5-Ingredient No-Bake Pecan Pie

Saturday night, I dined chez Katherine, who had invited me over to spend a low-key evening of board games and munchables with her and her Huz.

Naturally, being Katherine and the Huz, they had only the tastiest of tasty foods, such as chips and guacamole…

(You’d better hope she posts the recipe soon because it was pretty much life-changing, as far as smoky guacamoles go.)

…and roasted eggplant…

…and homemade wine!

Yeah, they really do roll like that. Katherine, you’ll have to refresh me on precisely whose home it was made in, what so I can go live there and all…

The board game in question was an awesome birthday gift from my sister. It’s called “Foodie Fight,” and it’s more or less Trivial Pursuit for foodies, though it’s far more compact and you’ll actually be able to finish a game before we elect a new President.

Being a guest in a fellow blogger’s home, I had to contribute something to the munchings, naturally. Having decided on dessert, I had a bit of a think and came up with something I’m pretty frickin’ proud of, to be honest.

No-Bake Pecan Pie (Vegan)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb (1/2 box) whole wheat graham crackers
• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 lb medjool dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
• 1/2 cup raw pecan halves, plus more for topping

Directions:

1. Combine grahams and coconut oil in a food processor and pulse/blend until you have a mixture the consistency of wet sand.
2. Divide mixture between two 8-inch pie plates. Pat down with the back of a spoon until the crumbs are evenly spread flat across the bottom and up the sides. Place crusts in the freezer.
3. Combine dates and milk in a food processor and blend smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Add pecans and pulse until pecan bits are spread throughout the filling.
4. Remove the crusts from the freezer. Divide filling mixture between the two crusts (try to do this in big, heaping spoonfuls). Spread the filling very gently (it will be thick and sticky) with a back of a spoon until it covers the crust’s bottom evenly.

5. Decorate with additional pecans. You’re done!

Makes 2 pies

I recommend storing these pies in the fridge (if they don’t get eaten right away, for some reason). It stays together better that way, making it easier to slice.

For someone who considers herself a rather untalented baker, I was feeling pretty smug for having skirted the whole “baking” issue commonly associated with pies. And they even tasted good! With only a couple ingredients! System = beat.

Who wants to turn on the oven in warm weather, anyway? Perhaps this is not a common association, but I think summer when I think of pecan pie, and not having to bake it makes the idea all the more appealing.

Whatever the season, I think we can all commonly associate pecan pie with the following:

Would you partake of my pecan pieeeeeee?