A shortbread-style pastry crust adds wonderful butteriness to this maple-pecan pie from the BReD cookbook. Top with cloud-like, fluffy whipped cream or decadent scoops of vanilla bean ice cream to cap off any meal on a sweet note. What you need: For the crust: 1⁄2 cup cold vegan butter , cut into 1-inch cubes 13⁄4 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1⁄4 cup vegan powdered sugar 1⁄4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons cold water 1 tablespoon olive oil For the filling: 2⁄3 cup vegan liquid egg 1⁄4 cup cornstarch 1⁄4 cup vegan butter, melted 3⁄4 cup maple syrup 1⁄2 cup golden syrup 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses 2 tablespoons vanilla extract 3⁄4 cup sourdough breadcrumbs 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons pecan pieces or chopped pecans 3⁄4 cup pecan halves, for topping What you do: Place bowl of a food processor in refrigerator for 30 minutes before starting.
Into chilled bowl of food processor, add butter, pastry flour, powdered sugar, and salt and pulse until combined, about 1 minute. Add cold water and olive oil and pulse until a dough forms. Transfer to an unfloured work surface and finish mixing by hand.
Bring pastry together into a ball with no dry patches. Gently roll pastry between two 12 × 18-inch pieces of parchment paper into a 5-inch disc. Transfer pastry (between parchment) to a baking sheet and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but ideally overnight.
The pastry needs to stay as cold as possible to prevent.