PIE CRUST
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse it one time to mix. Add the vegan butter pieces and pulse 4 times.
The mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal, with butter bits no bigger than peas. Sprinkle the ice water over flour mixture one tablespoon at a time.
Pulse once after you add each tablespoon of water. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough doesn’t hold together, keep adding water, a teaspoon at a time, pulsing once after each addition, until the mixture just begins to clump together.
The dough could also be made completely by hand. You could use pastry cutters or just your hands to bring the dough together.
Clean off your counter really well or use a pastry board or a nice cutting board. Flour your hands generously. Take the dough out of the food processor. Tilt the rolling pin and sprinkle it with flour as you rotate the rolling pin.
Fatten the dough into a disk. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on the disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before rolling.
When you are flattening the disk, you are not working the dough. You are just simply flattening the shape into a disk. If you are making the pie that day, refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 400°.
When it is time to roll the dough out to make pie, remove from refrigerator and let dough sit out for about 15 minutes before rolling.
On a lightly floured surface, using a rolling pin, apply light pressure while rolling outwards from the center of the dough. Every once in a while you may need to gently lift under the dough You have a big enough piece of dough when you place the pie tin or pie dish upside down on the dough and the dough extends by at least 2 inches all around.
When the dough has reached the right size, gently fold it in half. Lift up the dough and place it so that the folded edge is along the center line of the pie dish. Gently unfold and be sure to not stretch the dough to fit. Fold pastry into quarter folds and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.
Use a knife to poke a few holes in the bottom of the pie crust.
Place parchment paper on the inside of the crust. Place on top of the parchment paper pie weights, rice dried beans, or rice.
Place the crust into the oven and bake it for 15 minutes.
FILLING
While the crust bakes, in a large bowl, combine pumpkin, full-fat coconut milk maple syrup, cornstarch, salt, and spices. Mix on medium-low speed until well blended. The filling could also be mixed by hand. If doing by hand, be sure to scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and be sure to mix it well.
Remove the pie crust from oven and let it cool down a few minutes. Turn the temperature down to to 350°.
Pour the pumpkin filling into the crust. Use a spatula to smooth the filling out. Place the pie dish on a baking sheet and place in the oven (the filling is very wiggly and it’s hard to get to into the oven without a drop spilling, so the baking sheet helps keep oven clean)..
Bake the pie until the center is just set, about 60-70 minutes.
Check on the pie after 30 minutes. If crust is already a nice golden color, tent it with foil paper so it won’t brown too much during the rest of the baking.
Let cool completely and then refrigerate overnight. We didn’t have the patience to wait until it was chilled and it enjoyed it when it cooled completely. Serve with your homemade vegan whipped cream, your favorite store-bought vegan whipped cream, or a scoop of vegan vanilla ice-cream.