This dairy-free dessert uses plant based milk and cooks in less than 10 minutes into a creamy pumpkin pudding. Whether you choose to use oat milk or almond milk this easy recipe produces a creamy fall dessert with a hint of spice. Additionally this easy dessert recipe offers sweetening options.
Fall has arrived and it is the season of the pumpkin. Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite desserts. And come early fall, you will find my fridge amply stocked with cups of pumpkin custard. But busy schedules do not always allow sufficient time for baking. So when I’m looking for a quick pumpkin fix, I turn to this pudding recipe as it cooks up in just minutes.
Simple Ingredients for an Easy Pumpkin Pudding.
This pudding recipe calls for very basic cooking ingredients.
- Choose from oat milk or almond milk, and if you wish this recipe works with cows milk too.
- Cornstarch
- Sugar or Sugar Alternative
- Salt
- Ground Cinnamon, Ginger, Clove and Nutmeg
- Canned Pumpkin (Not Pumpkin Filling)
If you are following a gluten-free, dairy free, vegetarian or vegan diet, this recipe will work for you. As this recipe is made with plant based milk and no additional dairy. Additionally eggs are not needed for this pudding recipe.
Furthermore, this pumpkin pudding is adaptable for a diabetic diet, as well as low calorie, low fat or weight watcher diet plans. Not only are you able to choose the type of milk, but the type of sweetener. Both milks are interchangeable with either sugar or a sugar alternative.
Pumpkin
Make sure to choose a pure canned pumpkin and not a pumpkin pie filling. My favorite brand has always been Libbey’s. I have never made this recipe with home made pumpkin puree. But I know that there are many of you who like to make their own puree. If you choose to use homemade pumpkin puree, please let me know how it worked out for you.
Plant Based Milks
There are a number of option available today when choosing a plant based milk. However, in order to keep it simple I have limited my research to almond milk and oat milk. Both are easy to find and both milks have their specific qualities.
Almond Milk
While almond milk is easy to digest for people with dairy intolerances, it is an unsuitable choice for those who have nut allergies. Almond milk is also lower in calories and fat than oat milk. A cup of unsweetened almond milk is about 45 calories with 3 grams of fat. My favorite brand of almond milk is definitely Califia Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. And I can say to you honestly, that this is not a paid promotion…I use these milks every day. Whether it be for cooking recipes like pudding or making my morning cafe latte. I rely on both almond milk and oat milk daily, as I have milk allergies.
Buy Now → Oat Milk
On the other hand, oat milk makes a good choice for those who are dairy intolerant as well. Additionally, there are no issues with nut allergies. However, some people are sensitive to oat. While oat milk isn’t considered a gluten, some people are very sensitive to oat products. Therefore, the logical choice may be almond milk. Oat milk is also higher in calories and fat than almond milk. So if you are following a specific diet plan, these are all factors to consider. Generally, a cup of oat milk is about 120 calories. Furthermore depending on the brand, oat milks range in fat from 3 to 5 grams per serving. I have two particular brands that I like to cook with. Both are excellent and both products will produce a nice pudding. Look for brands that are refrigerated and stay away from milks that have long shelf life on the grocery isles. My two favorite brands are Oatly Original and Planet Oat Extra Creamy.
Planet Oat Extra Creamy Original Oatmilk, 52 oz
Buy Now →
Oatly Original Oat Milk, 64 oz
Buy Now →While one product is higher in fat grams than the other, the only observable difference to the finished pudding is that the Oatly brand is slightly creamier. If you are not concerned about the difference in calories, I would definitely choose the oat milk with higher fat content.
To Sweeten
As I have said before, I prefer using whole food ingredients. For this reason I prefer to use sugar but less of it. But I have also come to realize the need for using alternative sugar. For instance, there may be a need to eliminate sugar from your diet for health and or dietary reasons. Therefore, I have begun to include the option of choice for sweeteners in my dessert recipes. The choice is up to you lower sugar or alternative sugar. Maybe you would like to try this recipe made both ways and make a choice by taste.
In designing this recipe I used King Arthur’s Baking Sugar Alternative. It is made of monk fruit, stevia and other plant based sweeteners. However, I do believe there are store brands that are comparable like Swerve. I have not used this brand, but it is my understanding that it is much like the brand that I use.
Pudding Parfaits
While this creamy pudding is delicious on its own, perhaps you would like to use it to create a new dessert. To create a pudding parfait, try sprinkling this fall dessert with easy edible sand.
For instance, to create a pudding pie parfait, place a layer of edible sand on the bottom of the dessert cup. To finish, spoon a serving of pumpkin pudding over the sand and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
Another easy dessert can be created by layering edible sand with alternating layers of pudding. Begin by spooning a layer of either vanilla or chocolate pudding at the bottom of the dessert cup. Follow with a layer of pumpkin pudding and sprinkle with a layer of edible sand. Repeat the layering ending with edible sand.
One of the latest dessert trends is combining pumpkin and chocolate. My first reaction to this combination was “no way”. But to my surprise, I really liked it! The warm notes of spice compliment the chocolate pudding.
Weight Watchers and Waist Watchers
A 1/2 cup serving made with Almond Milk and Sugar is 4 WW Smart Points or 88 calories.
While a 1/2 cup serving made with Oat Milk and Sugar is 6 WW Smart Points or 122 calories.
One serving made with Almond Milk and an Alternative Sugar is 1 WW Smart Point or 53 calories.
A serving made with Oat Milk and an Alterntive Sugar is 3 WW Smart Points or 87 calories.
Buon Appetito!
Print10 Minute Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pudding
A creamy dairy-free dessert that is quick and easy to make. This easy pudding recipe cooks up in 8-10 minutes. This fall dessert is made using either almond or oat milk. Additionally, this recipe gives alternative sweeteners. Choose between sugar and sugar-free alternative sweeteners made from monk fruit and stevia.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 8-10 minutes
- Total Time: 12 minutes
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 482 grams (2 Cups) Oat Milk or Almond Milk
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) Pumpkin Puree such as Libby’s
- 35 grams (4 tablespoons) Cornstarch
- 50 grams (4 Tablespoons) Granulated OR
- *40 grams (4 Tablespoons) Baking Sugar Alternative*
- 4 grams (1/2 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 2 grams (1/2 teaspoon) Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- Pinch Ground Nutmeg
- A Pinch of Ground Clove
Instructions
- Whisk the cornstarch, sugar, spices and salt together in a 3 quart pan until well combined. * If making a sugar free pudding, replace the sugar with Baking Sugar Alternative.
- Gradually add the 2 cups of almond or oat milk to the dry ingredients and gently whisk together until it is throughly combined. A few small lumps of cornstarch may remain, but they will eventually dissolve once the milk is heated.
- Whisk pumpkin puree into milk mixture.
- Cook milk mixture over a medium-low heat, while constantly whisking or stirring. After about 5 minutes, the mixture will begin to thicken.
- Continue to cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes, while stirring. The pudding will continue to thicken.
- Remove from heat and divide into 5 dessert bowls. OR
- If using to create pudding parfaits, place pudding in a small container or bowl and gently push a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the pudding. This will keep the pudding from developing a skin.
- Cool the pudding to room temperature.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
* For this recipe I use King Arthur’s Baking Sugar Alternative. However store brands like Swerve may be replaced measure for measure.
This was pretty good and super easy… But I had two issues. 1/2 tsp of salt was too much. It almost gave it a salted carmel flavor instead of pumpkin. Not bad but I’d cut it down next time. I also felt like the pumpkin flavor was too muted, so I might tinker with the amount of pumpkin. Texture was great though, and topped with some lite cool whip and a drizzle of maple syrup, these were tasty desserts and definitely scratched the pumpkin spice itch. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Holly! Thank you for the lovely review. Please feel free to share your results here on any future recipe tweaks.
I was looking for a dairy free pumpkin pie option for Thanksgiving; so decided to do a trial run with this recipe. It was really easy, and started out well. It thickened as mentioned, but I was curious why the additional 3-4 minutes was necessary. I was hesitant to cook it longer because prolonged cooking of cornstarch breaks down the starch molecules resulting in a thinner result. I did follow the directions. After cooling down to room temperature, the pudding was like soup. The flavor was good, put the consistency was not near pudding. I may try the recipe again but stop once the mixture thickens.
Hi Kevin!
I’m so sorry to hear that you had less than perfect results.
The recipe calls for the additional 3-4 minutes cooking time for additional thickening.
I would agree that if you attained the thickness you were looking for before the additional
3 minutes, to remove the pudding from the heat source.
It is quite possible that our stoves are cooking at different heat variants, with quicker results.
I hope that you give the recipe one more try, with better results. Looking forward to hearing about
your next attempt.