Healthier Pecan Pie with Almond Crust

On Saturday, I was sitting down, scrolling through my Pinterest, when I found a gorgeous photo of pecan pie. My mom adores this dessert, so I decided to make it. It was much quicker than I thought it would be to make a pie, plus I managed to make it gluten-free and healthier (no butter or sugar).

We ate the dessert after going out to a restaurant, so I was already dreading taking pictures in the dark and under my yellow kitchen lights. But then I found a perfect — and most unusual — place in the house with white lights: my brother’s room. He was kind of looking at me weirdly when I intruded in with a slice of pecan pie in one hand, the entire dish in the other, and a camera hanging by my neck, but hey, the lighting is so much better!

This pie tastes brings out the nutty flavours of the pecans and the almonds and it’s naturally sweetened with honey. One adjustment that I’ll make next time (and that I added to the recipe), is to make more filling!

• Servings: 8
• Time: 1 hr (Prep 30 mins)
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Nutty flavours and sweetness all wrapped up in a healthier pie. This pairs well with ice cream or whipped cream.
Adapted from: Healthy Pecan Pie – A Sweet Pea Chef
Ingredients:
Almond Crust:
2 cups (225 g) almond flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. coconut oil, firm and cut into pieces
Pecan Filling:
1/2 cup (170 g) honey
3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
3 eggs
1 tsp. orange zest
2 tbsp. almond milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. almond flour
2  1/4 cups whole pecans, raw

Instructions:

1. Almond Crust: Preheat oven to 175 °C (350 °F). Grease a 9-inch pie plate very well because it will stick. In a food processor, pulse the almond flour, baking soda and salt together. Add in the egg and vanilla extract, then scatter the coconut oil. Pulse for a few times until it forms a ball. Transfer the dough to the middle of the pie plate, no need to refrigerate, and spread the dough out with your fingers until it covers the sides and the bottom. It will look quite thin but that’s ok because it expands when baked. Prick a few times with a fork and bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes until not wet (it doesn’t have to be golden because we’ll have to bake it again). Let cool.
2. Pecan Filling: Raise the oven temperature to 200 °C (400 °F). Combine the honey, coconut oil, eggs, orange zest, almond milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract and almond flour. Place the pecans in the pie crust and pour the egg mixture over top. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 175 °C (350 °F) and bake for another 20 minutes. I highly recommend taking some tinfoil to cover the crust or else it will burn, like mine did a bit. 😦 Enjoy!