Go Nuts For This Raw Vegan Pecan Pie, Made As Cute Little Tarts - A Great Thanksgiving Dessert

This recipe calls for 4 1/2 " tart pans with removable bottoms.

Press walnut mixture into and up the sides of the tart pans.

Fill with cashew and date filling. Then top with pecan halves.

A Special Dessert

I love pecans, especially raw Texas pecans. Unfortunately whenever I've been served pecan pie, I generally just pick the pecans off the top and leave the rest. Traditional pecan pie is made from processed white flour, lots of sugar and corn syrup, butter and eggs. This delicious raw dessert has no processed sugar - it's sweetened by dates. Three kinds of heart healthy nuts are used in this tart: English walnuts, cashews and, of course, pecans. Some ground flaxseeds are added to the crust to optimize the omega 6 to omega 3 balance to 4:1.

But as "non-processed" as it may be, this dessert is very rich so save it for special occasions like the upcoming holidays. You also only need to eat a small portion. Last night Doug and I each ate 1/4 of this small tart and it was plenty.

Tart Pans

I use 4 1/2" tart pans with 3/4 inch sides for this recipe. I found some on the King Arthur website. You can use others that are close to that dimension. But whatever you use, a fluted tart pan is very elegant.

Complete Raw Vegan Thanksgiving Menu

Last Thanksgiving I posted a Complete Raw Vegan Thanksgiving or Winter Holiday menu from raw appetizers to dessert. It's been a very popular post so check it out for lots of great "raw" ideas for Thanksgiving.

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Raw Vegan Pecan Tart

[makes two 4 1/2 inch tarts, 8 servings]

For the crust

Some extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil to grease the tart pans

3/4 cups raw English walnut pieces

4 teaspoons dried, shredded, unsweetened coconut

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large Medjool dates, pitted

4 teaspoons ground flaxseeds

For the filling

10 large Medjool dates, pitted and soaked for 1 hour

Some reserved date soak water

1/3 cup raw cashews, soaked 6 hours or more

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon unrefined virgin coconut oil, softened

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

20 perfect, raw pecan halves

You'll need two 4 1/2 inch tart pans with removable bottoms.

Oil the insides of each tart pan with extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil.

To make the crust, place English walnuts, coconut, salt and cinnamon in a food processor with an S blade. Process until crumbly.

Add dates and ground flaxseeds and process until the mixture begins to stick together.

Divide mixture among the two tart pans and press firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pans. You can use your fingers or the back of a teaspoon. (No need to clean the food processor, you'll be using it again).

To make the filling, drain the dates reserving the soak water. Drain and rinse the cashews.

Place the dates, cashews, lime juice, vanilla extract, coconut oil, and sea salt in the food processor and process until smooth, scraping down the sides often. If it is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of the reserved date water but only if needed. Save the rest of the date water to sweeten your morning smoothie.

Fill the crust filled tart pans with the date filling.

Top each tart with 10 pecan halves.

Refrigerate for several hours. Carefully push tart up and remove side pan. You can serve tarts on their removable disk or carefully try to remove it.

Cut each tart into 4 pieces and serve. Or, more easily, set tarts on the table and hand your guests forks!

Per serving: 247.5 calories, 13.3 g fat, 2.3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1.3 g ALA omega 3 and 5.4 g omega 6 fatty acids, 3.1 g protein, 33.4 g carbohydrates and 6.2 g of dietary fiber.

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