Two of America’s most popular foods fused into one — pumpkin spice + tacos = a whole lot of YUM! I can’t get enough of this new dessert and I suggest you go get yourself some a pumpkin while they’re still in season. Trust me when I say you do not want to miss out on these!
I owe the idea for this dish to a fellow Facebooker who probably isn’t too thrilled with me right now. Last month, someone, who I don’t personally know, shared a post which read, “I feel that tacos are more important than pumpkin spice. There, I said it. Fight me!” Me, trying to be humorous and playful, commented, “What about pumpkin spice tacos?”
He reacted to my comment with a “mad” face, and replied, “I’m reporting this comment, you monster!” LMAO!
After I gave it some real thought, I decided I might actually be onto something! I mean, a pumpkin spice dessert taco didn’t sound half bad. In fact, it sounded really good! From that point on I was just waiting until I could find baking pumpkins available in the market. Once I did, I made my dreams come true, and they’re every bit as delicious as I imagined.
If you do wheat, I suggest using the Mission brand street taco sized flour tortillas. If you’re gluten and/or grain-free, you can buy your favorite store-bought substitutes (though if they’re larger in size, just be sure to adjust the yield for the recipe), or I really like this recipe from No Eggs Or Ham for Large Cassava Flour Tortillas, which you can make smaller, into a street taco size. If you’re like my friend from the Facebook group, and you’re not a pumpkin fan, I also think substituting the pumpkin with apples would be really delicious in these!
We’ve tried ours topped with vegan ice cream (SoDelicious Vanilla Bean!) and we tried them topped with Whipped Coconut Cream. My favorite topping? I decided my fave was to not have to pick one topping but to have some of each!
If you don’t want to take the trouble in making your own whipped cream, there are a few store-bought options. Trader Joe’s has a really yummy canned Coconut Whipped Topping, Reddi Whip now makes some, SoDelicious has Cool Whip-style Coco Whip, aaaand… if you don’t like coconut (but why wouldn’t you?! OK, not judging, I swear), Soyatoo makes a Soy Whip, as well as, a Rice Whip.
OK, I explained a lot about how I got the idea for these, and about different options for executing them, but I didn’t really tell you much are what they are. The tortillas for these tacos are fried in vegan butter (or coconut oil) until crispy and tossed in cinnamon and coconut sugar. They are then filled with diced and roasted pumpkin (which was tossed in pumpkin pie spice, coconut sugar, vanilla, sea salt, and vegan butter/coconut oil), toasted pecans, and vegan cream cheese icing. Finally, I top these off with the non-dairy vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream. Yum, riiiight?! Seriously, how can these not sound good? Not too, too sweet either, as the pumpkin adds a bit of savory.
I know there are a few pumpkin pie spice haters out there (I mean, that IS what started all this), but there wouldn’t be haters if there weren’t so many of us which are such HUGE pumpkin spice fans. So, where my lovers at?! Please let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, or take a picture of yours and tag me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.
Pumpkin Spice Dessert Tacos
Ingredients
For the pumpkin…
- 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 lb pie pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed, and diced weight of diced pumpkin should equal about 1 1/3 lb (or 4 cups)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp vegan butter, melted or sub coconut oil
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
For the tortillas…
- 8 street taco sized flour or gluten-free flour tortillas For gluten/grain-free I love this recipe (just make them smaller) or use store-bought. Adjust yield for larger tortillas.
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch sea salt
- 1/4 cup, or more as needed vegan butter, for cooking or sub coconut oil
For topping…
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans chopped
- 1 batch Cream Cheez Icing
- non-dairy vanilla ice cream soy-free if necessary (optional)
- Whipped Coconut Cream homemade or store-bought (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add all of the pumpkin ingredients to a mixing bowl and toss until the pumpkin is well coated. Spread pumpkin on the parchment-lined baking sheet and transfer to your preheated oven for 10 minutes, make sure to flip/stir the pumpkin pieces after the first 5 minutes. If the pumpkin isn't tender after 10 minutes, leave it in the oven until easily pierced with a fork.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a pinch of sea salt. Set aside.
- Heat a small, 8" skillet to medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the vegan butter. Once the butter is melted and hot, add a tortilla. After about 30 seconds, flip the tortilla and fold it in half. Fry each half for 10 to 20 seconds, until crispy. Add the tortilla to the bowl of cinnamon and sugar and toss until coated. Continue with remaining tortillas, stopping to add more butter to the skillet as needed.
- Fill each tortilla with an eighth of the roasted pumpkin. Over the pumpkin filling, sprinkle pecans and drizzle with icing. Add one or two tacos to each plate for serving and, if desired, top with vanilla non-dairy ice cream and/or Whipped Coconut Cream.