Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
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This Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie is made with maple syrup and coconut milk instead of corn syrup and eggs and tastes just like the real deal! It’s vegan-friendly, and made with both pecans and chocolate chips, which really takes it to the next level.
What pies are non-negotiable for you on Thanksgiving? For me, it would be pumpkin pie and pecan pie. I need them both in my life every single year. This vegan pecan pie is extra special because it’s made with chocolate chips (technically optional but highly recommended) and it’s vegan-friendly.
Recipe features
- Made with maple syrup and coconut milk (instead of corn syrup and eggs)
- …As I just said, this pie contains NO corn syrup (win!!)
- A relatively easy pie to make as far as pies go (almost as easy as my no bake chocolate pie)
- It combines the sticky pecan flavor and texture with chocolate chips, making it the BEST combo
Ingredient notes:
Pecans – a combination of whole and chopped pecans works best
Chocolate chips – dairy-free; preferably dark or semi-sweet
Butter – dairy-free (I used Earth Balance)
Coconut milk – full fat, canned — want it to be thick, and canned coconut milk tends to be thicker than almond/oat/coconut milk from a container. The coconut milk acts as an egg replacer in this recipe.
Maple syrup – if you’re not wanting to keep this vegan, you can use honey instead
Brown sugar – can sub coconut sugar if you prefer
Cornstarch – I’ve ONLY tested this pie with cornstarch, but I believe you’d be ok to sub arrowroot powder or all purpose flour, which will help thicken the pie
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Make your pie crust. I like to do this in my food processor because it’a a little faster and less messy too. Add the dry ingredients, then with the motor running, add the butter in through the top 1 tbsp at a time. Then, add the syrup and ice water until a ball of dough forms.
Flour a work surface, then roll out the dough and carefully transfer it to your greased pie pan. Scallop the edge as you’d like — I went the lazy route and opted for a fork edge.
Step 2: Add pecans and chocolate chips. Chop HALF of the pecans, then add the chopped pecans, whole pecans and chocolate chips to your pie pan.
Step 3: Make the filling. Add syrup, coconut milk, melted (and cooled) butter, vanilla, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a blender and blend for 20 seconds or so. Then, pour the mixture overtop of the pecans and chocolate chips. Last, sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top.
Step 4: Bake and cool. Bake the pie for 45-50 minutes. Remove it from the oven and transfer it to a cooling rack for 30 minutes, then place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight, which will allow the pie to fully set.
FAQs and tips
- Want this recipe to be a little quicker? Use pre-made/store-bought pie crust
- Sprinkle the pie with flakey sea salt before serving
- Take it up a notch by serving it with your favorite dairy free vanilla ice cream
- Since this pie does NOT contain eggs, you need to cool it in the refrigerator, which will help bind everything together. My tip? Make this pie the day before you’re going to serve it.
Do I have to add chocolate chips?
Nope! I personally love the pecan-chocolate combination, but if you want to make more of a traditional pecan pie, simply use 1 cup whole and 1 cup chopped pecans instead, and omit the chocolate chips.
Why do I need to use cornstarch?
Cornstarch is going to help bind this pie together, which is especially important since this recipe is egg-free. The combination of cornstarch + refrigerating the pie will help it firm up. If you don’t love cornstarch, you can try using arrowroot or all purpose flour instead.
Any other Thanksgiving day recipe recommendations?
Here are a few of my favorites: mushroom gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato pie, chicken sausage cornbread stuffing.
More delicious holiday desserts
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
Ingredients
for the crust:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup dairy free butter, cold
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 4 tbsp ice water, or more
for the pie:
- 1 cup whole pecans
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips, divided
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk, canned
- 4 tbsp dairy free butter, melted and cooled to room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 4 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
for the crust:
- Add flour and salt to your food processor and pulse. With the motor still running, add butter in through the top 1 tbsp at a time. Then, add the maple syrup and water, allowing a ball of dough to form.
- Flour a work surface, then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. Carefully transfer it to a greased 9" pie pan. Scallop the edges as you like--I went the simple route and created fork edges.
for the filling:
- Reserve 2 tbsp of chocolate chips; set aside. Add the whole pecans, chopped pecans and the remaining chocolate chips to the pie pan.
- Next, add the maple syrup, coconut milk, butter, vanilla, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a blender and blend for 20 seconds. Pour mixture overtop of the pecans/chocolate chips, then sprinkle the reserved 2 tbsp chocolate chips over top.
- Bake the pie for 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool at room temperature for 1 hour before transferring to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably over night.
- Before serving: remove from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you're going to cut and serve. If you want it to be room temperature (vs. slightly cool from the fridge), remove 2 hours before serving. Top with flakey sea salt and ice cream and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
UPDATE NOTE: This post was originally published in November 2018. It was updated with new text and photos in November 2020.
Do you have any substitute suggestions for coconut? I’m allergic so I’m trying to figure out what would work best…
Hmm… you could try using flax eggs instead. I’d try 2 tbsp flaxseed meal + 4 tbsp water, and then don’t use a blender just whisk everything by hand. I haven’t tested this myself but I think that should work — let me know how it turns out!
Made this last night! Fantastic <3
Can you use premade pie crust for this recipe?
Yep!
YUM!
I made this pie last night after dreaming of it for several weeks. So good!!! My husband and I woke up this morning excited to have it again! 😛