Vegan Thanksgiving Pudding
Well, that one really snuck up on us, didn’t it? Thanksgiving feels waaaay early this year.
Luckily, I’m prepared (for once 😂). This week, I have another farm visit booked, and I’m looking forward to it (and all the yummy things I’m gonna make with what I get there). But over the summer, I visited a bunch of farms as well, like Heppel’s out in Cloverdale. I came home with a ton of “ugly” vegetables; potatoes and squash. It’s been my mission to turn those rescued veg into delicious things. The potatoes became a pizza, and the squash became a vegan Thanksgiving Pudding.
I used an acorn for this particular one, though at some point, all gourds kinda become interchangeable. You could use a pumpkin (a sweet pie pumpkin would rock), you could use kabocha (the Japanese call this pumpkin), or butternut. All of them become sweet and creamy when you roast them in the oven, as it helps to caramelize the natural sugars in the squash.
Which, as someone pointed out to me, are technically fruit, as they keep their seeds on the inside, but I generally think of them as vegetables.
Once you’ve roasted them, you can puree it, and then you have all this beautiful, creamy stuff that you can do tons of things with. It’s great in a pie, I love it as a pasta sauce or a filling if you’re making a filled pasta (with sage).
This Vegan Thanksgiving Pudding is sort of a lazy pumpkin pie. Other than roasting the squashes, it requires no cooking, and you don’t need a crust, either. You can make them in in advance in individual glasses and serve them that way.
Vegan Thanksgiving Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 small-med squash pumpkin, kabocha, acorn, butternut
- 1 tbsp vegetable or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup coconut cream (reserve the rest for later)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 4 dates pitted
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 6 biscoff cookies crushed
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Cut your squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
- Drizzle the oil on a sheet pan, and place the squash halves on it, and then toss them around a bit till they are covered in the oil, but ensure that they are face down while cooking.
- Roast in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, until the squash is quite soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough so that you can handle it.
- Scoop the cooked flesh out of the shell and toss it in a blender.
- To the blender, add the coconut cream, spices, dates, maple syrup and vanilla.
- Blend until the pudding is smooth.
- Taste for spices and add more if desired.
- Place a tablespoon or so of crushed biscoff cookies in the bottom of a pretty glass, and then spoon your pudding on top of it.
- Place in the refrigerator to set for about an hour.
- To serve, top with coconut cream and additional crushed biscoff cookie crumbs.
Video
@findbex Vegetables for dessert? Yes, pls! Vegan Squash Pudding (think pumpkin pie vibes). This goregous acorn squash from @heppellspotato. #plantbased #vegan #easyvegan #dessert #recipetok #easydessert #ohmygourd #eatyourveggies #eatlocal #knowyourfarmer #pumpkinspice #squash ♬ Sky Aesthetic - Tollan Kim