With a sticky gooey sweet filling and caramelized pecans in a buttery flaky crust, this vegan pecan pie is the ultimate dessert for the holidays. It's made using maple syrup and brown sugar and without corn syrup.
Make the pie crust: Prepare a half batch of this pie crust recipe through to step 6.
Preheat your oven to 210°C (410°F). Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling it out. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a circumference wider than your pie dish. Carefully lift the pastry into the tart tin using your rolling pin.
Very lightly grease the base and sides of a 9" pie dish or tart tin with a little oil or vegan butter. Gently press the dough into the base and sides of the tin, being careful not to stretch it. Use a knife to trim off the excess pastry around the edges of the tin. Pierce several holes into the base of the pastry using a fork.
Blind bake the crust: Take a sheet of parchment paper and cut it into a circle slightly larger than the pie. Rest it on top of the pastry and fill the base with baking beads (or dried beans, rice, or lentils). Blind bake in the oven at 210°C (410°F) for 20 minutes. Remove the baking beads/dried beans, turn down the oven temperature to 175°C (347°F) and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the pastry is lightly golden. Place the pie dish on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
Toast the pecans: Toast the pecans in a skillet over medium heat until lightly toasted, for 3-4 minutes.Once cool enough to handle, chop roughly half of the pecans into small chunks, and leave the rest of the pecans whole for the topping.
Make the filling: Add the maple syrup and cornstarch to a saucepan and whisk until smooth without lumps. Add the butter and brown sugar and melt over medium heat until the butter has melted. Whisk and simmer for 2 minutes.Remove the saucepan from the heat, and whisk in the coconut cream, Bourbon, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Set aside to cool slightly for 15 minutes.
Arrange the tart: Add the chopped pecans to the base of the pie dish. Pour the caramel mixture on top, ensure not to overfill the crust, and leave at least a centimeter for the topping.Arrange the whole pecans on top of the pie, and drizzle any remaining caramel on top of them.
Create a pie crust shield (foil tent): To prevent the pastry from baking too fast. Take a sheet of foil that's as long as the circumference of the dish and fold it in half. Carefully place it around the pie dish so that you can turn it in to cover the visible pastry. (image in the blog post)
Bake: Bake at 175°C (347°F) for 35-45 minutes, until the filling is set with a slight jiggle to it. The caramel will appear sticky and bubbling - don't touch it as it will be piping hot!
Storage: Store covered or in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days.
Notes
Vegan butter: Take this out of the fridge to sit at room temperature for 30 mins to 1 hour. Make sure you use vegan block butter NOT spreadable butter from a tub. I use flora plant butter which is nut-free, coconut-free, and gluten-free.
Some sugar in the US is not vegan, if in doubt use organic sugar.