When I first started my blog, banoffee pies were really trending. I can’t believe it’s taken me four years to come up with my own version. They were also popular in my workplace. Even though I worked at a dental office they were always naughty treats and snacks and a range of unhealthy snacks available. Every dental practice that I’ve worked out the thing to be quite hypocritical in terms if advising against sugar but snacking on sugar throughout the day behind the scenes. There were a few people at one of my workplace is that we are particularly obsessed with caramel and so they would get excited every time someone brought in a banoffee pie or a caramel tart.
It’s taken me a while to try a dessert like this because vegan versions always use whipped coconut cream which I haven’t enjoyed very much in the past. However recently I have found a brand of coconut cream and coconut milk that has a very very mild taste and a perfect texture. It’s so good that I can even put it in many of my raw desserts and I can barely taste any coconut flavour coming through. it’s difficult for me to suggest a brand of coconut cream or coconut milk that will work for everyone because there are so many different brands and they all differ depending on where you live. All I will say is that please try and experiment until you find a good quality one. I’ve had issues with coconut cream in the past that would get to rockhard if I placed them in the fridge and they would be incredibly difficult to scoop out. A good quality one should still remain mostly soft and not impart too much flavour. For the coconut cream: Place a can of coconut cream in the fridge for a few hours or overnight ( if it is cold where you live you do not have to do this). Scoop out the cream ( not the water) and place in a bowl, with a hand mixer mix until the cream becomes whipped and fluffy, Coconut cream is slightly sweet already but if you want to make it sweeter you can add 1-2 TBSP maple syrup to the cream while you are beating it and some vanilla extract. This dessert is quite sweet so you can omit the natural sweetener if you like.
I could not go past using my most favourite base recipe for this tart which is made from almond meal and oats. I’ve used it for a few different recipes and I just keep going back to it because for me it tastes exactly like a traditional biscuit. I will say that it’s probably not the best texture for this tart as it is quite crumbly and difficult to cut it but it is absolutely delicious and resembles a traditional biscuit crust. If you have followed me along for a while you know that I am not too picky about absolutely perfect results every time. As long as the taste and nutrition are on point, it’s good enough for me. The only downside of this tart is that banana doesn’t remain pretty for too long in the fridge or freezer, it goes brown quickly and dried and shriveled looking, so I suggested the desert with sharing as it doesn’t keep for too long.
Bananas have been a staple for me in my diet ever since I started my healing journey. People can give bananas a bad wrap because they are so “carb-heavy” but in reality, bananas are loaded with essential nutrients that are amazing for regulating periods, increasing progesterone, regulating PMS and increasing mood. I genuinely get a little stuck if I run out of bananas as they form the base as most of my breakfast meals. Besides the essential good carbohydrate content in bananas, bananas are also a great source of vitamin b6 which is needed for magnesium absorption as healthy progesterone production. Vitamin b6 is also a precursor to serotonin, if you don’t have enough b6, then it’s difficult to produce adequate serotonin to ensure happy stable mood. Unfortunately, hormonal birth control depletes the body of many nutrients and B vitamins ( and many other nutrients), especially B6 so being mindful of B vitamin intake is very important post birth control. It’s definitely something I struggled with a long time ago but thankfully bananas were there to help! They are my most favorite source of b6 and many other nutrients too.
As usual yes desert is vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and delicious. Enjoy.
| Vegan Refined Sugar Free Almond Banoffee Pie | Print |
- CRUST:
- 3 cups blanched almond meal
- 1 cup quick or rolled oats
- 6 TBSP grapeseed oil
- 6 TBSP maple syrup
- FILLING:
- 1½ cups pitted dates
- 3 TBSP almond butter
- pinch salt
- ½ cup almond milk
- drop vanilla extract
- TOPPINGS:
- 3 sliced bananas
- coconut whipped cream
- dark chocolate shavings
- For the crust: mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined and slightly sticky
- press evenly onto the base and sides of a round tart tin.
- Bake in the oven at 180 C for 10 - 12 minutes or until golden looking. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- For the filling: Add all the ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. You can add more almond milk if you like your caramel runnier, or less if you like it very thick.
- Spoon out caramel and spread evenly over baked crust with a spatula. Remove from tart tin at this stage and set aside.
- For the coconut cream: Place a can of coconut cream in the fridge for a few hours or overnight ( if it is cold where you live you do not have to do this). Scoop out the cream ( not the water) and place in a bowl, with a hand mixer mix until the cream becomes whipped and fluffy, Coconut cream is slightly sweet already but if you want to make it sweeter you can add 1-2 TBSP maple syrup to the cream while you are beating it and some vanilla extract. This dessert is quite sweet so you can omit the natural sweetener if you like.
- Slice bananas into thick coins, add 1 layer of banana slices on top of the caramel, the scoop out coconut cream, add another layer of banana slices and top with some dark chocolate shavings. Slice and Enjoy
