Vegan Pecan Pie
By America's Test KitchenPublished on February 29, 2020
Time
1 hour, plus 4 hours cooling
Yield
Serves 8
Ingredients
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees.
- Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until combined and pale honey-colored, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, add maple syrup, water, sugar, and salt and cook until combined and sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until rubber spatula leaves trail when dragged across bottom of saucepan, 3 to 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in pecans and vanilla.
- Transfer pecan mixture to pie shell and spread evenly with rubber spatula. Bake until edges of filling are slightly puffed and a few small bubbles appear around edges, 45 to 55 minutes. Let pie cool completely on wire rack until filling has set, about 4 hours, before serving.
Time
1 hour, plus 4 hours coolingYield
Serves 8Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
We really felt the deleterious effects of using standard vegan ingredients such as margarine, flaxseeds, or silken tofu, which contributed unpleasant flavors, or oil, which never fully emulsified into our filling. With these ingredients, we missed the clean, simple flavors of caramel and toasted nuts. Things seemed promising when we tried our favorite recipe and just omitted the dairy and eggs, but it never set up, even long after cooling, and it was more like a sticky caramel-nut pie, not a true pecan pie. It was then that we struck upon using a classic French technique usually reserved for savory sauces: a roux. By cooking a little flour in hot oil and whisking in some maple syrup, sugar, and water, we were able to create a thick emulsion that gave our pie body and cohesion. However, by the time we had incorporated enough roux to hold our pie together after slicing, the filling felt heavy. By baking our already fully cooked pie in a low oven until it puffed, we cooked off some of the extra moisture, and our filling assumed the light custardy texture and glossy sheen we were looking for with less roux. And the low temperature meant the parbaked crust never got too dark.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees.
- Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until combined and pale honey-colored, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, add maple syrup, water, sugar, and salt and cook until combined and sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until rubber spatula leaves trail when dragged across bottom of saucepan, 3 to 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in pecans and vanilla.
- Transfer pecan mixture to pie shell and spread evenly with rubber spatula. Bake until edges of filling are slightly puffed and a few small bubbles appear around edges, 45 to 55 minutes. Let pie cool completely on wire rack until filling has set, about 4 hours, before serving.
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