Individual Crustless Pumpkin Pies (Pumpkin Custards)
Individual Crustless Pumpkin Pies (or Pumpkin Custards) are one of Fall’s best gluten-free pumpkin recipes! Don’t wait for Thanksgiving to enjoy the best part of your favorite holiday dessert! Check out the video!
MY LATEST VIDEOSThis recipe was originally published on November 27, 2010, and was updated with new photos and a video on November 17, 2016.
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I know I know I know… according to Rule #987539875 in the Food Bloggers Handbook, I was supposed to post pumpkin pie recipes at least 3 days prior to Thanksgiving. Well, I would have done that except for one little thing…
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OK, actually that sort of just an excuse. I didn’t actually get to making these individual crustless pumpkin pies until the day before Thanksgiving.
And I thought of making myself a birthday cake to post. But, between the gluten-free chocolate chip cookies I found in the freezer, the diner carrot cake for Thanksgiving, the one and a half ginormous cupcakes I ate in the couple days after Thanksgiving, the gluten-free pumpkin snack cake I made, and half of a Snickers pie that I managed to consume in just two sittings, I thought the towering pile of cake and frosting that I dream of would be a bit excessive and dangerous to have in my kitchen.
And this gives me the opportunity to tell you a little story. Because I like to let myself think that you are all interested in my silly little life. 🙂 For those of you that are – I love you! Let’s be friends!
Being born on November 27th, my birthday usually falls or within a day or two of Thanksgiving. This year is actually an unusual one, with it being so far from Thanksgiving. As a kid, since we were already getting together as a family on Thanksgiving, and often on the next day for consumption of leftovers, my family birthday celebration was usually done on Thanksgiving. So this meant my candles went in the pumpkin pie, since apple pie is not the best support system for birthday candles. One problem…
I hated pumpkin pie. I really just wanted a Fudgie the Whale, or something. Heck, a Funfetti ice cream cake would have been awesome. But I got pumpkin pie.
Sometime later in life, I actually started liking pumpkin pie. Not sure when, not sure why. By that time, my culinary skills were developing, so I’d no longer buy our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. I would make it. So I began making it, and I went to Martha for her recipe. Her filling is always perfect, though I always seem to have to bake it longer than her directions call for.
In fact, the Hubby, who claimed to never really like pumpkin pie (yeah, like he is “not really a soup person“) happily eats it every year. Or he just wants to keep up the facade, since the first time he said he liked it was the first time he spent Thanksgiving with my family.
And he was trying to impress everyone, because he also did the dishes – first man to ever do that in our house. I’m going to keep convincing myself it is because I just make an exceptionally good pumpkin pie.
But I just could not master the crust. Crust is still a work in progress for me. And because I don’t like pie crust, I don’t work too hard at it. I tried a gingersnap crust one year, but it was just a little too much spice with the pumpkin pie filling. After I found out about my wheat allergy, I tried baking the filling in the pie pan, without a crust. It was just perfect for me!
So I decided to bake myself some individual crustless pumpkin pies!
If you want something crunchy with the pie, sprinkle some graham cracker or gingersnap crumbs under the filling, or over the top, to make it all fancy-like. Or go with something extra crunchy and fancy, like pumpkin creme brulee.
To make this recipe, you will need:
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Here’s the recipe for the individual crustless pumpkin pies:
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 3 large eggs
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 6 ramekins or custard cups in a large baking dish. Heat a pot or teapot of water to boiling, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and eggs.
- Whisk to combine thoroughly.
- Add evaporated milk, and stir to combine.
- Fill the ramekins with the pumpkin mixture. Pour the hot water in the baking dish around the ramekins.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until set in the middle.
- Remove from the oven, and let cool in the pan until cool enough to handle.
- Remove the ramekins from the water bath. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!
Here are some more pumpkin pie alternatives (that happen to be gluten free) for you…
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- Pumpkin Pie Pudding
- Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart with Maple Walnut Crust
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake Pastries
And some from my friends…
- Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake from Chelsea’s Messy Apron
- No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse from Snixy Kitchen
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie from Love From the Oven
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Barbara Schieving says
Love having a little pie all to myself!
Brianne Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Really, who DOESN’T, Barb?! 😉
GiGi Eats says
Those look heavenly and I also love “individual” because I don’t have to SHARE! he he he!
Bharat Sharma says
First of all, advance Happy Birthday. I am not good with remembering dates, and I may miss it in future.
As far as pumpkin is concerned, I am not a big fan of it. For me, eating pumpkin is like “it’s end of the world”. I never liked it. However, this looks different and delicious. It could be due to the magical effect of these photos ( which you have added to the post) that invites me to give this recipe a try.
Brianne Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Thank you so much, Bharat!
Spinnin Jenny says
Where has this recipe been all my life?! For several years I’ve been looking for this exact same recipe. My kids never liked the crust of pumpkin pies. They would eat the filling and leave the crust. I made this for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it! It’s very similar to the recipe I use for my pumpkin pies. I used the spices from my pumpkin pie recipe, instead of store bought or the one linked to this recipe.
These spices are enough to make 2 recipes of Pumpkin Custard. I don’t use store bought pumpkin pie spices. You can divide this spice mix in half if you like.
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
Janet Fazio says
This looks yummy! Perfect solution for gf-ers and those who don’t like the crust anyway.
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Yep! Exactly!!
Rebecca Ouellet says
Hi! I really want to make these for my son who loves pumpkin pie and is also gluten intolerant! Unfortunately he’s also dairy intolerant, so do you think these would work with almond milk or coconut milk? Thanks!!
Brianne Izzo says
I asked one of my vegan bloggy friends and this is what she said “The better option is almond, soy, or coconut milk creamer. I replace 12 ounces of evaporated milk with 8 ounces of coconut milk creamer + 1 tbsp white flour.” Now I know flour is an issue, so perhaps a bit more cornstarch?
Lexy says
Can’t wait to bake my Pie in a custard cup….makes sense to me.
Question – How did you get the “pie” out of the cup and have it look so perfect.
PS….wish you had a box to click to have “them” let me know when there is an answer.
Brianne Izzo says
Oh but you will (or should) get an answer :-). I cooled them in the fridge and they slid right out!
Dee Fedor says
Eating this right now. GREAT RECIPE. I have never liked crust, and we need to be gluten free. Perfect!
Brianne Izzo says
So glad you like them! The easiest way to make gluten free pie is to skip the crust altogether 🙂
Shari says
You are my new BFF!! Oh my gosh. I LOVE pumpkin pie but I hate the crust. The family always laughs at me because I eat the filling out of the pie and leave all the crust. I am definitely trying this!!! Yum! Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Brianne Izzo says
Haha! There are the crust people and the filling people. I guess we are on the same team 🙂
The Farm Girl says
What a great idea! I eat gluten free and have never thought to try this. So excited!!
Brianne Izzo says
Thanks! I have never been one for crust anyway, so making these little custards is perfect for me.
Margaret Grunseich says
I tried to print this recipe out several times by clicking on the button, and I keep getting “Oops! This link appears to be broken!”
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Margaret, what browser are you using? I am on Firefox on my Mac, and it is working fine. If you let me know, I can follow up with the maker of the recipe plugin. Thanks for letting me know!
Margaret Grunseich says
OK, Brianne, here is where my stupidity shines through…I’m not sure what browser I’m using! I click on the blue e on my desktop which brings me to MSN. I originally found you in Facebook. So…did I answer your question? I’m sorry for my lack of knowledge!
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Sorry for the delay. Sounds like Internet Explorer. I am waiting on a response to see if it is something on my end or your end. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Pamela Blue says
Easy enough to copy out on a piece of paper. That’s what I did. 🙂 I personally love the crust, but hubby has now decided to eat gluten-free, so I’m scrambling for ideas. The main meals are usually no problem, as I cook from scratch most days, so I know what is going into the food, but he occasionally likes a dessert, so I thought these looked great.
Do you have anything with apples? He loves those.
Brianne Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
I hope you love the pumpkin custards, Pamela! I have a great gluten free dessert recipe that uses apples! Make these gluten free no-bake apple cheesecake bars!
Dani Duck says
You are so missing out not using real whipping cream! Hmm can’t rate it from my phone. 4 stars!
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Oh I love real whipped cream, but for some reason I love the fake stuff with my pumpkin pie!
Angie @ Big Bear's Wife says
Hey now, It’s your Birthday (party) and you can cry… I mean have cool whip if you want to, have cool whip if you want too. lol. I don’t normally care for the crust on anything, so I love these!
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
It is so funny how strongly people feel either for or against crust 🙂
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
Happy Birthday to yooooou! These crustless pies look phenom!
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Thank you so much!
Family Foodie says
I looooooove these and what a perfect way to celebrate your birthday with some deliciousness!!!!
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Thank you, Isabel!