When I was in culinary school, one of my classmates from Virginia always fell back on the same recipe whenever she was responsible for coming up with the dessert special: chocolate peanut butter pie. As a fan of chocolate and peanut butter, I found the combination - and in a pie, no less - irresistible. It was homey and rich and satisfying.
Cut to 2011. Food allergies, especially peanut allergies, are way up. Gluten intolerance is on the rise. Chocolate peanut butter pie is off limits to many. So what's a girl to do?
Make a vegan chocolate sunbutter-chocolate pie, that's what.
This is a fairly easy recipe with not many ingredients. It works like a charm. You'll need to make my much adored tapioca gel as the base for this, and the results will look strange at first, but the resulting pie filling is custard-smooth.
Cake and Commerce's Fudgy Chocolate Sunbutter Pie (vegan and free of the top 8 allergens)
Yield: one pie
Time to prepare: 30 mins
- 1 Classic Graham Cracker Crust (see below)
- 1 bag (10 oz) Soy, Dairy, Nut-free semi-sweet chocolate Mini Chips (Enjoy Life or similar)
- 1 C Sunbutter
- 1 T Vanilla
- 1 T Agave Syrup (optional – for added sweetness)
- 1 C Water
- 1 T Tapioca Flour
Procedure:
Empty bag of chips into a medium-sized bowl (make sure they are mini because larger ones will not melt fast enough. If you only have large chips, break them up in a food processor first). Combine tapioca flour and cold water in saucepan and bring to a near boil. The solution will turn translucent and sticky. Pour immediately over chocolate, stirring constantly, until all chocolate is melted. The mixture will be very lumpy and bumpy – don’t fret! Immediately whisk the sunbutter into the mixture – it should start to look smooth, although a little grainy. Stir in the vanilla and the agave, if desired. Pour into prepared pie crust.
Top with chocolate chips, extra crumbs, and roasted sunflower seed pieces, if desired.
Leave in the refrigerator overnight, or until set, about 3 hours.
Serve cold or at room temperature. To store, tightly cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator. Keeps up to four days.
Enjoy!
Classic Graham Cracker Crust
Yield: 1 pie crust
Time to prepare: 30 mins
- 6 oz gluten-free grahams OR one box Enjoy Life Vanilla Honey Graham Cookies
- 1/3 C Organic or Vegan Granulated Sugar or Evaporated Cane Juice Crystals OR natural sugar
- 1/4 C Oil or Butter of your choice (I use safflower or grape seed or coconut)
- Pie Pan (it doesn't need to be greased)
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350 F
Place entire package of cookies in food processor with sugar. Process until fine. Add oil and process until crust becomes a little wet.
Place the crust in the middle of the pie pan and with your fingers spread crust around pan, pressing as you go, making sure to have about 1/8” of coverage over all surfaces – and no holes!
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until crust turns golden brown. Use immediately or freeze for later.
To be used in cheesecakes and cold-set type pies.
Making the assumption that each pie can be sliced into 8 large pieces, here are the nutritionals for a single slice, an eighth of a pie, or a nearly 5 oz slice! Calorie bomb!
The saturated fat comes from the cocoa butter in the chocolate chips. The rest of the fat is from the sunbutter and oil.
The government recommends a serving size of 125 grams. That's still pretty huge! If you slice your pie in nine pieces, you get 120 gram slices. Here are the nutritionals:
And here are the nutritionals if you make your servings about 2.5 oz (70g)
