This was my very first recipe that I made, gluten free and vegan, when I first started dating Jon. It’s one of his favorite desserts at Whole Foods but unfortunately, they rarely have it! So, of course, I started my search to recreate this elusive raw, gluten free and vegan sweet potato pie that made him so happy. Since then, I’ve made these several times and have found a combination that I love! If you ever need that fall fix of spices and comfort, then these will be perfect for you!

 

For the crust:

10 oz. raw pecan pieces

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2 oz. raw walnut pieces

2 oz. almond meal/pulp

8 pitted and soaked dates (place dates in hot water for about 15-20 minutes, the longer they sit, the easier they will be to blend with the nuts)

1 tbsp. organic maple syrup

1 tbsp. raw organic honey

¼ tsp. Himalayan pink sea salt

¼-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. allspice (feel free to add any additional spices that you like! Some suggestions: ground cloves, ground ginger, freshly grated nutmeg)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Instructions:

1. Pulse the raw pecans, raw walnuts and almond meal in a food processor until they are finely ground.

Tip #1: Make sure to rotate and move the food processor around so that you won’t get nut butter at the bottom.

2. Add the soaked and pitted dates to the nuts and pulse in food processor until the mixture just starts to hold together. You should be able to take some of the mixture in between your fingers and it should stick together!

3. By hand, stir in maple syrup, honey, sea salt, cinnamon, all spice and any additional spices you want to add.

4. Scoop 1 tbsp. of crust mixture into each place in a mini muffin pan. Press mixture up along the sides of the pan until you get an even crust.

Tip #2: You can also use a regular muffin tin, one large pie dish, mini tart pans, etc. Depends on how you want to display your artwork! I tend to go for mini bite sized desserts….sometimes all you need is just one bite!

5. Bake the crusts for about 10 minutes. This will vary depending on your oven so I’d keep an eye out or set your timer for 7-8 minutes and check on them and decide if they need to be cooked more.

6. Set the crusts aside to cool while you make the filling.

For the filling:

2 cups of sweet potato puree

Tip #3: You can either roast the sweet potatoes before hand for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees OR peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into chunks and add them to a large pot of water to boil until they are soft. For this recipe, I roasted the sweet potatoes. 

1 egg

1/3 c homemade coconut milk (you can use full fat coconut milk in the can. I prefer Natural Value's brand that has a BPA free liner) 

1 tbsp. raw organic honey (melted)

2 tbsp. organic maple syrup

1-2 tsp. organic vanilla extract

¼ tsp. Himalayan sea salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (ground nutmeg works just as well!)

¼ tsp. allspice

Instructions:

1. Whisk the sweet potato puree, egg and coconut milk together in a medium mixing bowl.

2. Add raw organic honey, organic maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix well.

3. Finally, add all your spices and mix.

4. At this point, there might be small clumps. You can either leave them be! (which is what I did) Or transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender or emersion blender to smooth out the filling more.

5. Fill the cooled crusts with the sweet potato filling.

6. Return to the oven for about 12-15 minutes. (I baked them until they were slightly firm on the top.)

7. Let them cool and feel free to eat! Or you can refrigerate them for all the flavors to come together better.

 

**To make these even better, top with homemade whipped coconut cream!**