Pumpkin Pie Tamales are a sweet dessert tamal inspired by the classic American Pumpkin Pie. Perfect for Dia de Los Muertos or Thanksgiving!
Pumpkin Pie + Tamales = 💖
These Pumpkin Pie Tamales combine two of my favorite things: the classic American Pumpkin Pie and Mexican Tamales. Making tamales might seem like a daunting task that takes too much time to prep and assemble. Or Maybe you’ve never worked with masa dough before. No worries. This recipe for Pumpkin Pie Tamales is simply and easy to make, even if you’ve never made tamales before. You will need to set aside a few hours for the recipe, but at the end of day you’ll have a batch of Pumpkin Pie Tamales to enjoy.
The first step is rehydrate your corn husks. I usually buy my husks at my local Hispanic grocery store, but I have seen them at my local supermarket too. They need to be cleaned and soaked in hot water until soft and pliable, at least 30 minutes but preferably 1-2 hours.
When the husks are almost done soaking, this is when I like to start the dough. The dough starts off with a masa base that’s sweetened with brown sugar and traditional pumpkin pie spices amp up the flavor. Instead of using vegan butter for the recipe, I used melted and cooled unrefined coconut oil.
Assembling the tamales
After the dough is done, it’s time to assemble to tamales. There are four main steps in the assembling process.
- Lay one corn husk flat and spread 1/4-1/3 cup of the filling, leaving about a 1 inch space empty from the top and the sides.
- Fold the left side over and then right side
- Fold the bottom end up to enclose the tamal
- Tie the tamal with kitchen twine or a piece of corn husks
These Pumpkin Pie Tamales aren’t stuffed with a filling, making them even easier to assemble. After all the tamales are assembled, they steam in a tamale pot or large steamer pot for about 1-2 hours. That’s it! When the tamales pull way from the corn husks and feel firm, they are done. I like to let them cool for 15 minutes before serving.
You can serve these tamales just by themselves, but I love serving them with the warm piloncillo syrup that I shared earlier this week. Or a drizzle of warm maple syrup would be delicious. I would also imagine that some coconut whipped cream would be nice to serve along side if you are a big of of whipped topping on your pumpkin pie.
Since I just made these for me and my husband, I froze the majority of them. Tamales freeze really well and can be reheated while still frozen. If you love pumpkin pie and love sweet tamales, I hope that you’ll give these fall inspired sweet tamales a try!
- At least 2 dozen corn husks
- 1¾ Cup Canned Pumpkin Puree
- 1 Cup Refined Coconut Oil, melted and cooled
- 1 Cup Almond Milk, warmed
- 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 3½ Cups Masa Harina
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Baking Powder
- ½ Tsp Cloves
- ½ Tsp Nutmeg
- Rinse and clean the corn husks. In a large baking dish or container, add the corn husks and cover with hot water. Soak for at least 30 minutes, preferably at least 1-2 hours. Drain the corn husks in a large colander then wipe dry with a kitchen towel. Set aside until needed. Take one or two of the husks and rip into strips. These will be used to tie the tamales.
- In a large mixing bowl add the pumpkin puree, coconut oil, almond milk, brown sugar and vanilla. Use an electric mix to beat together until everything is evenly mixed.
- In another large mixing bowl, add the masa harina, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking powder, cloves, and nutmeg. Whisk together.
- Working in batches, add about one-third of the dry ingredients into the wet. Use the electric mixer to beat until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated into the wet. Continue to mix the dry ingredients into the wet until everything has been fully incorporated.
- I like to use my hands to finishing mixing the masa. I usually mix the masa for about 1-2 minutes with my hands. I find it is easier than using the electric mixer. If the dough feels too sticky sprinkle in a little bit more masa harina.
- Assemble the tamales. {See photo 3 in the post for the steps} Take one of the corn husks and spread about ¼ cup of the masa making sure to leave space on the sides and the top, about 1 inch.
- Fold the left side over than the right. Fold up the bottle of the husk. Flip over to the other side and take one of the strings from the corn husks that you made earlier and tie it around the lower portion of the husks. This will help keep the tamal together. Continue until you have used up all the dough.
- Fill a large steamer pot with water. Bring to a boil and add a layer of corn husks at the bottom of the steamer. Place the tamales inside and the take a few more of the leftover corn husks and place on top. Lower heat to a gentle simmer on low heat.
- Cook until the tamales easily pull away from the inside of the corn husks and feel firm. They will continue to firm up when they are down cooking. I like to check after they have been steaming for 1 hour, but it can take up to 1½ hours to finish cooking.
- Let the tamales cook 10-15 minutes before serving.
Xo Jeni
Why in the world would you request Refined Coconut Oil instead of Unrefined? I’m trying to eat healthier and one thing I learned was that it is always preferable to get Unrefined when possible.
You can use Unrefined Coconut Oil. I used refined so there isn’t a strong coconut taste.