Calorie Counting or Not - This Treat is for You

from Suzanne G. Rogers

A friend of mine invited me to a potluck, with the caveat that she was following a low-sugar diet to lose weight. I offered to bring dessert and began looking for a low-calorie pumpkin-based custard recipe on the Internet. I wanted to find something that didn't require any artificial sweetener, and I found what I thought was the perfect recipe.

It was a disaster.

If your idea of delish is eating pumpkin puree with a spoon, that dessert would have been perfect for you. Therefore, I modified it into something tasty, without the cloying sweetness often found in pumpkin pies.

Image by Conger Design from Pixabay Suzanne’s Pumpkin Custard
1 15oz. can pumpkin
4 eggs, beaten
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Fold pumpkin into eggs. Stir in milk, both vanillas, pumpkin pie spice, and sugar. Divide mixture into 4 small ovenproof bowls.

Be sure to use cooking spray on the inside of the baking dishes. I also use a squirt of cooking spray inside my measuring cup before I add the sweetened condensed milk, so it slides out better.

You can adjust the added sugar to taste, but this recipe as written comes out to just under 250 calories per serving. Best served cold, but I've eaten it warm because I couldn't wait and it was good then, too. I've also eaten it for breakfast as well as dessert because I'm a grown person and I can do what I like.