Pi Day: Pumpkin Pecan Coconut Pie

What else is circular? Syncrhonicity. Synchronicity, as explained by Carl Jung, is “the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, yet are experienced as occurring together in a meaningful manner."(Wikipedia).

In simpler terms, stuff happens and it seems to be related to previous stuff.

I tend to think of it as “leveling up” in the videogame of life. For example, last week vegan cream cheeze was on sale, so I bought some thinking, “What the hell, maybe I’ll make a cheezecake.” Then earlier this week I received a packet of cranberry-walnut dip mix that called for—you guessed it—cream cheese. I also received a packet of pumpkin pie spice. So I guess today’s pie was supposed to be pumpkin pie!

This recipe I picked up at the Alexandria Whole Foods and it’s not available on the WFM website.

Pumpkin Coconut Pecan Pie

Modified from the WFM Health Starts Here “Coconut-Pecan Pumpkin Pie”

Crust:

1 cup oat flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 cups pecans, soaked overnight and drained

8 dates, soaked overnight and drained

2 tablespoons almond butter

Filling:

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 1/2 teaspoons arrowroot starch (or tapioca starch or cornstarch)

2 cups pure pumpkin

1 cup sweet potato flesh

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 packet pumpkin pie spice or 2 teaspoons from a bottled blend

dash more cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch or 9.25-inch round pie plate and set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the oats and cinnamon. In a blender or food processor, process the dates until they are broken up. Dollop the dates on top of the oat mixture. Process the pecans until the dark skin is broken down and few chunks remain, yet the mixture is not completely paste. Add the pecan mixture to the oat mixture, pour the almond butter over the entire mess, and mix well with a wooden spoon. The mixture should form a cohesive mass.  Press it into the pan and flute the edges with a fork.

Fork that shite!

Bake for 7 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from the oven and set aside on a trivet.

While it is baking, prepare the filling. In the same food processor or blender, combine the maple syrup and arrowroot. Then add the pumpkin, sweet potato, coconut, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Blend it until uniformly combined. Pour into the pie crust and smooth out the top. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until it does not jiggle in the centre. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. When completely cool, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight before serving.

I had a little extra filling because I used a 9-inch pie plate.  The 9.25-inch plate won’t fit in the pie saver.

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