With Thanksgiving being celebrated in the US tomorrow, I made a tray of Thanksgiving-inspired pecan pie cups that do not require any pastry skills and are a joy to eat wherever you live and whatever celebrations you are into.

As I am a massive pecan pie fan, I have already published a full size version of it as well as cute mini pecan pies in the past. This year, I’ve decided to make something different that anyone can make and enjoy but with the flavours of the original.

These vegan pecan pie cups are simple to make. The crust is made of coarsely ground oats formed into shells and baked in a standard 12 hole muffin tin. The filling is pecan pie caramel flavoured with cinnamon and a good hint of orange, the addition of which I personally love especially at this time of the year. The whole thing is topped with a thin layer of rich and not very sweet chocolate ganache and decorated with a pecan half.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

OATS: I made the cups but grinding regular oats in a food processor until coarse – you want a mixture of smaller and bigger pieces so that they stick toghether into a dough. I have tried using fine porridge oats on their own too, but that does not work so well as the mixture is too crumbly. If you want to use fine porridge oats, simply swap some out for oat flour to get that variation in texture. Say 50% (112 g) porridge oats and 50% oat (113g) flour or something along these lines.

VEGAN BUTTER: I used a vegan butter block (I like Danish brand Naturli) but coconut oil works just as well. Use refined coconut oil, which has been steamed to remove coconut aroma and flavour. Use melted fat in the crusts and solid in the caramel.

MAPLE SYRUP: I used maple syrup to bind the oats together and to make caramel. You can replace it with another liquid sweetner, I am pretty sure.

MUSCOVADO SUGAR: I used muscovado sugar to get beautiful rich notes into the caramel. I used light muscovado as that’s what I had on hand but udark muscovado works too.

ORANGE ZEST: I really enjoy a bit of orange zest in pecan pie filling as its aroma reminds me Christmassy things. Adjust the amount to taste, I used the zest of one small orange. Be sure to wash the fruit really well and if possible buy an organic orange for this application since you are using the skin. You could also use a clementine or a tangerine zest if you prefer, but be careful not to zest any bitter pith (the skin is way thinner).

CINNAMON: I used a hint of cinnamon in the cups and in the caramel. A touch of cardamom would also be a nice thing.

PECANS: I added chopped roasted pecans to the caramel to imitate the filling of a traditional pecan pie. If pecans are hard to get, walnuts would be a good substitute.

DARK CHOCOLATE: I topped these cups with dark, rich ganache. I did not add any sugar to it and chose a very dark chocolate so that there is a nice contrast between the sweet caramel and the more savoury topping.

Combine coarsely ground oats with maple syrup and melted vegan butter until it all clumps together.

Line muffin tray holes with the mixture, wet hands help a lot. Bake until lighly golden, then cool.

Make the pecan pie caramel, cool it right down afterwards (placing the pot with caramel in a bowl of cold water helps) and fill each cup without about a tablespoon of caramel.

Finally, top the cups with chocolate ganache and decorate with a single pecan. Allow the ganache to set before consumption.