After having some amazing vegan pecan pie over the holidays, I knew I wanted more pecans in my life! The problem with pecan pie? It’s time consuming to make a full crust, and the pie is just so big that you need so many people to help finish it! Enter, vegan pecan pie tarts!

what you’ll need for vegan pecan pie tarts

CRUST

• almonds
• whole wheat flour (or flour of choice)
• maple syrup
• coconut oil
• medjool dates
• cinnamon

FILLING

• coconut oil
• all purpose flour (or flour of choice)
• maple syrup
• water
• organic dark brown sugar
• salt
• pecans
• vanilla extract

why you’ll love vegan pecan pie tarts

They are easy to serve – no more messy cutting into a pie. They’re already all set in individual serving size. These are way faster than making a regular pecan pie from scratch (those crusts are so time consuming!) They use a simple cupcake muffin tin so you don’t need any fancy baking supplies. You can eat them with your hands, or dress them up and serve them on a plate as you would with pie. They are also undetectably vegan – my brother is a pecan pie fan and thought they’re as good as any he’s had!

how you’ll make these tarts

You’ll need a food processor for the crust, some coconut oil to grease the muffin tin, and the muffin tin. Once you make the crust, you’ll get those in the oven while you start preparing the filling. The filling gets made quickly, so it’s best to have all of the ingredients pre-measured and ready to go since you’ll make this over the stove. Then you’ll scoop the filling into the crusts, and you’ll bake it a bit longer at a lower heat so the crust doesn’t burn. Pop them out carefully – I slide a toothpick around the outer edge and gently apply pressure upwards once I have all sides loose.

ingredients

CRUST is adapted slightly from Deliciously Ella’s recipe here:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil {you can pull it straight from the jar without melting}
• 6 medjool dates, pitted
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

FILLING is adapted slightly from America’s Test Kitchen cookbook, Vegan For Everybody

• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup water, room temperature
• 2/3 cup organic dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

directions crust

• preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease two muffin tins with coconut oil
• blend all ingredients in a food processor at least 1 minute. It should stick together slightly, but not be too wet.
• scoop a large spoonful of the mixture into a muffin hole in the tin and press with your thumb to shape it, leaving a space in the middle where the filling would go. It’s fine if they are not pressed perfectly even, just do your best. Once you have them all filled, go back if you have any extra of the crust to make sure you go up all the way on the sides, that way you have more space for the filling!
• bake next to each other on the middle rack for 15 minutes at 350 degrees
• after you take them out of the oven, take a small toothpick and very carefully and gently go around the edges to slightly loosen any bits that are baked into the pan (this will make removal of them a bit easier later)

directions filling

• get all ingredients measured out and prepared at your workstation, including toasting and chopping the pecans {I toast mine in the toaster on a foil sheet for about 2 minutes, careful to make sure they don’t burn}
• reduce the oven heat to 275 degrees F after the crust has come out
• in a medium pot heat the oil over medium heat until fully melted
• add maple syrup, water, sugar, and salt and stir for about 1 minute
• bring mixture to a boil and then reduce to medium – low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally to thicken. Keep stirring every so often for about 3 minutes
• turn off the heat and stir in the pecans and vanilla extract
• carefully scoop the pecan filling into the crust holes, filling as high as the crust edge goes (the mixture doesn’t rise during baking so you won’t overflow)
• if you have any extra mixture leftover, I love saving it in the refrigerator and using it as an ice cream topping!
• bake for 20-25 minutes, until pecan filling mixture has some small bubbles
• use the toothpick to go around the edges of the crust again to make them easier to remove. Let them cool 10 minutes before trying to remove.

Other dessert recipes you may like: