Vegan & Gluten-free Mini Pecan Pie
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"It's a fine thing to build a pie, a bulwark against autumnal entropy."- Jane Kenyon
The holiday season is particularly stressful for this mini Grinch. Seriously. A couple of my friends have incessantly advised me to "cheer up" already because Christmas is just 'round the corner. You don't understand, I'm the type of person who gets excited for Christmas mere days before the actual day. Just days before the gift giving takes place. On average, two-three days before that big Christmas Eve dinner my family hosts, and the green and red sweaters must be worn. MUST, I tell you. Have I always been this way? Yes, as far as I can remember.
When I was four years old, I caught my mother stuffing my Christmas stocking with little gifts and sugary treats. To her credit, she wore a red ensemble, but that settled it, I just knew Santa Claus was merely a product of someone's overactive, wild imagination. It didn't help that we lived in a tropical country, where even big houses did not have chimneys. So how in the world will the big, old man enter our home and eat the cookies by the tree? I was not to be fooled.
But as that Spider Man quotes go... Wait, not really. With that knowledge comes the fact that the magic of Christmas somewhat wore off. Maybe that is one reason why Christmastime does not particularly excite me nor does it put me over the moon. I have rationalised the holiday from an early age. But, if we get down and dirty with it, I will say that the holiday desserts is what really got me going. (True story, I got awfully sick once before Christmas mass because I inhaled more bites than my small tummy could handle. I still want to throw up just thinking about the quantity.)
Both of my parents adored pecan pie. We never had it often because, hello, so not the healthiest dessert. I can't remember the last time I had this pie... Maybe way before I turned vegan four years ago. But I decided it was high time to bake my own pecan pie because you only have this one life, right? And perhaps the smell of pecan pie baking in my kitchen will incite the Christmas cheer in my heart.
The recipe below was inspired by this recipe from BeetificBeginnings. I made a few changes, mostly because I was lacking some of the ingredients. Check the link to follow the original recipe, but what is listed below has all my modifications.
You have to have more than one.
Mini Pecan Pies
Makes 12 pies
Crust:
- 2 cups oat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup pitted medjool dates (approx. 8), soaked in hot water
- 1/2-3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (See below)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
Filling:
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp almond milk (to start - see below)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp molasses (See note below)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1.5 tbsp arrowroot powder + 2 tbsp water
- 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with coconut oil (or any spray of choice).
To make the crust, combine oat flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Process the dates, applesauce, maple syrup and coconut oil in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.
Pour the liquid mixture with the dry ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. You can use a mixer, but if you don't have one, use your hands (I did). The dough is supposed to be sticky. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and press down around the bottom and on the edges to make "cups".
For the filling, mix the arrowroot powder and water in a small dish until it thickens. In a saucepan, combine coconut oil, almond milk, maple syrup and molasses. Let boil on medium heat and eventually let simmer once it bubbles. Slowly pour the arrowroot and continue whisking until it thickens. Remove from heat and add in vanilla.
Mix in the chopped pecans and pour the filling into each of the mini crusts. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Let cool in the muffin tin for at least five minutes before transferring to a baking rack.
Notes:
- I added more unsweetened applesauce as I was mixing the dough because there didn't seem to have enough liquid to bind the dough together. You can eye it as you go.
- I skipped the molasses because I didn't have any. I didn't add extra maple syrup to compensate. The pies still turned out great!
- After mixing the arrowroot, my filling turned too thick so to thin a little bit, I added more almond milk. Again, eye it until you like how the filling looks.
Enjoy! xx
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