<p>Ema, here it is (I can’t remember the original source):</p>
<p>1 15-oz can pumpkin puree (about 2 C)
1 ¼ C light brown sugar, lightly packed
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 T crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon or orange
2 eggs, well-beaten
2 T brandy
1 9 regular pie shell, partially baked</p>
<p>Preheat oven to 325F.</p>
<p>Combine all ingredients for filling and beat well. Pour into prebaked pie shell and bake at 325F for about 50 minutes or until center is set.</p>
<p>Pack, I tired your recipe last night because I actually had all those ingredients lol. It turned out pretty well! The applesauce ones look really good too.</p>
<p>You can use soy milk in the pumpkin pie recipe, or non-milk based coffee creamer, but those are usually loaded in sugar.</p>
<p>Another alternative is non-dairy baklava if no one has a nut allergy. Non-dairy margarine is good for the phyllo dough, and there are many sugar free syrups that work for the nut mixture. Yes, the phyllo dough is carb/fat heavy, but one eats such a small piece, and the nuts provide good protein and nutrients. I have made this and it works out fine. Increase cinnamon since the non-sugar syrups often don’t taste quite as good as the sugar ones. And voila.</p>
<p>Pistachio nuts are the nuts lowest in fat, so double pistachio to walnut mixture.</p>
<p>We keep kosher, so we’re well-versed with making substitutions for dairy ingredients. Agree that the Earth Balance sticks (NOT the tub spread!) are the substitute of choice to use for baking instead of butter, though I wouldn’t rely on them for a recipe where butter flavor is paramount. If you can’t find them or need a less-expensive alternative, go with any stick margarine, though you’ll have to be picky if you need to be absolutely dairy-free. </p>
<p>Mocha Mix substitutes for cream in e.g. pumpkin pie or custard. Soy milk (plain) works fine as a milk substitute. There are also excellent soy-based vegan versions of cream cheese and sour cream which work really well mixed into things. The downside is that they’re not cheap. </p>
<p>Baked apples are a nice dessert, and look especially pretty when stuffed. Use a mixture of Grape Nuts, sugar (substitute), butter/margarine, nuts, and/or raisins. Rome and Honey Crisp do a great job of keeping their shape and tasting great. If you can get giant ones, so much the better.</p>
<p>My low carb Thanksgiving dessert is crustless pumpkin cheesecake made with a combination of artificial sweeteners. (Beware: if you actually substitute Splenda directly for sugar in a regular recipe it will be revoltingly sweet. If the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar, for example, I would use no more than one cup of Splenda. Actually, I would use a combination of liquid sucralose-doesn’t have the carby filler of Splenda- and xylitol, but the latter is expensive.) Obviously it isn’t dairy-free, but if one of those soy-based cream cheeses can be used, it could be.</p>
<p>Ground nuts are a good low carb substitute for flour in many situations. You can make a nut pie crust: there are plenty of recipes out there. If you want to make an apple crisp, you can use ground nuts plus something like oatmeal in the topping, sweetening it with brown sugar Splenda or the like. Plus spices, and, in this case, a non-dairy shortening. If the topping is sweet, the apples don’t need anything.</p>
<p>Even though T1 diabetics can “cover” what they eat with insulin, it is not great for them in the long run to use more insulin. And they may be trying to maintain tight control, without big swings. Makes a lot of sense.</p>
<p>How about baked apple, sweetened with Stevia or a little agave, with cinnamon and nutmeg? Served with soy frozen dessert, or coconut milk “ice cream” or some other non-dairy topping.</p>
<p>I vote for baked apples with raisins & nuts. Use sweet apples and no extra sugar is needed. Granny Smiths would need a bit of brown sugar or honey to sweeten them a bit. Baked apples, unlike plain fresh fruit, say “I baked a dessert for you!” </p>
<p>And dark chocolate is always a favorite accompaniment at our house. Just a couple of squares and we’re happy.</p>
<p>Raisins and all dried fruit are extremely carby. If you are going to do baked apples, I’d leave them out. (Actually, I dislike baked apples, so I’m probably not the person to listen to on this one. )</p>
<p>Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Tort in The Cake Bible contains only dark chocolate, eggs, and butter. If you could substitute something non-dairy for the butter, it might do. Normally I accompany it with whipped cream or something like that, but there might be a non-dairy alternative. The flavor of the dark chocolate is sufficiently strong to dominate anything else. You could make a raspberry sauce to go with it by pureeing thawed frozen raspberries and adding a little artificial sweetener. Berries are, in general, less glycemic than other fruits.</p>
<p>Cranberry-Pecan Not-Pie
Not-pie because my Mom is gluten-free, but IMHO a crust wouldn’t improve it at all.</p>
<p>Microwave 2 C cranberries with 1/4 C brown sugar for 90 sec, stir & go another 30 sec until berries all pop. (Put piece of waxed paper over the top - the cranberries spit!)</p>
<p>Blend together 1 egg, 1/4 C brown sugar, 1 Tbl melted butter (non-dairy spread or coconut oil or any liquid fat works fine), pinch of salt, pinch of baking soda, glug of vanilla. Stir in 3/4 C pecan halves. (If you use chopped pecans, either use less or adjust the calorie count up.)</p>
<p>Put cranberries in the botom of a small pan (we used a 5" diameter, 3" deep mini-souffle dish). Top with pecan mixture.</p>
<p>Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then at 300 for another 30-35 minutes, or until center isn’t liquid but is still wet. If you use a larger pan (so the filling is shallower), it’ll cook a lot faster. Let cool.</p>
<p>Full batch has 1250 calories, 75g fat (14g saturated), 143g carbs (16g fiber), 14.5g protein. 1/4 batch is a generous serving size for an adult, equivalent to a large piece of pie, and has slightly more carbs (36 vs ~30) than a large plain apple.</p>
<p>A pumpkin pudding would be ideal. You basically are cooking pumpkin pie filling without crust. Just set the dish in a pan of hot water as you would with other custards.</p>
<p>You don’t need a dairy substitute with this – just eggs, pumpkin, sweetener, and seasoning. But if you want to use coconut or almond milk, you could. This would be delicious made with Grade B maple syrup, which has a lower glycemic index than many sugars.</p>
<p>Of course, you could make a pie crust with margarine, shortening, or coconut oil, but the pudding route is a good way to avoid the carbs of the crust altogether. You could sprinkle toasted pecans on top to get the crunch.</p>
<p>I am an insulin-dependent diabetic, and Consolation’s advice is spot-on. It’s actually pretty hard to accurately and easily cover carbs (trust me, I do this every day), and it’s just much easier to eat low-carb AND carb count. I make a crustless pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving that’s very similar to the one that Consolation suggests.</p>
<p>I would avoid any dried fruit. I’ve also found that dark chocolate - like a flourless chocolate cake - is pretty low carb, and it’s a great choice (as long as you like dark chocolate.)</p>
<p>I admit to not knowing much more than the first thing about diabetes. I just know that my aunt will not let my cousin (terms I use because they’re very close) high carb deserts. It’s been a source of tension for quite a long time (coupled with the fact that she’s a rebellious 16 year old as it is) and I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire. So I’ll stick with things that are as low in carbs as I can get :). </p>
<p>I copied these recipes and links into an email and sent them to my mom. I found out I’m going home earlier than possible so we’re going to make a few on Wednesday before we head down. </p>
<p>Thank you all again so much. I don’t eat low carb or dairy free( though I should…) so I didn’t know what alternative terms to search for. You’ve all been a great help, as always :D</p>
<p>One more thing to add to the mix - I guess the mom is okay with artificial sweeteners, as people are recommending Splenda and other diet things. Personally, I would not want my kid to eat much of that. I’d rather have smaller portions of real food and count the carbs. </p>
<p>Yes, it’s easier to just avoid many of the empty carbs and simple sugars for diabetics, and it makes controlling sugar levels easier, but on Thanksgiving I think I’d be a little flexible. It doesn’t sound like the mom is though.</p>
<p>But if she is that strict and also a vegetarian, I would bet she is not fond of fake sugars. They also give GI upset to many people too, so I would check first.</p>
<p>Surfcity, good point, and I completely agree with you on the artificial sweeteners’ issue (I cannot stomach them, but many people can); however, when it comes to diabetics, their occasional use in limited quantities is somewhat warranted - it is Thanksgiving, after all, and it is tough for a kid to watch everyine else indulge in mounds of traditional sweets while eating a poached pear.</p>
<p>surf, will do. I don’t use artificial sweeteners and probably wouldn’t use any of the recipes with them because, honestly, I don’t want to buy anything that I wouldn’t ever use again and I’d never use Splenda or something again. But my mom drinks soy and almond milk so that’s not a problem to buy or use. </p>
<p>I think what I will do is make one that has some kind of natural sugar (one of the fruit ones maybe?) and then bring the recipes for the others and make another one with mom’s approval. </p>
<p>It’s worth noting that the only pop my aunt drinks is Diet Coke. She enjoys it but doesn’t drink it often. They don’t allow pop in their home during most of the year. I’m not sure what kind of sweetener that has in it, but she’s OK with whatever it is, at least in small quantities. </p>
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<p>Yes… this is kind of an issue and not just with the diabetes, but that’s another topic. She has seemed to loosen up considerably though in the last year or so which is why I’m attempting my own dessert. In the past, I wouldn’t even attempt to go near that can of worms.</p>
<p>Also just noticed the typo in my title and OP. Whoops. I suppose most deserts do lack dairy ;)</p>
<p>Diet Coke has Aspartame (a dipeptide) as sweetener - not great for baked desserts, but OK to use in Jello desserts and whip toppings. I applaud your aunt for not keeping even diet sodas in the house; they contain things much worse than sugar or artificial sweeteners.</p>
<p>How about a fruit sorbet? They don’t use dairy and you could use agave or sugar substitute instead of sugar. H has loved sorbets for quite some time now that he’s lactose intolerant. We just buy it instead of making it, but it can be made if you’re so inclined and is nice topping fresh fruit.</p>
<p>I have T2 diabetes, and I normally just do without rather than having artificially-sweetened stuff. But on Thanksgiving, it is nice to be able to have SOMETHING. Hence the pumpkin cheesecake. (I love pie. In days of yore, I would make three different kinds of pie for Thanksgiving.)</p>
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