Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1 prepared pie crust
- 5 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (dark) corn syrup
- 1 tbsp molasses (trying to darken filling, might not work as intended)
- 4 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup extra firm silken tofu
- 2 cups whole pecans
Mise en place
- 5 tbsp vegan butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup corn syrup, 4 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup extra firm silken tofu
- 2 cups whole pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Blind bake your pie crust - Line the pastry with parchment paper or aluminum foil; fill with pie weights, dried beans or sugar. Bake until pastry begins to color around the edges, about 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool while you prepare the filling. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees
- Toast pecans in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 - 8 minutes, be careful not to burn them.
- In a saucepan combine the 5 tbsp vegan butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup corn syrup, and 4 tbsp corn starch. Stir and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for another minute. Add the 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 tsp vanilla and stir to combine.
- In a food processor, add 1 cup silken tofu and pulse until smooth. Add the corn syrup mixture and pulse again until everything is combined. Add the pecans (reserving about 20 - 50 for the top) and use a spatula to stir them into the filling. Arrange the reserved pecans on top of the pie.
- Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, until the edges of the pie are set. The center might still be a little jiggly. That's alright. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.
Storage
Refrigerator
Might lose some integrity in texture — the filling can separate a bit and the crust may get soggy. Eat within a week.
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or foil.
Freezer
Might lose some integrity in texture — the filling can separate a bit and the crust may get soggy.
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil or place in a freezer bag. These pies can be frozen for up to two months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Notes
- I've never seen extra firm silken tofu. Ive only ever seen one kind of silken tofu that comes vacuum sealed and has a picture of a smoothie on it. Has a nearly yogurt consistency to it.
- It is hard to find information about storing vegan pies. Most pies need to be refrigerated because they contain milk and eggs. Vegan pies don't have dairy, but some ingredients that go in them shouldn't probably be refrigerated (e.g. silken tofu). They might be ok on the counter, but why risk it. Ill reserve a few pieces or testing fridge, freezer and counter:
- counter - after 5 days, looks and smells like pecan pie. Did not eat it to see if it makes me sick. Testing in freezer/fridge went well enough that I suggest simply leaving it in the fridge.
- fridge - after 5 days in the fridge, no soggy crust. Texture of the filling has changed a little bit but not much, still very good.
- freezer -
- The tofu in this recipe is used as an egg replacement. It lets the pie filling puff up when baked. At least I think, its a bit hard to find details on whats going on with tofu in vegan pies.
- The edges of my pie got a little crispy, you can help this by making a pie shield out of aluminum foil and placing it on the pie part way through baking before the edge gets too dark.
- gray pie filling color after pie sets - the color of my pie filling can look less than appetizing, I suspect I need to change up a few ingredients to make it a darker more caramel color. Try: switching from light (clear) corn syrup to dark corn syrup, add some molasses.