salt until fine crumbs.
2. Add oat bran and process until the oils from walnuts start to separate and the batter begins to stick. It may take up to a few minutes, scraping the sides from time to time.
3. Add carob and butternut squash puree (see preparation under filling instructions) and process again until all ingredients are incorporated.
4. Line a 6-inch round springform cake tin with parchment paper. Press the crust into tin with your hands and bake in 375 degrees F (190 C) oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Filling and Swirls Preparation
1. Peel and cut 1 butternut squash into small cubes.
2. Bake butternut squash cubes on a baking sheet at 390 degrees F (200 C) for 20-25 minutes. Let cool.
3. Purée oven-baked butternut squash using immersion blender.
4. Add spices and blend until incorporated.
5. Use 2 cups of the puree for the pie filling and 1 and 1/2 Tbsp for the crust
6. Use 1 Tbsp of the puree for swirls and whip it together with silken tofu. Set aside.
7. Add oat bran to pie filling and mix or blend well.
8. Pour the filling onto baked crust and even it out with spoon.
9. Add dots or stripes of the tofu mix onto the pie and create your swirls.
10. Cover the tin with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 C). Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
11. Remove the round tin and let the pie cool down a bit, then transfer it to a cooling rack. Let it completely cool down before eating. Even better, if you can place it in fridge for at least an hour after it’s cooled down. The cooler it is, the better and sweeter the taste!
Cooking Tips
Cooking Tips
1. The pie is not overly sweet. So, should you like the crust to be sweeter, replace butternut squash purée with 4 soft Medjool dates.
2. If you can’t grind your oat bran, use it as is – the taste won’t change, you’ll just have visible bran dots in the pie, which is also fine!
3. Again, should you find that the filling needs more sweetness, add a few Medjool dates. If your immersion blender is not that powerful, use a blender to process the filling.
4. If you don’t have tofu on hand, just leave the swirls out.
)
)
)
