It’s so cold and blustery out that staying indoors, baking these vegan pecan pie bars and perhaps a spot of knitting is all I have planned for this stormy weekend ahead. This weekend the UK is feeling the wrath of the storm Austen – the first storm of the season, which means that being out is highly unpleasant and comes with a bit of a risk. This is why I am staying in and baking and I hope you’ll join me!
These vegan pecan pie bars are obviously inspired by the flavours and textures of this quintessentially autumnal treat. If you are a nut lover, like me, you’ll love these gooey, caramel-like pecan studded bars on a piece of tender pecan shortbread. They are a dream and really quite simple to make too so no advanced pastry skills are necessary here.
To make these vegan pecan pie bars, all you need is a few, easily available, ingredients and a food processor. Both the pastry and the filling for these bars gets made in a food processor. For the pastry, you use the food processor to turn some pecans into pecan flour and then to cut butter into dry ingredients and to make the pastry. Once the pastry comes together, you put most filling ingredients in the food processor to emulsify then you move on to some pecan chopping and assembly. That’s literally it.
The hardest part about making these vegan pecan pie bars is the waiting time. Once they come out of the oven smelling heavenly, you’ll have to wait for them to cool down completely. Yeah, I know, that sucks! I agree, but if you go against me you’ll end up with a tasty mess on your hands so don’t even think about that, okay? Okay, so waiting is the hardest bit. Give these a go, you will not regret it, I promise. They are amongst my household’s favourites.
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
PECANS: Pecans are what makes pecan pie what it is. You’ll want about 350 g or just over 12 ounces of pecans for these vegan pecan pie bars, some will go into the base and the rest will provide the structure and flavour to the filling. If you cannot get pecans where you live, walnuts would also work pretty well, I am very sure.
VEGAN BUTTER: I used vegan butter (I used Naturli) to make these vegan pecan pie bars. Some of it goes into the base to make a deliciously tender shortbread and the rest goes into the filling. You can use any vegan butter you like as long as it’s the type that comes in a hard block, rather than spreadable kind that comes in a tub. You could also use coconut oil – refined type, like this.
SILKEN TOFU: Tofu may sound like an unusual ingredient to use in a pie-like dessert, but it really works, trust me. I used silken tofu to replace eggs in these vegan pecan pie bars. It works super well and there is no funny aftertaste.
SUGAR: I used light muscovado sugar, which in combination with maple syrup and silken tofu, produces rich, caramel-like custardy filling.
MAPLE SYRUP: Maple syrup is a traditional pecan pie ingredient. If you haven’t got it, golden syrup should work just as well but the flavour won’t be quite the same.
PLAIN FLOUR: I used plain flour to make the base, but a good gluten-free flour mix (containing a high proportion of starches) will work just as well if you want to keep this bake gluten-free. If using gluten-free flour blend, I recommend adding a small amount of xanthan gum too to help with binding.
CINAMMON: Cinnamon is perfect in this autumn inspired bars, I added some to the crust too.
ORANGE ZEST: This is an entirely optional ingredient but it does add a lovely citrusy background note to these vegan pecan pie bars.
VANILLA: When it comes to baked goods, vanilla makes everything better so I added some to the filling of these too.
HOW TO MAKE IT?
1) MAKE THE BASE
Whizz a portion of pecans (with a tablespoon of flour) in the food processor until finely ground. Next, add all of the dry ingredients and pulse a few times. Add very cold butter cubes and use the PULSE function of your food processor to cut the fat into the flour. Once the mixture resembles sand, with no big butter pieces left, start adding in ice-cold water while running the food processor. After the first tablespoon and a half, add the rest of the water gradually, in small increments until the mixture is moistened enough to clump in the palm of your hand. Stop and check before the mixture looks wet, by then you’ve added too much water. Transfer the pastry to a lined baking tin, distribute it evenly and press it down, then bake until cooked and lightly golden.
2) MAKE THE FILLING
First, simmer butter, sugar and maple syrup in a small pot for a minute, let it cool. Next combine this sugar and fat mixture with the remaining filling ingredients (apart from the pecans) in the food processor and blend until super smooth.
3) ASSMBLE & BAKE
Combine pecans with the filling or simply scatter the pecans on top of the cooked base and pour the filling on top. Hold a third of pecans (chop them up a bit bigger) and scatter them on top of the filling. Bake until the edges are caramelised lightly.
- 90 g / scant ½ cup cold vegan butter block (I use Naturli)
- 50 g / 1.75 oz pecans
- 140 g / 1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose white flour or GF all purpose flour
- 25 g / 2 tbsp sugar, I used muscovado
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- ¼ tsp cinammon
- if using GF flour – ½ tsp xanthan gum
PECAN FILLING
- 180 ml / ¾ cup maple syrup, adjust to taste
- 150 g / ¾ cup light or dark muscovado sugar
- 75 g / 6 tbsp vegan butter block (like Naturli)
- 300 g / 10.5 oz silken tofu (I use Clearspring)
- 2 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- zest of 1 orange (optional)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 15 g / 2 tbsp tapioca starch or cornflour / cornstarch
- 250-300 g / 8.8-10.5 oz pecans, roughly chopped
- Cut cold vegan butter into cubes. Place cubed butter, as well as half a cup of cold water, into the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Line a 20 cm / 8 inch square tin with baking paper. Make sure not to use a tin with a removeable bottom as the filling starts off quite runny.
- Place pecans and a couple of tablespoons of flour in a food processor, process until the nuts are ground very finely.
- Add the rest of the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt into the food processor bowl. If making this base with gluten-free flour blend, add in xanthan gum. Give everything a good whizz.
- Remove cubed butter and water from the freezer. Add butter to the food processor, incorporate into the dry ingredients using the pulse function until the mixture resembles sand with no large lumps of butter. Next, approximately 2.5 tbsp of cold water to the pastry while pulsing. After a tablespoon and a half, add the water gradually and stop when the pastry is just moist enough to clump together in your hand.
- Transfer the pastry into the lined baking tin. Spread it evenly and gently press down to form an even biscuit base.
- Bake the pastry for approx. 25 minutes, until cooked and just lightly browned. Cool completely before filling.
FILLING
- Place the maple syrup, sugar and vegan butter in a small saucepan. Allow all the ingredients to melt and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring the whole time. Lower the heat to a whisper and simmer for a minute. Take off the heat and cool down completely.
- Chop all of the pecans roughly but I like to chop a third of them (100 g / 3.5 oz) a little less and use that to decorate the top. If you prefer the filling a bit more custard like with fewer nuts, embed 200 g (7 oz) in the filling and use only a handful for decoration. Set the chopped nuts aside.
- In a food processor combine drained tofu, vanilla paste, orange zest (if using), cinnamon and salt. Blend until silky smooth.
- Add the cooled sugar mixture to the tofu mixture along with the tapioca starch. Blend until smooth.
ASSEMBLY
- Heat up the oven to 180° C / 355° F.
- Add two thirds of the chopped pecans to the cool filling and pour the filling on top of the pre-baked base. Scatter the remaining third (or just a smattering) of the pecans on top of the filling.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 160° C / 320° F and bake for a further 15-20 minutes, until the edges are slightly caramelised.
- Cool completely before cutting.