Around this time of year, I get inspired to use more pecans! Pecans aren’t really a nut that I eat or use very often but I do enjoy them! They’re soft and mild and absolutely delicious when I toast them at home. For the vegan and refined sugar free recipe I had some homemade pecan butter left over from my delicious pecan butter cookies (you can find the link to them here:https://talidavoinea.au/vegan-pecan-butter-cookies/ ) pecan butter is so delicious and unique I really didn’t want to let it go to waste so I blended it up with some dates and made pecan caramel!
Pecan butter is not easy to find in stores but thankfully it’s very easy to make, even for food processors that aren’t very powerful (like my one). You just need to toast some pecans at 180 C for about 10 minutes and then whiz them up until they turn into butter. It shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes. I like to make a big batch and store it in the fridge. Apparently, you’re only supposed to keep it in the fridge for about 1 week before using it all up but mine lasted for about 2 weeks and I honestly think it could have lasted longer except I had eaten it by then.
This recipe is very nutty so is quite heavy and even though there is no real sugar in this recipe; blended dates are incredibly sweet! so it’s also a very sweet recipe. I generally keep my desserts on the slightly (only slightly) lighter side but since it’s Christmas time I thought a perfectly rich and heavy dessert was in order. The flavours come together beautifully and unlike many of my other tarts these tarts are quite sturdy! They come out of the tin easily so I don’t need to panic each time I try to take one out.
Although this dessert is on the heavier side (I can’t eat more than 1/4 of a tart at a time) it’s still very nutritious and healthy and won’t leave you feeling like utter crap on Christmas Day (provided you haven’t overeaten all day long).
The recipe is dairy free, refined sugar-free and gluten free as long as you use gluten-free oats. Enjoy!
| Vegan Refined <g class="gr_ gr_74 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="74" data-gr-id="74">Sugar Free</g> Pecan Caramel Tarts with Chocolate Sauce | Print |
- BASE:
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup pecans
- ½ cup cashews
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 2 TBSP sunflower oil
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- pinch salt
- FILLING:
- ½ cup pecan butter
- 1 cup pitted dates
- ½ cup soy or almond milk
- Pinch salt
- CHOCOLATE SAUCE
- 2 TBSP cacao powder
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 2 TBSP melted coconut oil
- Drop vanilla extract
- For the base: process all the ingredients in a food processor until sticky.
- Press into the base and sides of a lightly greased tart pan evenly
- Bake for 15 mins at 180 C
- For the filling: make pecan butter first by roasting pecans for 10 mins at 180 C and whizzing them in a food processor until they turn into
a butter . If you make a big batch measure out half a cup if not you can make exactly ½ cup and then add the food processor pitted dates and milk into the and blending until smooth and thick. - Spoon out caramel over tart bases and spread evenly.
- For the chocolate sauce combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth. Pour over caramel and
enjoy !
