Updated: Brûléed Maple Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust

We are hosting Thanksgiving AGAIN this year, and my dreams are coming true.

One of my most favorite parts of being an adult is having control over our holiday plans. This year we will be joined by seven friends and two kiddos . Having friends, my chosen family, surround us on holidays feels like the highest honor to me. I am BEYOND excited! Feeding friends and family is one of my favorite ways to say, I love you!!!

That being said, I want to make sure everything we eat is as yummy as possible, so it was time for a pie run-through. I’ve been making Brûléed Maple Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust for YEARS and look forward to it every time. I made several adjustments to the original recipe, making it dairy free and even tastier than I remembered!

Vegan Strawberry Pistachio Crumble Pie

Strawberry picking is one of our favorite summer activities! Usually we pick about three to four buckets of strawberries, but this time we we had to scale back a bit due to the size of the freezer in our new house. (I'm fairly certain our freezer was designed by someone with only ice cube and frozen pea storage in mind)

Until we can get a new fridge/freezer, I've taken to bribing people with berry desserts in exchange for freezer space. This pie is my newest bribery tool! The strawberry fruit swims in a sweet syrup right on top of a rich layer of cashew cream, all of which is complimented by a salty pistachio crumble on top.

Healthier Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

These bars are already healthier than your average cookie or dessert bar, but I wanted to see if I could make them even healthier by using a mix of different flours, some wheat bran, flax seed eggs, and cutting down on the sugar and coconut oil by adding dates. My thought was that I could use them on my long runs, since I had run out of Picky Bars. The second version was packed with fiber….and therefore not a good choice for before or during a workout…. Know what I’m sayin?

I finally found the perfect mix! It just happens to be gluten free, and includes the option to make them vegan/egg free.

Brûléed Maple Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust

The memory of this pie tugs at me during the hottest months of the summer. It is that good.

I love pumpkin pie, and always have since I was little. Growing up in Minnesota, the weather was usually pretty cold by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, so we could just store pies in the garage. I used to sneak out to the garage with a fork and just help myself from time to time. I consider myself a pumpkin pie enthusiast. It's possible I gave myself away by leaving pits of crust behind. Friends, I believe I have solved the problem of boring crust.

No Bake Mocha S'mores Pie

I made two pies to celebrate PI day!

One was a Peanut Butter Banana pie. The recipe comes from Collards & Carbonara - Southern Cooking, Italian Roots, written by the chefs of Hog & Hominy; Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer. IT WAS SO GOOD!! (And so bad, health wise.)

The second one I made, was a Coffee S'mores Pie. DELICIOUS CITY. It should probably be named Mocha S'mores Pie because the blend of coffee and chocolate is more mocha-ey than coffee-ey (pretty sure neither of those are actual words). DELICIOUS CITY. The recipe is very approachable, no baking required. Plus, I got to use my kitchen torch. Win win.