Maple Pumpkin Custard - Alternative to my favorite, Pumpkin Pie

I am obsessed with pumpkin pie.  I eat something sweet every day, but my sweets tend to be pretty low in calories and fat.  It's rare that I actually induldge in something high-calorie, so Thanksgiving is my time to enjoy that flaky pie crust.

However, I often crave pumpkin pie throughout various times of the year.  Ron doesn't eat pumpkin, so I'm not interested in baking an entire pie to enjoy a tiny slice.  Thankfully, I stumbled upon this recipe from this fantastic blog.  This will certainly satisfy my random March cravings :) 

It is a recipe for maple pumpkin custard and this stuff is absolutely amazing.  It tastes EXACTLY like pumpkin pie.  I only made one change (used egg-beaters in place of eggs) but I doubt I will make that mistake again.  The entire pie is so low in calories (w/ the egg beaters, mine came to 480 calories for the entire 9 inch pie) and I don't think it's necessary to use the egg beaters.  I have a bad oven as it is, so it took me a bit longer to get this to cook, and I am certain the extra liquid didn't help.  But seriously, a recipe that gives you the same satisfaction.  And, you can eat the entire friggin pie if you want for the same caloric intake as a 1/8 slice of regular pumpkin pie!

Seriously, trust me on this one.  Serve this with some FF cool whip, some LF graham crackers and you will have an incredibly satisfying dessert with very minimal guilt.

Maple Pumpkin Custard
adapted from Eating Well, Living Thin (one of the best blogs ever)

Ingredients

• Vegetable cooking spray
• One 15-ounce can 100% pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup Splenda Granular
• 1/4 cup sugar free maple pancake syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup skim evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract  

Direction

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Lightly coat a 9-inch pie plate or other casserole with the cooking spray and set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine the pumpkin puree, Splenda Granular, sugar free maple syrup, cinnamon, salt, eggs, milk, and vanilla.  
4. Pour into prepared dish and bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. 
5. Cool and then place in fridge.
   
6. Serve cold with some FF cool whip.  

Makes 8 servings.