This mouth-watering Vegan Pecan Pie is the perfect Thanksgiving and fall dessert option to wow your guests. It features a soft, sweet and delicious filling baked in a perfectly flaky tart and is topped off with pecans. Serve this tasty pie cool or at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream.
About this Recipe
When I think of fall, seasonal ingredients such as pumpkins, walnuts and pecans always come to mind. These ingredients can be used to make the most comforting and delicious meals ever! Now, we all know that pecan pie is a popular Southern classic so it has to be made right but, I had a few more vegan guests this year so I decided to make a vegan-friendly recipe for everyone to enjoy.
You might be thinking that this pie won’t have the same flavors as the original but I’m here to let you know that my guests were super impressed and came back for seconds. The filling was just as sweet and moist and the pastry was perfectly flaky. With a few replacement ingredients, you can make this easy vegan pecan pie for vegans and non-vegans to enjoy. You also get to avoid the complications of not being able to leave it out for too long as it does not contain eggs.
When it comes to serving you have lots of options. For the non-vegans, you can serve it with regular ice cream or whipped cream and for vegans opt for vegan ice cream or whipped coconut cream.
Ingredients
Vegan Dough
- Plain flour: Use plain flour to make the base of the pastry.
- Salt: Is used to balance out the flavors of the pastry.
- Sugar: Will add some sweetness to the pie.
- Vegan margarine: Make sure you use vegan magarine for a vegan pie crust.
- Ice cold water: It is crucial to use ice cold water for the best results.
Filling
- Coconut oil: Use good quality coconut oil for the filling.
- Muscovado sugar: This sugar adds sweet, deep and woody flavors perfect for the season.
- Corn starch: This is used to thicken the filling.
- Agave syrup: Agave is the vegan sweetner of choice for this recipe. Feel free to add less or more depending on your taste.
- Coconut milk: Use canned coconut milk for the filling as it has a delicous coconuty flavor.
- Pecans: Use good quality pecans for this recipe.
- Orange extract: This will add delicious sweetness to the filling.
- Ground cinnamon: Adds a sweet and spicy flavor to the filling.
How to Make Vegan Pecan Pie
Pecan Pie Dough
- Grab a bowl and add plain flour salt and sugar. Then whisk the ingredients together until well combined.
- Next, add diced frozen vegan margarine to the flour mixture. Stir the margarine with flour and sugar with your hands or using a mixer.
Tip: It is crucial that the butter is cold in order to make the best pastry. In addition, dicing the butter makes it easier to combine the butter and flour.
3. Once the butter and flour is well combined, pour in ice cold water and knead the mixture until you get a soft, smooth dough. Then, cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes.
Tip: Once again, make sure the water is cold for the best pastry.
Pecan Pie Filling
4. Melt coconut oil in a saucepan and add the chopped pecans. Make sure that you reserve some of the pecans for later.
5. Next, add the muscovado sugar and stir with a spatula on low heat.
6. Now that the sugar and pecans are well combined, pour coconut milk into a saucepan then add orange extract and agave syrup. Before you add the starch, stir it in a separate cup with a little coconut milk or water to prevent a lumpy filling. Once you have done this pour the starch mixture into the saucepan.
7. Heat the filling on low heat and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Once the filling thickens, turn off the heat.
Assemble Vegan Pecan Pie
8. Preheat oven at 175C/350F. Then take out the chilled dough and place it between two sheets of baking paper. This will prevent it from sticking. Roll the dough out into a thin layer. However, make sure it is not too thin as it needs to be strong enough to hold the pecan pie vegan filling.
9. Grab a tart dish and cover it with the dough. Cut off the excess dough using a knife then, use a fork to make holes in the dough to prevent it from puffing up when baking as shown.
10. Place the tart in the freezer for 15 minutes to make it firm. Then, remove the dough from the freezer, cover it with foil and fill it with dried rice or beans. Bake for 15 minutes. This process is referred to as blind-baking and it helps to part-bake the pastry before adding the filling which helps to prevent a soggy pastry.
11. Next, remove the rice or beans from the tart carefully. Then, pour the pecan pie filling into the pastry base and smooth it out evenly.
Tip: The material for blind-baking is a tempered-glass or aluminum pie plate. They will keep your crust crisp and shapely.
13. Place the pecans on top of the filling as shown and make a beautiful symmetrical-ish pattern.
14. Place the pie in the hot oven and bake at 175C/350F for another half hour.
15. Once the pie is done leave it to cool completely on the table. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the pie or serve it right away with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream. Enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Weigh ingredients: To get the best results make sure you use a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients before baking.
- Butter: When making the dough you want it to stay as cold as possible. You can wear vinyl gloves to prevent the dough from warming up if you are mixing and kneading by hand.
- Coconut milk: It is best to use canned coconut for the filling as it has a thick and sweet texture.
- Decorating: Top the pie with the best pecan pie for a beautiful clean finish. Avoid crushed pecans.
FAQs
Yes, pecan pie needs to be refrigerated because it includes eggs. However, if you are making vegan pecan pie you don’t have to worry as much as it does not include any eggs or dairy products.
Classic pecan pie features a pecan, egg, butter and sugar filling baked in a sweet pastry. It is usually served as dessert during the fall season and has many variations.
It is believed that pecan pie originates from the Southern United States as pecans are grown in Illinois. Pecan pie is Texas’s official state dessert.
Store this pie in an air-tight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days. Alternatively, you can freeze this pie in an air-tight container for up to one month.
Thanks for reading this recipe, comment below if you made this and let me know how it went! Follow @simshomekitchen on Instagram, take a photo, tag and hashtag it with @simshomekitchen.
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Vegan Pecan Pie
Equipment
- Pie dish
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Dough
- 170 g Plain flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp of Sugar
- 80 g of vegan margarine
- 3 tbsp ice water
Filling
- 50 g Coconut oil
- 100 g Muscovado sugar
- 3 tbsp Corn starch
- 3 tbsp Agave syrup
- 300 ml Coconut milk
- 150 g + 50 g for Pecans garnish
- 1 tsp Orange extract
- ½ tsp Ground cinnamon
Instructions
Pecan Pie Dough
- Add plain flour salt and sugar to a deep bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until well combined.
- Next, add diced frozen vegan margarine to the flour mixture. Stir the margarine with flour and sugar with your hands or using a mixer.
- Pour in ice water and knead the mixture until you get a soft, smooth dough. Then, cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes.
Pecan Pie Filling
- Melt coconut oil in a saucepan and add the chopped pecans. Do not use all of the nuts as you will need some for garnish.
- Next, add the muscovado sugar and stir with a spatula on low heat.
- Pour coconut milk into a saucepan, add orange extract and agave syrup. Before adding starch, stir it with a little coconut milk or water in a separate cup then pour the starch mixture into the saucepan. This will make the perfect lump-free filling.
- Heat the filling on low heat and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Once the filling thickens, turn off the heat.
Assemble Vegan Pecan Pie
- Preheat oven at 175C/350F. Take out the chilled dough and place it between two sheets of baking paper. Roll the dough out into a thin layer.
- Grab a tart dish and cover it with the dough. Cut off the excess dough using a knife then, use a fork to make holes in the dough to prevent it from puffing up when baking.
- Place the tart in the freezer for 15 minutes. Then, cover the dough with foil and fill with dried rice or beans. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the rice or beans from the tart carefully. Then, transfer the pecan pie filling into the pastry base and smooth it out evenly. Place the pecans on top of the filling as shown.
- Place the dish in a hot oven and bake at 175C/350F for another 30 minutes. Then leave the pie to cool completely on the table. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the pie or serve it right away with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.
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