Paleo Vegan Pecan Pie Bars – A simple coconut flour base topped with a gooey caramel pecan topping. A healthier take on a Thanksgiving classic!
Hello, hello!
Now that we’re well on our way through November and on to Thanksgiving I figure it’s about time for a little pecan pie goodness in the form of these paleo/vegan pecan pie bars.
Let’s do it!
How to Make: Paleo Vegan Pecan Pie Bars
Let’s start with the crust!
Altogether the crust is made up of only 3 ingredients and takes about 15 minutes to prep – including the bake time.
It’s a simple, coconut flour shortbread crust based off of the one found in these paleo millionaires shortbread. It’s made up of: coconut flour, coconut oil and maple syrup. Just mix those three ingredients together in a bowl until a soft dough forms and then press into a lined 8x8inch baking tin.
Poke a few holes into the crust so that it doesn’t puff up during the bake and then pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes until the edges start to turn golden. Remove from the oven and then set aside too cool down while you prep your caramel pecan filling.
The Filling
Begin by making your flax eggs: mix together a couple tablespoons of ground flaxseed with a little bit of water and set aside to let the mixture gel up. This mixture will help to bind and set your filling after baking.
Once that’s done you can move on to melting the coconut oil, coconut sugar, maple and salt together in a sauce pan. Simmer to melt the coconut sugar and then bring to a boil for about 30 seconds before removing from the heat.
In a small bowl or cup whisk together the almond milk, vanilla extract, starch and the flax egg mixture and then pour into the sugar mixture. Whisk it all together until combined. Stir in 1 cup of the roughly chopped pecans.
Scatter the remaining pecans over the pre baked crust and then pour the filling over the top. At this point all you need to do it throw it all back in the oven and bake for another 25 minutes and that’s it. Make sure to let the bars cool and set about two hours before cutting in to and that’s it!
I hope you enjoy these bars as much as we did!
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST
Don’t forget to #asaucykitchen on instagram if you try these Paleo Vegan Pecan Pie Bars! We love to see what you make with it! You can also post your pictures to our facebook page!
Paleo Vegan Pecan Pie Bars
Paleo Vegan Pecan Pie Bars - A simple coconut flour base topped with a gooey caramel pecan topping. A healthier take on a Thanksgiving classic!Â
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Filling
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds + 4 tablespoons water mixed together, (this makes your flax 'egg')
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
- 2 tablespoons almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups pecans, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line a 8x8inch baking tin and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl add the crust ingredients (coconut flour, coconut oil and maple syrup) and mix until a soft dough forms.
- Press the dough into the lined baking tin in an even layer. Poke a few holes across the crust and bake for 10 minute until the edges are golden. Remove from oven and set aside while you prepare the filling. Reduce the heat to 325°F/160°C.
Filling
- Add the coconut oil, coconut sugar, maple and salt to a medium sized sauce pan. Whisk together and melt over a medium-low heat and simmer. Bring up to a boil for about 30 seconds and then remove from the heat.
- In a small bowl or cup whisk together the almond milk, starch, vanilla extract and flax egg until no lumps remain. Pour that mixture in to the sugar mixing and whisk to fully combine.
- Scatter 1 cup of the chopped pecans over the prepared pie crust. Stir the remaining pecans into the filling. Pour the filling over the crust.
- Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 hours before cutting in to. Enjoy!
Tanya says
How long will these keep refrigerator if made ahead of time? Or, do they still taste good after being frozen? Thanks
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Tanya! You can keep these easily in the fridge at least a week and frozen up to 3 months. I recommend you let them defrost overnight in the fridge and then reheat them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 350°F/180°C. You don’t need to heat them up again, but they’ll be quite soft after they thaw – just something to keep in mind!
Manal says
Can I substitute the flax egg with a normal egg?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Manal – You should be able to use regular eggs here in place of the flax eggs! I adapted this recipe from my paleo pecan pie recipe which is made using normal eggs. If you wanted to play it safe you can always use the filling for the original recipe with this crust https://www.asaucykitchen.com/gluten-free-pecan-pie-paleo/
Manal says
Thanks Sara. I went ahead and made it with 1 egg and it turned out amazing. Was too impatient to wait for a reply but thank you for replying promptly. Finally a healthy dessert that doesn’t disappoint! Will be making the banoffee cream pie once I get through these. Thanks again for a great recipe.
Sarah Nevins says
Oh fantastic! Good to know it worked with one egg – I’m sure that will be useful info for people making these in the future – thanks Manal 🙂
Shaz says
Hey
I made this but the crust was super watery it didnt harden. Is it definitely 1/2 cup melted coconut oil to 1 cup flour?
Thanks
Shaz
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Shaz! Sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe!
It’s definitely 1/2 cup coconut oil to 1 cup flour. It might not seem like a lot of flour but coconut oil is an extremely absorbent flour that needs a lot of moisture/fat to prevent it from being dry. Just to clarify – after baking the crust still didn’t firm up? Sometimes with coconut flour the dough needs to sit a minute or two so that the flour has time to soak up all the moisture. It can go from looking like a wet dough to a soft, thick dough just by sitting a minute or two. Is it possible that you may have measured the ingredients slightly off?