Let’s take the often overly sweet, soggy nut and corn syrup laden pie and transform it into something truly remarkable!
Today, for the final day of Thanksgiving Week, we’re making pecan pie.
But, not just any pecan pie.
Oh, no.
We’re making MAPLE PECAN PIE WITH BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE, ORANGE, AND CARDAMOM.
It’s dairy-free/vegan friendly thanks to a filling comprised almost entirely of maple syrup and coconut milk, absolutely loaded with toasted pecans, and instead of stopping right there, we’re adding some fun flavor elements that take this pie to the next level, like vanilla extract, orange zest, cardamom, sea salt, and the darkest chocolate you can find.
These simple additions help balance the sweetness of the maple syrup filling, and transform it from sweet flavorless goo (technical term, yes?) to a complex, nuanced caramel layer that enrobes chunks of toasty pecans and barely sweet chocolate and becomes a pie you’d happily go back for another slice of, rather than one you take a few bites of an can barely go on from the overwhelming level of sweetness.
Not to sound dramatic, but this might just be the best pecan pie I’ve ever had.
Despite the fact that it throws the traditional recipe out the window (no eggs or corn syrup here!), the filling still has that soft, sweet goo that’s absolutely essential in pecan pie, except this time it’s more of a thick caramel than a strangely solidified slab of corn syrup.
My two tricks for getting the perfect pecan pie, every time?
1. TOAST YOUR PECANS. If there were a more dramatic way to shout on the internet besides using caps lock, I’d be using it here. Toasted pecans are a game changer in pecan pie. Not only do they add a more pronounced nutty flavor to the pie, they retain much more of their crunch after baking in the soft filling for nearly an hour, whereas raw pecans just get softer and softer. Not to be a pie snob, but even with all the flavor add-ins, I wouldn’t want to eat this pie if it was made with raw pecans. It makes that much of a difference.
2. Bake the pie on the bottom rack of the oven. Doing so allows us to skip par-baking the crust in advance, and ensures a golden, non-soggy bottom. I love using this method for just about every pie, since baking on the lowest rack of the oven gets the pie closest to the heat source. If you happen to have a convection or top-heating oven, you may want to consider par-baking the crust or just baking in the center of the oven for a few extra minutes, to help ensure the crust is golden.
If you’re a pecan pie fan- or always wanted to be, but couldn’t quite get over how overwhelmingly sweet it was, this pie is definitely going to become a new favorite.
If you make it, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, or take a picture of your Maple Pecan Pie and share it with me on Instagram so I can see!
Vegan Maple Pecan Pie with Bittersweet Chocolate, Orange, and Cardamom
Time: 90 minutes
Yields: 1 9-inch pie
Ingredients:
- 1 pre-made pie crust (I like to use this recipe)
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
- 1/4 cup arrowroot starch (can sub organic cornstarch)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- zest from 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3oz bar very dark (80-90%) chocolate, roughly chopped
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Move a oven rack down to the lowest possible rung.
- Place the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 8-12 minutes, or until deeply toasted and fragrant. Keep an eye on them, as pecans will go from perfectly toasted to burnt within a minute or two.
- While the nuts toast, whisk together the maple syrup, coconut milk, arrowroot or cornstarch, vanilla, orange zest, cardamom, and sea salt. This mixture will be very thin- don’t worry, it thickens considerably in the oven.
- Let nuts cool on the pan while you roll out your pie crust and place it in a 9-inch pie pan.
- Finely chop 1 cup of the pecans, then add all of the pecans and the chopped chocolate to the maple syrup mixture.
- Pour the filling into the prepared crust, and place on the bottom rack in the oven to bake for 50-60 minutes, or until filling is no longer jiggly. It will still be soft, but shouldn’t look liquid anymore when gently shaken.
- Let pie cool completely before cutting and serving. Store leftovers at room temperature for 3-4 days.
SWITCH IT UP: swap the cardamom for cinnamon, vanilla for bourbon, omit the orange, use unsweetened chocolate, add a teaspoon of instant espresso, walnuts or hazelnuts for the pecans. Just don’t forget to toast the nuts!!
MAKE IT AHEAD: make your pie dough up to 3 day in advance; toast the nuts a day in advance; bake the entire pie up to 1 day in advance (it keeps 3-4 days, but will be freshest for thanksgiving if only made 1 day before).