This Vegan Pecan Pie is a classic holiday dessert for a reason—it’s perfectly sticky, rich, and gooey, complete with a buttery homemade crust. Make-ahead instructions are included!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of the homemade pie crust and yields the best light and flaky crust.
- Sugar: You’ll need granulated sugar to sweeten the crust and light brown sugar to sweeten and add moisture to the filling. To ensure your pie is vegan, opt for organic sugars.
- Vegan butter: A crucial ingredient in both the crust and pie filling for added flavor, moisture, and richness. We like to use Country Crock plant butter but use your favorite vegan butter sticks.
- Ice water: Helps keep the butter in the pie crust from melting and gives the crust the signature flaky layers any good crust has.
- Pecans: Raw pecans are best. Avoid using salted pecans or pre-roasted pecans. The flavor will be too intense and overpower the pie.
- Dark corn syrup: A signature ingredient in most pecan pie recipes. It has a deeper, richer flavor compared to light corn syrup thanks to the added molasses and gives this pie the perfect sticky, gooey filling.
- Silken tofu: Traditional pecan pie recipes contain eggs because they help to bind the filling together and holds the filling together. In this vegan twist on the classic, we’re using firm silken tofu for that same structure and creaminess! If you’ve made our Silken Tofu Chocolate Mousse, it adds a very similar texture here!
- Vanilla: A splash of vanilla extract is key for depth of flavor and warmth!
Make the Homemade Pie Crust
If you’ve never made a pie crust from scratch, don’t be intimidated! It’s much simpler than it sounds. Plus, this pie crust is universal – you can use it to make virtually any pie, including our Vegan Pumpkin Pie and Ube Pie
With that being said, if the thought of making a homemade pie crust is too much, feel free to swap in your favorite store-bought frozen pie crust. Many of them are vegan-friendly, including popular brands such as Marie Callender’s.
- Combine dry ingredients. To start, combine the all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add butter. Cut in the vegan butter, ideally using a pastry cutter. If needed you can do this with your fingertips, but work quickly; you do not want the butter to melt!
- Mix in ice water. Add in one tablespoon of ice cold water at a time until the pie dough comes together and holds together when squeezed between your fingers. If it seems too dry and sandy, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Once the pie crust holds together well, dump it onto a clean work surface and use your hands to work the dough into the disc. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerate to chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Roll out the dough. Once the dough has chilled, roll the dough into a circle on a lightly floured work surface until it is about 12″ in diameter and 1/4″ thick. Transfer the pie crust to a pie dish and carefully press the dough into the bottom of the dish. Cut off the excess dough, leaving a 1″ border hanging off the edge of the pie dish. Fold the dough under itself and use your fingers to pinch a fluted edge.
- Blind bake the crust. This is going to ensure the crust does not go soggy once the filling is added. Line the pie crust with crumpled parchment paper, then fill the pie crust with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F, or until the crust begins to slightly brown.
- Set aside to cool. We find that by the time the filling is ready, the crust is cooled enough!
Make the Pie Filling
Making a homemade pecan pie filling requires just 3 easy steps:
- Toast the pecans. We like to do this in the oven. After 5-7 minutes, the pecans are fragrant and perfectly toasted!
- Make the syrup. Add the corn syrup, brown sugar, and vegan butter to a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble. Then, remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and salt. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.
- Blend the syrup with silken tofu. Add the slightly cooled filling and silken tofu to a high-speed blender and blend completely smooth.
Then mix in the toasted, chopped pecans and pour it into the cooled, homemade crust!
Lastly, place additional raw pecans on top of the filling in a decorative pattern, if desired, and bake for 40-45 minutes.
Cool for at least three hours, or overnight, then slice and enjoy with a big dollop of Coconut Whipped Cream and a scoop of your favorite vegan vanilla ice cream.
Find the full printable recipe here: Classic Vegan Pecan Pie
