Name: Healthy pecan pie
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 1 cup pecans; ½ cup almonds; ¼ cup dates; 2 tbsp ground flax seeds; 1 tsp pumpkin spice*; ½ tsp sea salt; 2 tbsp coconut oil; 1 tbsp water; 1 can coconut milk ((1 can of 400 ml)); 1 cup dates; ¾ cup water; 2 tbsp coconut oil; ¼ cup almond butter; ¼ tsp almond extract; 1 handful pecans; 2 tsp coconut sugar; ¼ tsp cinnamon

It’s November so that means Thanksgiving is coming up! And this healthy pecan pie is going to be the star of the show!

As many of you know, I am Dutch. Thanksgiving is not celebrated in the Netherland. But since we have so many North American friends, we have started celebrating it with them many years ago. I love the coziness of it; everybody comes to together and shares comfort food! Totally up my ally!

As many of you also know I am all about healthy food. I have learned over the years that many (most?) Thanksgiving recipes aren’t at all healthy; heavy on butter, sugar and lots of starch. All very yummy, but I like to challenge myself and come up with something delicious yet healthy.

I worked on this healthy pecan pie for a long time, and I think I finally nailed it! This pecan pie is solely sweetened with dates and you wouldn’t even know it if I hadn’t told you! The crust is made with 100% nuts, no flour is added. And I kept it totally vegan. SWOON!

Last weekend I brought this pie to a kid’s party and shared it with a bunch of parents who were there. I didn’t say anything, just that it was pecan pie. Everyone love it! I even had two people asking me if they could order it for their Thanksgiving celebration! Pretty proud of this pie I have to say.

How I make this healthy pecan pie?

With a bit of planning ahead of time, this vegan and gluten free pecan pie comes together pretty easily.

Pre-cool a can of coconut milk (1 or 2 days before making the pie)

I cool a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight. The cream will harden and float to the top. You will just be using this creamy part so this step should not be skipped! The rest I usually use in a smoothie.

Prepare the crust (1 hour – 1 day before consumption)

The dough for the crust of this healthy pecan pie comes together quite easily. I either place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz a few times.

Or alternatively, I grind nuts in a blender and set aside in a medium sized mixing bowl. Now I break down the dates into small pieces in the blender and add them to the mixing bowl together with the rest of the crust ingredients. Then I knead it into a dough with my hands.

I press the mixture into a pie or tart pan and up the sides (you want the thickness of the sides to be around ½ cm/ ¼ inch). I like to use a pie pan with a removable bottom for easy removal. If you don’t have one, don’t worry about it. I have a trick that I’ll teach you below..

I bake the bottom of the pie for 8-10 minutes in a preheated oven until crispy and I let it cool completely.

For easy removal (if you are using a solid pie pan) place your cooled off pie base in the freezer for 5 minutes. Then put a cutting board or plate on top of the pie pan, flip it over and knock on the bottom of it. You will hear the pie base plop down. That’s it!

Prepare the filling (1 hour – 1 day before consumption)

While the crust is baking in the oven, I start to prepare the filling by opening the refrigerated can of coconut milk. I scoop out the hardened, thick coconut cream into a large bowl and whisk with an (electric) whisk for 3 minutes until the cream is fluffy. After that I place it in the refrigerator while I work on the next step.

I blitz dates and water in a food processor to make a paste, add coconut oil, almond extract and nut butter until fully incorporated.

To the date mixture I add ¾ of the chilled fluffy coconut cream and gently stir to combine it all to make sure it stays airy. I place the remaining coconut cream back in the fridge.

I pour the filling into the cooled off pie base. I shake it a bit to even it out, again gently, and refrigerate the pie. After 15-20 minutes I take it out to swirl the remaining coconut cream on it and use a tooth pick to make a pretty design. This is for decoration only, so it is totally optional.

I place the pecan pie back in the refrigerator for at least an hour. After an hour the pie filling will still be a bit wobbly, but hardened enough to cut. I prefer to cool mine overnight though. Since we live in a hot climate I need the pie to be super cold and the filling to be hard to transport it (to a potluck or Thanksgiving celebration) without it getting too warm and falling apart. This is because the melting point of coconut oil is 76F/24C which is colder than the outside temperature here in Nicaragua most of the times.

Garnish the pecan pie (15 minutes – right before serving)

I don’t top my pecan pie until the filling has set. I actually prefer to do it right before serving so the pecans stay crunchy and won’t get soggy.

Toast the pecans in a skillet. You can use ‘whole halves’ or chopped ones. To give it an extra crunchy you can melt some coconut sugar in a skillet. And once it has melted, take it off the heat, add the pecans (and some cinnamon) and stir to combine. Transfer to a plate to cool off and top your pecan pie with it.

I am so delighted about this healthy pecan pie! And I am sure you will be too. It is

nutty and crunchy on the outside – rich and creamy on the inside – naturally sweetened – aromatically spiced – and incredibly delicious

This pecan pie is the show stopper to ever Thanksgiving celebration. In the next days I will be posting my creamy sweet potato mash, the perfect Thanksgiving salad, the cutest pumpkin buns and other TG side dishes. Stay tuned! And for the best (vegan) turkey stuffing go here.

Can’t get enough of everything holiday spiced? Check out my speculaas cookies (Dutch gingerbread cookies with toasted almonds), ‘pepernoten’ (aka gingerbread marbles), gingerbread-banana bread and my recipe for holiday spice blends.

Healthy pecan pie

This healthy pecan pie is solely sweetened with dates; it has no refined sugar. It is totally vegan and gluten free. And most importantly it is delicious! A show stopper at every Thanksgiving celebration!

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Resting time 1

Total Time 1 20

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 slices

Calories 310 kcal

Equipment

8 inch Pie pan (pref. with removable bottom)
food processor or high speed blender

Ingredients

Pie crust

1 cup pecans
½ cup almonds
¼ cup dates
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tsp pumpkin spice*
½ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp water

Pie filling

1 can coconut milk (1 can of 400 ml)
1 cup dates
¾ cup water
2 tbsp coconut oil
¼ cup almond butter (other nut butter work as well. Just keep in mind that if you use peanut butter it will change the flavor of the filling substantially)
¼ tsp almond extract

Pie topping (all optional, but totally worth it so recommended)

1 handful pecans
2 tsp coconut sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon

Instructions

The night before preparing this pie, cool a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator. The cream of it will harden and float to the top. You will just be using this creamy part.
Preheat the oven to 350F/ 175C
To prepare the crust, place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz.
Or alternatively, grind nuts in a blender and set aside in a medium sized mixing bowl. Then break down the dates into small pieces in the blender. Add them to the mixing bowl together with the rest of the crust ingredients. Knead into a dough with your hands.
Press the mixture into a pie or tart pan and up the sides (you want the sides to be around 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) thick).
Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven until crispy and golden brown. Take the pie base out of the oven and let it cool completely.
For easy removal (if you are not using a pie pan with removable bottom) place your cooled off pie base in the freezer for 5 minutes. Then put a cutting board or plate on top of the pie pan, flip it over and knock on the bottom of it and it will come loose.
While the crust is baking in the oven, prepare the filling. Start by opening the refrigerated can of coconut milk. Scoop out the hardened/thick cream into a large bowl. Whisk with an (electric) whisk for 3 minutes until the cream is fluffy. Place it in the refrigerator while you are working on the next step.
Blitz dates and water in a food processor to make a paste, add coconut oil, almond extract and nut butter until fully incorporated.
Take the fluffy coconut cream out of the refrigerator and add ¾ of it to the date mixture. Gently stir to combine it all. Place the remaining coconut cream back in the fridge.
Pour the filling into the cooled off pie base. Refrigerate your pie. After 15 minutes take it out to swirl the remaining coconut cream on it and use a tooth pick to make a pretty design. This is for decoration only, so it is totally optional.
Place your pecan pie back in the refrigerator for at least an hour. After an hour your pie filling will still be a bit wobbly, but hardened enough to cut. For best results I would recommend cooling the pie at least 3-4 hours or even overnight.
To top your pie, toast pecans in a skillet. You can use 'whole halves' or chopped ones.
To give it an extra crunch you can melt some coconut sugar in a skillet, once it has melted, take it off the heat, add the pecans (and some cinnamon) to it and stir to combine. Transfer to a plate to cool off and top your pecan pie with it.
Refrigerator the pie until you are ready to serve it.

Notes

*pumpkin spice blend

Nutritional information:

the information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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