I gotta be honest – I haven’t baked a pie in a LONG time. I mean like maybe 4-5 years? Let alone, a fully vegan pie! I actually do love pie, but the process of making a pie crust and then a filling just sounds daunting. However, like with everything else related to cooking, I found it fun and therapeutic. Let me also preface this by saying that I thought I made a complete disaster out of this pie, but it’s literally one of the best pies I’ve eaten!

A little history with pies – we used to visit Delicious Orchards when we were younger every fall. It’s a beautiful apple orchard out in NJ and they have some of the BEST apple cider donuts, pecan pies, and powdered donuts. So my love of pecan pie stems from my visits to this orchard. But as you all know, pies are filled with dairy and eggs. So I haven’t eaten a pie in a WHILE.

This Chocolate Pecan Pie is a balance between the familiar sweetness of a pecan pie and the decadence of a chocolate cream pie. I loved it. And the crust is SO flakey, buttery, and simply decadent. So I hope this makes your holiday table, because it’s certainly not healthy, but it’s certainly festive!

All Butter Crust:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 16 oz unsalted vegan butter* – I used Flora Plant Brand
• 1/2 cup ice cold water*
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt*

Chocolate Pecan Filling:

• 1 7.4oz can sweetened condensed coconut milk
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks/chips – I used Enjoy Life Foods Brand
• 1 1/2 cups pecans
• 6 tbsp vegan eggs – I used Eat Just Brand
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

*Notes: (1) Most vegan butters are salted, so if you’re using a salted butter, please do not add salt to the pie crust mixture. (2) A lot of vegan butter vary in texture and moisture content, so depending on what brand you’re using, the amount of water you need to add will be more or less. (3) If your pie crust becomes very soft and not crumbly after adding water, just add in a bit more flour.

Method:

1. Make the crust: You want all of your ingredients as cold as possible. This is key to a flakey crust. Please see the notes below to ensure a delicious crust! Cube your butter into about 1/2-1 inch cubes and place in the fridge to get as cold as possible until ready to use. You can also place into the freezer right before using, which is what I did! Next, in a food process, add your flour and butter and pulse until it starts looking like small meal. Add ice to your water to ensure it’s ice cold! Start pouring into your flour mixture while pulsing. Do a slow drizzle, because you just want it to combine into a thick dough, you don’t want to add too much water.* Once combined, remove from the food processor onto a floured surface. Lightly knead into a large disk and separate into two disks. We will be using 1 disk for this recipe. Do not over knead, otherwise the crust will become tough. Wrap disk in plastic wrap, and place one in the fridge for at least 2 hours and the other one in the freezer to use at another time!

2. Make the filling: In a small non-stick skillet, lightly toast the pecans until fragrant. Remove and set aside. Place a heavy bottom medium pot on the stove. Don’t heat up the pot. Add in the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chunks. Turn the flame onto medium low flame. Begin whisking to melt the chocolate into the condensed milk. Once it’s smooth, reduce the flame to low, add in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and whisk. Once the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and add in the corn syrup and whisk. Allow to cool to about room temperature. While the mixture cools, place the vegan egg substitute in a small bowl, and using a hand mixer, whip up until a bit lighter and frothy in texture, about 1 minute. Once the condensed milk mixture comes to room temperature, add in the egg mixture, whisk and then add the pecans.

3. Roll that dough: Once the dough has chilled in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, remove and placed on a floured surface. Flour a rolling pin and quickly roll out the dough into a 1/4 inch thick pie crust. Do this by continuously flipping and moving the dough as you roll it do it doesn’t stick to the surface. Quickly place on a 9 inch pie dish and press into the dish and trim the edges. Don’t through those pieces out! Using a fork, press down the sides of the crust against the pie pan. Then quickly roll out the scraps of pie dough, and carve out some leaves and place those on the edge of the crust or bake separately! Do not pre-bake this pie crust!

4. Bake that baby up: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a fork, poke the bottom of the pie all over to to create airways to the pie crust doesn’t bubble up. Pour in the pecan filling and place into the oven and bake for about 1 1/2 hours. About halfway through baking, carefully pull the pie out of the oven and brush the crust with vegan egg substitute egg wash. This will make the crust golden brown. After the 60-75 minutes of baking, the filling will be bubbling and will be jiggly. Allow the pie to cool and set for 1 hour before serving.

5. Serving with dairy free vanilla ice cream!