Monday, December 1, 2014

Vegan Pecan Pie (with chocolate chips and whisky)

I wanted to make an egg-free Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving this year.  So, I took my previous recipe, combined it with a vegan recipe I found online (http://hellyeahitsvegan.com/best-vegan-pecan-pie/) and came up with this.  I also added a little whisky to this version.

Pie Dough
  • 1¼ c flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 7.5 Tbsp vegan butter, chilled
  • 3-5 Tbsp ice water


Filling
  • 2 c pecan halves
  • 1/3 c dark chocolate chips
  • 10 whole wheat crackers, crumbled
  • ½ c water
  • 2 ½ Tbsp canola oil
  • 1¼ c sugar
  • ¼ c agave syrup
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp bourbon (optional)
  • 3 Tbsp applesauce or pumpkin puree
  • 3 Tbsp corn or tapioca starch


Instructions

Pie Crust
  • Preheat oven to 425°F.
  • In a medium bowl, sift together flour and salt.
  • Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter until pea-sized.
  • Sprinkle with 3 Tbsp ice water and stir until dough comes together in a ball, adding more ice water as needed.
  • Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface or between wax paper
  • Transfer to 9" pie plate; trim and shape edges as desired.
  • Prick crust with a fork and fill with pie weights; bake for 5 minutes.
  • Remove pie plate from oven and set aside.


Filling
  • Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
  • Roast pecans for about 15 minutes.  Don’t burn them.
  • Turn off heat and let pecans cool
  • When cool, take ½ the pecans and chop up
  • In a small bowl, stir together crackers and water.
  • Let water absorb, then put mixture in a food processor with oil, sugar, agave nectar, vanilla, applesauce or pumpkin puree, and starch.
  • Process until mixture is relatively smooth.
  • Pour mixture into saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
  • When mixture boils, lower heat slightly and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring to make sure nothing burns to the bottom of the pan.
  • Fold in pecans and chocolate chips , bourbon, and let chocolate melt
  • Remove pie weights from crust, then pour filling into crust.


Bake for 45-50 minutes.
Let cool before serving