Rich, buttery and insanely delicious – this Gluten-Free Pecan Pie recipe has just the right amount of gooeyness and crunchiness in every bite! Make this recipe as is to keep it both grain and refined sugar free, or use your favourite gluten free pie crust for a more traditional approach. Once you’ve got your crust ready this pie comes together in a pinch!
Question for you!
With the holidays coming up – what’s your favorite pie? Pumpkin pie, Apple, French Silk?
Hands down, I’m a big fan of pecan pie. I’m a sucker for the sweet, crunchy bite of pecan pie. And when you get a slightly warm slice of pecan pie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. It’s the perfect dessert!
I consider reserving a special place for pecan pie on my holiday table a top priority.
With all that being said it’s about time I share a proper gluten free pecan pie here on A Saucy Kitchen.
This one is adapted from this one from Cookies and Cups. It’s just a basic, traditional pecan pie – I think it might even be the recipe found on the bottle of Karo corn syrup. I didn’t have to change too much to the recipe. Just a few substitutions to make a gluten free version that’s refined sugar free and dairy-free option. That being said – it’s not exactly what I’d call a healthy pie so feel free to use more traditional ingredients like corn syrup or white sugar if you’d like. I won’t tell!
Essential Ingredients
- Pie Crust: I used my almond flour pie crust recipe in this one here, but you can also use your favourite gluten free pie crust whether that’s homemade or store bought.
- Pure Maple Syrup: most pecan pie recipes uses light corn syrup or golden syrup. Maple syrup is refined sugar free which makes it an ideal option for a paleo pecan pie.
- Coconut Sugar: Coconut sugar has a slight caramel taste to it which is ideal in a recipe like this, but feel free to use white granulated sugar or brown sugar instead of coconut sugar if you prefer.
- Tapioca Starch: Starch helps the filling set so it doesn’t stay wobbly after baking. Arrowroot starch, potato starch and cornstarch can also be used.
- Eggs: Eggs are an essential ingredient necessary for creating an almost custard-like texture.
- Vanilla Extract & Salt: These both work as flavour enhancers.
- Melted Coconut Oil: Use melted butter if you don’t need this to be dairy free. Vegan butter works too.
- Pecans: What’s a pecan pie with crunchy pecans in every bite?! Add roughly chopped pecans to the filling and whole pecans on top.
How to Make this (Paleo!) Gluten Free Pecan Pie
Pecan pie looks fancy but it’s actually a really easy pie to make. Once you’ve got your pie crust ready to go it comes together fairly easily. You’ll spend more time waiting for the pie to bake and even just letting it cool than you will mixing it all together.
Recipe Steps:
- Prepare/purchase your pie crust of choice. I like my almond flour paleo pie crust here because it’s grain free, easy to make and you don’t even need a rolling pin. for this recipe but you can use whatever gluten-free crust you’d like to here.
- Check out my flaky pie crust for a nut free option made with a basic gluten-free flour blend.
- Mix together all of the filling ingredients except for the pecans. Just throw everything together in a large mixing bowl and whisk well.
- Stir in the pecans. Easy enough.
- Pour the pecan pie filling into your prepared crust. I like to place my pie dish on a large baking sheet so that I can easily transfer the pie in and out of the oven with getting my oven mitts in the mix.
- Top with more pecans. Leave the whole or chop them up. Arrange the whole pecans can for a more decorative look. Keep in mind that chopped pecans will make for an easier to slice pie later.
- Bake & cool. Bake until the filling is almost set – a little wobble is no problem because it will firm up as it cools. Keep in mind that almond flour burns quickly so you may want to put a piece of aluminum foil or even parchment paper over your pie about halfway through cooking.
Can this Freeze?
Yes! Simply bake the pie as is and let it cool down completely. Once cooled you can then wrap it up tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and then place it in a large freezer safe bag or container and freeze up to 3 months.
To Thaw: Unwrap and place in the fridge to thaw overnight and then let it come up to room temperature before slicing. If you’re planning a Thanksgiving menu and want to get ahead this works like a dream.
Want an egg free pecan pie?
I still need to do more testing to make this egg free – my previous experiments didn’t go so well. In the meantime you might enjoy these paleo pecan pie bars. All of the same pecan pie flavours but just in bar form!
Gluten Free Pecan Pie (Paleo)
Rich, buttery and insanely delicious - this Gluten Free Pecan Pie has just the right amount of gooeyness and crunchiness in every bite! Make this recipe as is to keep it both grain and refined sugar free, or use your favourite gluten free pie crust for a more traditional approach.
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked prepared paleo pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate
- 3/4 cup maple syrup (237g)
- 1 cup coconut sugar (180g)
- 1 tablespoon tapioca or arrowroot starch (or GF all purpose flour) (7g)
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (30 ml)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups pecans (200g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Add the maple syrup, sugar, flour, vanilla, eggs, coconut oil and salt to a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk together until fully combined.
- Roughly chop 1 cup of pecans and stir into your maple filling.
- Pour the into the pie crust.
- Top the filling with the remaining pecans. You can form a pattern with the remaining pecans or roughly chop and scatter over the top.
- Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the filling is set. After about 20 minutes I usually place a sheet of baking parchment over the top of the pie to prevent the crust from browning too much.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely. The filling will firm up and settle as the pie cools.
- Slice and serve warm or cold topped with a dollop of coconut whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. You can keep this covered and stored at room temp for up to 2 days or in the fridge up to 5 days.
Notes
- For a more traditional pecan pie with more accessible ingredients you can use corn syrup in place of the maple syrup, butter instead of coconut oil and your favourite gluten free pie crust instead of the almond flour one pictured here.
- Freeze for later: Bake the pie as is and let it cool down completely. Once cooled you can then wrap it up tightly with plastic wrap or foil and then place it in a large freezer safe bag or container and freeze up to 3 months. To Thaw: Place in the fridge overnight and then bring up to room temperature before slicing and serving.
- Recipe adapted from this one from Cookies and Cups
Keith M says
Made this and the whole family loved it. Not overly sweet. Excellent Almond Crust recipe too. Substituted olive oil for the coconut oil for a more cardio healthy lipid profile.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Keith! That is so great to hear – thank you so much for taking the time to come back and share how it went! I also really appreciate that tip about the olive oil too – so helpful for me and future readers to hear that works as a good coconut oil substitute 🙂
Swati Tyagi says
I made this for my daughter who has Celiac and she used to LOVE pecan pies. She absolutely loved it!!
Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Swati! That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know how it went 🙂
Bethany says
THANK YOU! I made this as our Easter dessert and it was fantastic! I had to sub honey for the coconut sugar and shortening for the coconut oil, but it still turned out amazing. Seriously, so excited to have a dessert that all of my family can eat and that we all actually like. So much so, that I added the modified version to my blog (with a link back here).
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Bethany! SO glad to hear you and your family enjoyed it so much! <3
Sabrina says
Do you think this recipe would work with a flax egg? Or what egg replacement would you recommend? Allergy 🙁
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Sabrina! I tried this using flax eggs and it just never set properly. It’s not quite the same, but I do have a recipe for vegan pecan pie bars that you might be interested in instead thought! https://www.asaucykitchen.com/vegan-pecan-pie-bars/
Natalie says
Such a gorgeous tart! I love pecan desserts ♥
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks Natalie!