One of my favorite things about fall (well, in addition to basically everything else about fall) is that pumpkin recipes become totally acceptable. I’ve been working through a can of pumpkin puree over the past few days and decided that instead of making something sweet today, I’d take a stab a a low carb vegan pumpkin risotto recipe. After all, sometimes you just want to make a vegan keto rice dish.

I had pretty high hopes for this low carb risotto, but it really exceeded my expectations!  I’m definitely going to make this for Thanksgiving this year, and probably a bunch more times before that. Vegetarian keto recipes are hard to come by, especially fall specific vegan keto recipes, so this is getting a gold star for sure.

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Oh my god, guys – apple pie. Low carb apple pie. Mini low carb apple pie! I KNOW. I really can’t contain my excitement about this one. Pie is by far my favorite dessert, and apple pie at that. So, naturally, with Thanksgiving right around the bend for us here in the states, I needed to find a way to make this amazing dessert a part of the day. And also, a part of all the days this week…because, pie.*

I realize that making mini pies is probably a better decision than a full pie, mostly for portion control reasons, and also…. I definitely impulse bought mini pie pans a while ago, and want to put them to good use!

Recipe notes for baking mini low carb apple pie:

• I used mini pie pans for this, but you could easily use a muffin tin and make tiny little tartlets.
• You could, in theory, double the recipe and put it in a large pie shell, if you really wanted!
• You’ll notice that I used freeze dried apples for this, instead of real apples. This is mostly because it’s easier to control the recipe – you could sub these for real apple in this recipe – just remember not to add water to the filling recipe! I’m not sure how real apples would impact the carb, count either.
• The granulated sweetener I’ve been using for the last few years is from Lakanto. It really is the best one I’ve found in terms of flavor and the fact that it doesn’t upset my stomach (major win). If you decide to purchase through their site, you can save 15% with the code MEATFREEKETO.
• I cut up the freeze dried apples into little cubes in the pies pictured, but for the next batch, I crushed the dehydrated apples. Both produced a pleasant texture – the cubes give it a more traditional feel, while crushing the apples distributes everything more evenly. Your choice!
• Yes, 4.8g is kind of steep – but it’s a pie. :p
• Keep in mind while calculating macros that certain sugar alcohols, like erythritol, should be subtracted from the total carbs!
• While I strive to provide accurate nutrition information, there are variations across brands and types of ingredients. So, if you’re using other brands than those mentioned, your macros may be different. All nutrition info is calculated from the USDA values for each ingredient, unless a brand is specifically mentioned (or no generic listing is available), and are for information purposes only! 

*I’m not even going to entertain the whole pie vs. cake thing here. Pie wins hands down.