The holiday season brings wonderful tastes and smells, but often temptation to stray from our goals, too. With all the parties and family get-togethers, it’s easy to be overwhelmed or make poor food choices. I hope to help you stick to your goals while still enjoying all the flavors of the holidays. If you want to to eat grain free, Paleo, Primal, Gaps, gluten free, or unprocessed during Thanksgiving, I have good news – you can do it! For the next couple of weeks I’ll post pie, casserole, side dishes and other recipes to grace your Thanksgiving table. Of course, you will indulge, just remember to do it smartly. The Whole Nine gave some great advice last week. If you want to take a look at Thanksgiving recipes from years past you can check them out here. And if you want someone else to plan for you, then check out our Thanksgiving meal plans complete with a shopping list, recipes and step-by-step instructions.
Pecan pie is the epitome of Thanksgiving for me. After a savory meal, I get a cup of coffee, a slice of pecan pie and enjoy the conversation. Last year I gave you a pecan pie without corn syrup and this year I’ll take it a step further with a bit less syrup and a grain free crust. The filling isn’t cloyingly sweet – just nice and subtle. The pecans are crunchy on top and the crust is tender and buttery. Nut flours brown very quickly in the oven, so place a pie shield (foil will also do) around the edge of the crust to keep it from burning. The pie can be baked in a 9-inch pie pan or you can make things a bit more fancy with a tart pan.
Pecan Pie
The filling can be made weeks in advance and stored in the freezer. Thaw it completely before pouring into the pie crust and topping with pecan halves. If you’re wondering why I consider maple syrup as “Paleo” read here. As with all desserts, remember to consume in moderation.
Makes one 9-inch pie
For the filling:
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon Grade B maple syrup
1/2 cup maple sugar (you can substitute with Organic whole cane sugar or sucanat)
2 tablespoons butter
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1 – 1 1/4 cups whole pecan halves
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400ºF and adjust rack to lower-middle position. Heat maple syrup over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Simmer until syrup reaches 225ºF. While syrup is simmering, place maple sugar and butter in a medium mixing bowl. As soon as the syrup reaches 225ºF, immediately pour syrup over sugar and butter mixture. Let mixture sit for 1 minute and then whisk together. Whisk in eggs, vanilla and sea salt (the mixture might look a little grainy at this point). Place prepared pie crust in pie plate on a large baking sheet. Pour mixture into your prepared pie crust and top with pecans. Cover crust with pie shield or foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350ºF and bake for an additional 15 minutes. The filling will be slightly less set in the center than the edges and it also might puff up in the middle, but will set as it cools. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Grain Free Pie Crust
Makes one 9-inch crust
For the crust:
2 cups almond flour
4 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (this provides structure for the crust. I prefer Bernard Jensen’s or Great Lakes)
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
2 tablespoons honey
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into tablespoons
Directions:
Place almond flour, coconut flour, gelatin and sea salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times to combine. Add honey and butter to the flour mixture and pulse for eight 1-second pulses and then leave the processor on until the dough forms into a ball. Press the dough on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
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{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! Carrie, This looks great..I love that this can be cut into bars. Keep the grain free recipes coming!
Thanks, Brittany!
I’m so excited to try this recipe! I made your maple pecan pie last year and everyone raved about it
But this year I’m going to try to stay grain free instead of indulging for one day, which turned into indulging for one month….
That’s a great goal! I’ll try and provide you with enough grain free “indulgences” that you won’t even feel the need for grain.
This pie needs to be in that grain-free book you need to write. Just sayin’.
Thanks.
I’m hoping it will happen. We’ll see. . .
I am drooling on my keyboard right now. I would love a slice of this a la mode! Mmmm.
This looks really good – and wonder if anyone will notice how healthy it is?!
I love that you made this without corn syrup! Looks awesome! Pecan pie is my favorite dessert for Thanksgiving… it’s nice to have a better option!
Kelli is going to loooooove this. I agree…pecan (pronounced pi-kahn’) pie is THE Thanksgiving dessert.
Yum! Pecan Pie’s my favorite holiday pie! I love the idea of using a narrower, rectangular pan as opposed to the typical pie pan.
I love pecan pie but I refuse to bake with corn syrup – love that you used maple syrup instead!
Yum!! This and the pumpkin pie look great! Can’t wait to try them both. I’m still learning about how to combine things to recreate old favorites. Do you know why you use gelatin sometimes and arrowroot others? Just trying to understand how they work differently. Thanks so much!!
I use gelatin in baked goods sometimes to act as a binder since there isn’t any gluten in grain free flours. For instance, if I’m testing a cookie and it’s too crumbly, I’ll add a bit of gelatin to add some structure to the dough. I use arrowroot as a thickener and it’s the perfect substitute for cornstarch 1:1. The original pumpkin pie recipe (my Mom’s recipe) called for 1 tablespoon white flour to act as a thickener, so I used arrowroot instead.
Thank you for the explanation!! Still learning this non-gluten stuff and yes, having a lot of crumbly results. I’ll give the gelatin a try!!
Thanks again.
Is there a substitute for the gelatin?? I don’t eat animal products..I’d love to try this crust!!!
The gelatin is necessary to add structure to the crust. If you leave it out, the crust won’t hold up as well (it will still taste good though!). I’ve heard of some using agar-agar as a substitute. Here’s an article about gelatin alternatives – http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/gelatin-alternatives.aspx
Question: Can I substitute honey for the maple syrups without it being over-powering? We’re doing GAPS and this sounds absolutely Delicious! Now, if you can re-do baklava, I might have to kiss you! lol
I’ve had the same thought. I haven’t tested it, but I don’t see any reason why honey wouldn’t work. If you try it, I would use a very light honey such as clover. A honey with a strong flavor will overpower the flavor of the pie.
Can I use my KitchenAid stand mixer to make the crust? I don’t have a food processor. Thanks!
You can, but it would be best if instead, you cut it with a fork, pastry cutter, or simply use your hands. This process allows there to be larger bits of butter throughout the crust that help give it a flaky texture. If you use a mixture, the crust will be a bit less flaky, but it will still taste great!
I was thrilled with the look of this pecan pie and bought several Fox Run loose bottom pans from amazon.com and hope you get credit for them. I have a question that will sound a little dumb, but I’m asking it anyway: I make a quiche using a recipe that calls for putting the flour into the egg mixture and allowing it to make a light crust on the bottom. Will I be able to use a loose bottom pan (and get the beautiful fluting) with this recipe, or does every pie require a crust? I also want to make an apple-honey cake that has a mousse-like texture (which means it isn’t runny) but I don’t want to have a mess on my hands. I’m wondering if parchment paper would work to hold ingredients in. But I’m thinking it may be too wet. Thanks so much for your help! This is a beautiful site.
If the mixture you are pouring into the pan is all liquid, then I would use a pie plate. If you want to use your new tart pan (I hope you enjoy them!), then a thin crust on bottom will ensure that the liquid doesn’t seep through the pan. The honey-apple cake sounds like it would do fine in a tart pan since it has a mousse-like texture and wouldn’t be running when you put it in the pan. My mom usually wraps the bottom of the tart pan with some foil to ensure she doesn’t have a complete mess in the oven!
Do you have to use coconut flour in the crust if you don’t have any, or could you just use all almond flour? What role does the coconut flour play?
The coconut flour plays an important role by giving the crust structure. Without it, the crust will be more crumbly than intended, but it will still taste great.
This is on my to-make list for thanksgiving! Do you think I could use cold coconut oil (or coconut butter) as a substitute for the butter in the crust recipe? My niece has a dairy allergy so I can’ t use regular butter. Thanks!
I would use cold ghee as a replacement. The coconut oil might cause the crust to be too crumbly.
This looks great! Could I use Lisa’s crust recipe for your filling? Would it make any difference?
Lisa’s crust recipe should work just fine.
Thanks for answering my question with an excellent tip to boot! I’m gathering all the ingredients for this pie, but I’ll have to wait for Christmas to make it as I’m just getting around to ordering the pecans from Azure. I have everything else to make this pie, thanks to your complete list of ingredients needed. I’ll be looking for other recipes to use as well. Love the site as I’m psyching myself up to go grain-free.
I want to make this crust for your paleo pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. How far in advance can this be made?
You can make the dough up to 3 days in advance. Store the unbaked dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You might need to set it out for about 15 minutes to take the chill off to make it easier to put in the pie plate.
Do you think it would be ok to make this pie today (a day early)?
Yes. The crust will be a bit softer than if you ate it today, but it will still taste great!
Do you need to refrigerate this pie?
I keep mine at room temperature, but then again, it’s usually gone in about 12 hours.
If it’s longer than 1 day, I’d put it in the fridge.
Just setting out to your pecan pie….looks yummy….quick question….could I substitute honey for the maple sugar?? I have the grade B maple syrup but for the 1/2 maple sugar or whole can sugar, I have none:( Was hoping I could just use honey???
I’ve never tried it, so I really can’t say if that would work. If you try it, I’d use about 1/3 a cup of honey since it has more moisture than maple sugar. If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out!
Well lucky me, I found maple sugar, made this last night….turned out perfect although I had to bake it 10 minutes longer. Thanks for am awesome recipes and a great website full of delish recipes.
Happy thanksgiving !
I made the pecan pie today. Did anyone have to cook theirs longer. So far I’ve added 15 more minutes and it is getting closer.
Sometimes you have to add a few minutes to the baking depending on the humidity/altitude/etc., but keep in mind the middle won’t be completely set (it will still jiggle when you nudge the pie plate) but it will all set as it cools.
This pie was a winner last night! I think because we haven’t had lots of sweets lately, we found this to be extremely sweet (not to mention that we were all stuffed from a “Deliciously Organic” Thanksgiving feast!). Can the filling recipe be altered so that the pie is less sweet? Wasn’t sure what could be changed so that it didn’t affect the overall consistency of the filling. Thanks for such great recipes!
If you haven’t had any sweets, then this is a sweet pie!
I don’t eat much sugar, so I had one small slice and that was plenty. For this recipe, I took the sweetener down as low as I could without hurting the texture/consistency of the pie and flavors. You might be able to reduce the maple sugar down by a couple tablespoons, but other than that, I don’t think the sweetness can be taken down too much. I’m glad you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast! 
Hi there, do you think I could sub coconut sugar for the maple sugar?
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. If you give it a try, please let me know how it turns out!
I used palm sugar instead of maple and added a little molasses. It turned out great!
This pie was amazing! My new favorite. Who needs corn syrup? I actually added a little molasses to it as well. And I can’t have a nut heavy diet so I opted for a plantain flour crust instead of almond flour. I will certainly be making this pie again for Christmas.
I made this pie for Thanksgiving and it turned out absolutely fantastic. I have a tradition of making Pecan Pie every year and this is the best pie recipe yet. My guests absolutely loved it and the crust, albeit crumbly, was delish. I added 2 tbls bourbon for the extra kick.
Thank you!!
I love the idea of the bourbon!
I love the flavor of this pie! In fact I have made it three times now, but I am having trouble with it setting up. I have tried to follow the instructions and even baked it a little longer. The only substitution I have made was using palm sugar instead of maple sugar. Do you have any other suggestions on what I could do to help my pies look as great as your picture? I would love to serve something besides Pecan Pie Soup for dessert.
Thanks!
I’ve never made this pie with palm sugar, so that could very well be the issue. You can substitute the maple sugar with organic whole cane sugar or sucanat and get great results (I’ve tested this pie using sucanat). You might also want to check your oven temp with an oven thermometer and make sure your candy thermometer is calibrated correctly. Just a small change in temperature can alter the outcome. I hope that helps!
Silly question. If I don’t have a food processor, is there any other way to make the crust? I have a blender and a Kitchenaid stand mixer with a dough hook, but no food processor at the moment. Thanks.
It would probably be best to make it with your hands or a dough cutter. Make sure the dough doesn’t get too warm and I would start with very cold ingredients (freeze the flours ahead of time so they are cold), and work quickly to make the dough. It should work just fine!
This is simply wonderful! I made this for Christmas as a pie and am making it as a tart for a New Year’s Eve party. Thank you so much!!!!
I want to use this crust recipe for a sweet potato pie. Any substitutions for the Almond flour, since I am allergic? I happen to have Oat flour and quinoa flour on hand in addition to the coconut flour. Will either of these work? thank you!
If you can tolerate grains, then here’s a great gluten free pie crust: http://deliciouslyorganic.net/organic-real-food-on-a-budget-peach-and-blackberry-pie-recipe/
Hey there, this is one of the ONLY things from Pinterest that I have actually tried! I made it today, but when I cut into it, a significant amount of liquid remained (maple syrup). I did not use this crust, but rather a pre-made one and I made it dairy free by using a butter substitute. Do you have any clue as to why that may have happened? Otherwise it tasted really good! Thank you for the recipe and the inspiration!
It was probably the butter substitute that made the pie runny. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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