Cashew Butter Cups
Bars and cookies, Desserts, Paleo, Vegan
Coming to America 6 years ago I discovered a number of foods I’d never seen before. Some of them I’m happy to remain a stranger to but one of them…
I’m a novice when it comes to Thanksgiving. Being a born and bred Londoner I didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving until I came to America six years ago. My first Thanksgiving dinner was actually the first place I saw my husband, and I fell in love. Sadly the love was not for my husband – I was proud and prejudiced and due to his large beard and Texan origin we didn’t meet until two years later. Pumpkin pie however, along with it’s pecan counterpart, swept me off my feet and it’s been a happy relationship ever since. As with any dessert I taste and love, my first challenge is to recreate it in ‘legal’ form; no refined sugar, no dairy, no gluten. This works well as a ‘legal’ (and paleo) dessert and comes out just the same, except it leaves you feeling less heavy and pretty much guilt free, perfect. For Thanksgiving dinner this year I’m taking a pecan pie but I needed pumpkin pie too so we’ve been enjoying that one early!
For the crust:
2 1/2 -3 cups nut meal (I used a mix of cashew and almond just cos its what I had)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp raw honey
pinch salt
Mix everything together in a food processor, start with 2 1/2 cups and add in more nut meal until its a dough consistency that you can press into a pie dish with your fingers.
For the filling:
You’ll need 1 1/2 cups roasted pumpkin flesh. You can use canned but I prefer everything real! (Cut the pumpkin in half and place it cut side down in a dish with a little water. Bake on 350F for about an hour and then scoop out the seeds and flesh separately but keep the seeds.)
1 cup pitted dates
3/4 cup coconut cream
3 eggs
1/3 cup raw local honey
1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
Blend the pumpkin with 1 cup softened pitted dates until smooth. Add in the coconut cream and eggs one by one and blend, then add pumpkin pie spice and honey. Blend it all up until it’s really smooth then pour the mixture into the crust and bake at 370F for 45 minutes. I mixed the seeds with a tbsp honey, a tbsp almond butter, a little salt and cinnamon and roasted them for 20 mins turning every 5 and used them to top the pie and add some crunch and to pretty it up. We ate ours with coconut cream, delicious!
Happy Thanksgiving!
