Vegan Pecan Pie (and Coconut Oil Crust or Pastry)

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Vegan Pecan Pie (and Coconut Oil Crust or Pastry)
Category: Desserts - Pie

Suitable for a: vegan diet


Ingredients:
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3/4 cup beaten firm silken tofu
2 tsp. arrowroot powder (or cornstarch, but I think arrowroot cooks up 'smoother')
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup melted vegan margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(**If you can find it, sub 1/4 tsp. pecan, walnut or hazelnut flavoring extract for 1/2 tsp. of the vanilla. It's a WONDERFUL addition and enhances the flavor but isn't absolutely necessary, vanilla works fine too.)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan halves (or more if you like it really "nutty")
9” pie crust (see recipe below)


Instructions:
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Arrange pecan halves in a single layer in bottom of crust. (Or more, depending on how many nuts you like)

Beat tofu, arrowroot, corn syrup, margarine and vanilla (all ingredients except pecans) until well blended in your food processor or hand-held mixer/blender (Make sure the tofu is smooth and there are no lumps). Pour mixture over nuts.

Bake for 1 hour at 350F or until it looks like it's starting to solidify - it will set up completely as it cools.

Cool completely before serving.


Additional Recipe - for Pie Crust:
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Coconut-Oil Pie Crust:

(This makes SUCH a nice flaky pastry!)

3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 T maple sugar or cane sugar
1/4 tsp salt (I add just the tiniest pinch more, the recipe seems to need it)
1/4 cup coconut oil (measure it in solidified form, in a dry measure)
2 TB. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine (NOT "light" margarine) chilled or frozen
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3-5 TB ice water

Toss dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Toss the solidified coconut oil and margarine with the dry ingredients, coating the hardened pieces with flour, which makes the pieces easier to break up and work in.
Work into the flour with your fingers or (preferably) a pastry blender. The coconut oil and margarine should be distributed into different-size pebbles, all of them small. Break up any large clumps or pebbles into smaller pebbles; no pieces should be larger than a pea.

Add the vinegar to the ice water. Drizzle the water into the dough a spoonful at a time, mixing in each as you go. You have enough water in the dough when the dough holds together well when pinched. Do not add any more water than absolutely necessary.

Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap disk in plastic;

The original recipe says to chill for an hour at this point. I have discovered it's too firm to roll out if completely chilled. Try chilling for about 15 minutes.

Roll out on floured board with floured rolling pin - or even easier, just press into pie pan evenly.

[Dasani]

This will great for next Thanksgiving. Thanks

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Thanks, I just made it for New Year's and it was pretty good then too! :lick:

[Dasani]

I didn't cook for New Year's, I had so much left over from Christmas. I'm the only vegan in our house, so alot gets left over.

[xx22]

thank you very much.. i love pecan pie

[unovegan]

No pressure, but were making this for Thanksgiving!! Sounds yummy. I'll let ya know. I think we're going to add some chocolate chips as well.

[karenlovessnow]

I'm going to give it a try as well!

[Almeria]

Add me to the list of people trying this! I'm going to make it tomorrow evening.

[karenlovessnow]

I made it and it was quite good! I could taste the tofu, though, although ever so slightly and I didn't hear any complaints from anyone. I will definitely be making it again for Christmas! :lick:

[unovegan]

I made it and it was quite good! I could taste the tofu, though, although every so slightly and I didn't hear any complaints from anyone. I will definitely be making it again for Christmas! :lick:

we made it as well. We added chocolate. It was good, but very liquidy. It didn't hold itself up very well. This is the 2nd one we've made and both times it's consistency was like this. Very tasty but not firm.

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Unovegan, did you make any modifications to the recipe? (I'd be interested because this is one of my "tester" recipes for my book - yes, a book, someday!!)

Try adding more arrowroot or cornstarch next time, or cooking longer. Are you sure the temp on your oven is correct?. Curious to me because I haven't had any of my other testers mention it being liquid-y, but I want to make modifications if needed because I want this to turn out consistently for EVERYONE!

PLEASE let me know!!

[unovegan]

Unovegan, did you make any modifications to the recipe? (I'd be interested because this is one of my "tester" recipes for my book - yes, a book, someday!!)

Try adding more arrowroot or cornstarch next time, or cooking longer. Are you sure the temp on your oven is correct?. Curious to me because I haven't had any of my other testers mention it being liquid-y, but I want to make modifications if needed because I want this to turn out consistently for EVERYONE!

PLEASE let me know!!

We added two tsps of arrowroot like the recipe stated. We cooked it the stated amount. My wife thinks that eating it hot may be why it was liquid-y. We ate it cold last night and it had thickened up. So, Shannon thinks that this particular pie should be eaten cold. Make sense?

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Never eaten any pie while it's hot, so this never crossed my mind.
Yes, it's intended to be eaten cool, or at room temperature.
(The recipe does say "Cool completely before serving".)
Yes, it does thicken after it cools.
Thank you. I'll try and make it more clear that this pie needs to "set up" and be completely cooled before cutting. I appreciate the feedback.

[unovegan]

Never eaten a hot pie? THAT is something you need to try out. We've made vegan apple pie hot and it's wonderful. Use some vanilla soy ice cream to offset the heat and it's heaven on earth. Thanks for the recipe!! good stuff.

[karenlovessnow]

I love warm pie! :lick: I never eat pie right from the fridge...I always pop it in the microwave for ten seconds to at least get the chill out. :)

[cowgirrlup]

Just baked this today. It is actually still bubbling in the photo. Thickened up just fine. I baked it for exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes per your recipe. I used cornstarch since I didn't have any arrowroot.

The pie is fantastic! Smooth & nutty and the taste is divine. No tofu taste. The omnis had no clue. It is all gone now. I will be making this again soon. Thanks for another fantastic recipe. :D

[unovegan]

After reading Cowgirllup's post, I wonder if our altitude might have come into play. We're at 8000 ft. hmmm?!

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Awwww.... thank you so much for the replies and the tips. I'm taking notes. And SO SO SO SO glad the recipe turned out!
And in a heart-shaped pan and everything
Karyn, if I remember, you live at a higher elevation too? Maybe not, but I'm not entirely convinced that's the issue unless you've had other pies react similarly?
Anyway, thanks all. I have caved and am slowly (SLOWLY) starting to assemble the beginnings of a book proposal so your honest input is HUGELY appreciated!!

[cowgirrlup]

After reading Cowgirllup's post, I wonder if our altitude might have come into play. We're at 8000 ft. hmmm?!

I could be. I am about 6,500 ft. I remember making non-vegan pecan pies and they had to cool before they set up. Make it again! Let it cool or even chill it before you try it and see if that helps. You get to have another pecan pie then! ( I LOVE cold pecan pie)

[cowgirrlup]

Awwww.... thank you so much for the replies and the tips. I'm taking notes. And SO SO SO SO glad the recipe turned out!
And in a heart-shaped pan and everything
Karyn, if I remember, you live at a higher elevation too? Maybe not, but I'm not entirely convinced that's the issue unless you've had other pies react similarly?
Anyway, thanks all. I have caved and am slowly (SLOWLY) starting to assemble the beginnings of a book proposal so your honest input is HUGELY appreciated!!

You're very welcome. And yes I'm at a higher elevation, too. I have discovered (so far anyways) that any vegan baking that I do isn't really a problem with the elevation here. Its the "conventional" recipes that are a problem for me here. I am wondering if a lot of it is due to eggs / dairy?

I sometimes add a bit more flour or liquid to vegan baking, but I have to adjust almost everything if I bake something that is non-veg*n. Pies I never make any adjustments to as far as elevation.

[humglum]

One of my favorite desserts as an omni was Dorie Greenspan's "thanksgiving two-fer" pie (pecan and pumpkin, together). If one were to add pumpkin to this pie, would you decrease the amount of tofu? Or leave it out altogether? I'm at work so I can't look at the original recipe to see how it could be veganized. I tried to google it but all cooking/recipe/blogs are blocked.
Just an idea. I'll look it up when I get home tomorrow.

[cowgirrlup]

After reading Cowgirllup's post, I wonder if our altitude might have come into play. We're at 8000 ft. hmmm?!

You are a lot higher than me, so I bet you have a lot more baking issues than I do. I remember when I lived in Mammoth it would take forever to cook so many things!

...and I had a few exploding food incidents. :D

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

One of my favorite desserts as an omni was Dorie Greenspan's "thanksgiving two-fer" pie (pecan and pumpkin, together). If one were to add pumpkin to this pie, would you decrease the amount of tofu? Or leave it out altogether? I'm at work so I can't look at the original recipe to see how it could be veganized. I tried to google it but all cooking/recipe/blogs are blocked.
Just an idea. I'll look it up when I get home tomorrow.

I just looked that one up and - WOW! I don't know exactly how I'd veganize without a lot of experimenting but upon further Googling, it appears there are several vegan pumpkin-pecan pie recipes out there you could try...

[sallyomally]

Anyway, thanks all. I have caved and am slowly (SLOWLY) starting to assemble the beginnings of a book proposal so your honest input is HUGELY appreciated!!

Well it's about time woman! Just don't forget all us humble VB folks when you become rich and famous with your own cooking show and stuff.
The pie is on my Christmas cooking agenda for sure. I'll let you know (even though I know it will be fabulous) how it turns out.

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Well it's about time woman! Just don't forget all us humble VB folks when you become rich and famous with your own cooking show and stuff.
HA! No cooking show. Never ever. Book... maybe... when I'm 50 or something... just starting slow... but "forget" people on VB? Hardly! I'll hunt each of you down somehow (OK, I'm not a stalker - ha!) and force a cookbook into your grubby little hands and blame every page on you people. :lol: In a good way of course...