Pecan Pie

A few years ago we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner at friends of ours who are American. I thought, if it’s Thanksgiving, I’ll have to make something appropriate to take with. I decided on pecan pie.

I’d never made pecan pie before and as always with my recipes, I really don’t actually know much about the technicalities of baking, I just find a good recipe of the traditional version and attempt to make a healthier substitute.

The pie was perfect. Everyone at the dinner couldn’t stop raving about it and most people had a second serving. No one even realised it was free of gluten, dairy, refined sugar and eggs. I was very happy!

But this was before Organic Spoon and I didn’t have time to take a picture of it and never remembered the recipe.

BUT… I trawled through old files on my hard drive and found the recipe! I was so happy because I had planned to try and find time to make a pecan pie today – even though I should be writing! I didn’t have time to do it the rest of the week but wanted the recipe up in time for Thanksgiving, although I’m aware that it’s a little too late for those actually celebrating today. Apologies!

It’s a great autumn dessert though and I might even make this (or its chocolate counterpart) for dessert on Christmas Day.

I hope you enjoy the recipe and Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating!

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup ground almonds
4 tbsp maple syrup
4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
6 medjool dates
1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the filling:
1 cup pecans
6 heaped tbsp cashew, almond or peanut butter
12 medjool dates
4 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

For the topping:
1 cup pecans
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Method

Start by preheating the oven to 180* and grease your pie dish with coconut oil to stop the crust from sticking.

Now put all the crust ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Spoon it out onto the pie dish and flatten it out and round to the sides with your fingers.

Put it in the oven for 10 minutes.

When it’s in the oven make the filling by adding all the ingredients to the food processor and blending until a smooth mixture forms.

Once it’s ready, put it in a bowl and put it in the fridge to set for 20-30 minutes.

While it’s setting in the fridge, you can take your base out the oven and set it to the side. It should cool for at least 10 minutes before you add the filling.

Then take the ingredients for the topping and put them in a baking dish together and mix. Put it in the oven for 5-10 minutes. The pecans need to caramelise and harden but not burn.

Once the mixture in the fridge has hardened a little, smooth it over the base and flatten with your hands or a spatula.

Take the pecans out the oven and place them on top of the mixture.

Leave the cake out to set for an hour before serving.

Serve with dairy free cream or custard, or on its own!