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