These Vegan Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies are deliciously rich and creamy enveloped by a buttery and flaky vegan crust. It is packed with chocolate and pecans making each bite a joy to have.
“Get whatever you want.”
Before I learned how to bake and use my mom’s oven, I relied on store-bought cakes, pies, cookies and well, all desserts and baked goodies. On our weekly weekend trips to our local grocery stores, I would roam all the bread, snacks and bakery aisles from the store, seeing if there are any new products and if the bakers were still packaging the freshly baked pies and cookies, I would stand on the side of the kitchen, watching them finish things up and wish I could walk in there and help.
The supposedly shortstop to the grocery stores would turn out to be an hour-long because of my roaming. By the time I was done, my mom would wait near the check-out area. I always think she would get mad for me taking so long and would hurry right over, but she hardly ever does and always surprises me when she tells me to get whatever I want even when we are on a budget.
I don’t go crazy grabbing everything I can after she says that. Instead, I would walk over to the shelf of packaged mini pies and grab 1 or 2 of them, usually one mini lemon pie and one mini blueberry pie. For some reason, I was obsessed with them at that time. I would put them in our kitchen fridge right when we got home.
After dinner, I would slice one in half and it for dessert, saving the rest for the next couple of days. At that time, they were some of the best pies I had since we never had them at home. I would savor every bite, feeling like I was in a different world when I had them, not wanting the last piece to end.
Of course, now that I tasted freshly baked pies from the oven, I changed my mind about what the best pie I had was, but those mini pies from the grocery store would always have a special place in my heart which lead me to these Vegan Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies. They’re made with a rich, buttery and flaky crust combined with a creamy and chocolatey filling packed with chocolate chips and pecans. Let’s get to making these pecan pies!
Here is an overview of these Vegan Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies.
Ingredients
Flour: I used regular all-purpose flour but you can also make them gluten-free with 1:1 gluten-free flour. I recommend using Bob’s Red Mill’s 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour, the one in a blue bag.
Sugar: To make these chocolate pecan pies refined-sugar-free, substitute the powdered sugar and cane sugar with coconut sugar. Note that the crust will look a bit darker in color if you use coconut sugar.
Coconut Milk: I recommend using full-fat coconut milk as it would provide a richer and creamier filling. I prefer to use Arroy, Chaokoh, and my last choice, Whole Food’s coconut milk. A lot of brands I tested before are too watery, leaving little left from the creamy and coconut taste of coconut milk. You can find Arroy’s and Chaohoh’s coconut milk in many Asian grocery stores. However, if you cannot find them, I recommend using canned coconut cream or using the coconut cream from 2 cans of full-fat coconut milk refrigerated.
Vegan Butter: I like to use unsalted vegan butter to better control the salt amount, but you can also use salted vegan butter. Leave out the salt in the pie crust.
Pecans: I toasted the pecans beforehand to give the filling an extra punch of flavor.
Cornstarch: If you do not have cornstarch, you can substitute the same amount with arrowroot powder or tapioca starch.
Tips
Can I make these Vegan Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies gluten-free?
You can substitute the flour with 1:1 gluten-free flour!
How do I store these pies?
If you have any leftovers, store the pie in an airtight container and place them in the fridge. When you want to eat them, preheat your oven to 200°F or 100C. Heat the pie for about 8-10 minutes until it is warm again. You can also have it cold if you prefer!
What can I substitute cornstarch with?
You can substitute the same amount with arrowroot powder or tapioca flour!
If you like these Vegan Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies, you might also like:
Vegan Mini Sweet Potato Pies
Vegan Cranberry Pie
Vegan Pumpkin-Spiced Hand Pies
I cannot wait for you to make these Vegan Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies! If you do, please tag me on Instagram @_withhelen or leave a comment below letting me know how you like them! Enjoy!
Vegan Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies
These Vegan Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies are deliciously rich and creamy enveloped by a buttery and flaky vegan crust. It is packed with chocolate and pecans making each bite a joy to have.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 16
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Crust
440 grams (3 ½ cup) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
100 grams (1 cup) powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
230 grams (1 cup) unsalted, vegan butter, cold, cubed about 1 inch in size
10-20 grams (2-3 teaspoons) vegan, evaporated milk, cold
Filling
200g (2 cups) pecan halves
29g (2 tbsp) unsalted, plant-based butter
400g (1 can) full-fat coconut milk
100g (½ cup) cane sugar
85g (¼ cup) maple syrup
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp fine sea salt
5g (1 tsp) pure vanilla extract
30g (3 tbsp) cornstarch + 30g (2 tbsp) water, combined
170g (1 cup) chopped, vegan chocolate (or chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F or 163C. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Add in the pecans and spread them out. Once the oven is preheated, toast the pecans for 8-10 minutes, until they are fragrant, flipping them halfway through. When they are ready, take them out of the oven and allow the pecans to cool completely. Turn the oven up to 350F (180C).
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Prepare the crust. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. Scatter the cubed, vegan butter over the flour and pulse until the butter is well incorporated. This should only take a few seconds.
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Add the cold, vegan evaporated milk 1 teaspoon at a time into the food processor and pulse with each addition. Stop adding the milk when you see soft, moist clumps. The dough is ready when you pinch some dough together and it holds together.
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Shape the dough into a disk. If the dough is still cold (the butter should not be melting), you can roll the dough out now. If not, wrap the disk in plastic wrap or transfer it into an airtight container and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
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Make the filling. Add the vegan butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add in the coconut milk, sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix until all the ingredients are combined. Once it starts to simmer, slowly add in the cornstarch slurry, stirring constantly. When the filling starts to thicken, turn off the heat and remove the pan from the heat. Allow the filling to cool completely then add in the toasted pecans and chocolate. Make sure the filling is completely cooled to prevent the chocolate from melting before it is baked.
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When the dough is about ready, grease a muffin pan with some vegan butter or coconut oil.
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Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Lightly flour a sheet of parchment paper. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and place it on the center of the parchment paper. Lightly flour the dough and cover it with a second sheet of parchment paper. Roll the dough into a round shape, about 12 inches (30 centimeters) in diameter. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut the dough into 15 pieces, rerolling the dough as needed. Place each piece of dough into the muffin pan, shaping the edges with your hands, pressing on all the sides. If you have extra dough, feel free to use other cookie cutter shapes to decorate the top of the pies!
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Divide the filling among the muffin pan, filling it about 3/4th of the way full. Top with any cut out dough you desired (optional).
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Bake the pies for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden. Allow the pies to cool for about 20 minutes before carefully using a knife and running it along the edges of the pies and gently taking the pies out of the pan and to a cooling rack.
Keywords: pecan pies, mini pies, chocolate pies, vegan pie crust
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