This recipe started off as a vegan, but not gluten free recipe from Yummy Mummy kitchen that my wife found and wanted me to make for her. Having always loved traditional pecan pie (although I never tried to make one before going vegan), it was an easy recipe to agree to.
Normally, pecan pie uses lots of eggs and corn syrup, which is how it gets its usual gooey interior that still holds when you cut into it. But eggs are out of the question, and corn syrup isn’t exactly the most popular thing (although arguably not significantly worse for you than other liquid sweeteners, but that’s another topic). So the recipe from Yummy Mummy uses all purpose flour to make a roux to thicken the filling, and maple syrup as the liquid sweetener. I used corn starch, as I have never been able to make anything even approximating a roux with any sort of gluten free flour (one of those unique things wheat flour can do that others cannot). I know some people would rather use arrowroot or tapioca (especially those with corn allergies), and I will definitely be experimenting with arrowroot in the future. The few times I tried to make a pie with tapioca as the thickener, the texture was not exactly appealing. Let’s just say the pie I made looked more like a gorilla sneezed on a pile of cooked apples.
My concern with using maple syrup was that it would have that flavor present. Which it did while the filling was warm, and rapidly disappeared as it cooled off. I also did not get as much of a filling to nut ratio as I would have liked (these are pretty solidly nutty), but I think that’s because of changes I made to the ingredients and the technique. Overall, I was really happy with the flavor and texture. I might experiment with doing a larger ratio of filling to nuts in the future, but would do that as normal sized pie. For mini tarts, this recipe worked out nicely.
Pecan Pie Tartlets
Ingredients
- 2 cups pecan halves roughly chopped, setting aside 1 whole half for each tartlet
- 2 TB vegan butter
- 3 TB corn starch
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Roll out pie dough to about 1/8" and cut out with a round cookie or biscuit cutter that's slightly bigger than the cavities in your pan. Press into place. Put pan in refrigerator to chill dough while making filling.
- Measure corn starch, milk and maple syrup together. Whisk and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add pecans and toss, toasting for about 30 seconds. Just until they become fragrant, but not until they really start to change color.
- Add brown sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Stir until sugar dissolves.
- Add corn starch/liquid mixture (whisking together again right before adding, if necessary). Stir constantly until filling goes from cloudy to glossy, brown color and begins to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Fill each tartlet cavity to just below the top. Press down gently to level out. Place a whole pecan half on top. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 25-30 minutes, until crust is lightly golden brown. Let cool before serving.
