You haven’t seen many (if any) desserts or foods with a strong carrot base on my blog. I’ve struggled to like them for a long time. I don’t like being a picky eater. It’s not a very appealing trait. And while I’ll never return a plate if it has a food I don’t like on it, I do occasionally “eat around” certain foods,

Those foods are: raw onions, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, peppers (including bell), and cilantro (!). I can stomach a few bites of them, but if there is a full plate of them, I definitely leave them for the garbage. The list has gotten a lot shorter. Mushrooms and tomatoes used to be included, and now I love them. And I’ve made considerable progress on the bell pepper.

It’s taking a lot of time to warm up to carrots. I’ve had a few dishes of roasted carrots and thought to myself, “I guess this is ok, but it’s no mashed potatoes.” And the carrots I get from the CSA are way better than anything you can get at the grocery store. But carrot desserts are pretty much strictly off-limits. I don’t really consider anything with carrots in it a dessert, but instead torture – something that takes a long time to prepare and an even longer time to consume (if I’m being forced to). And it’s not fooling anyone – I’m clearly eating a vegetable for dessert, no matter how much sugar you put on it.

Sadly, Ryan doesn’t see it this way. He loves carrot desserts. So, occasionally, when the mood strikes, or when a fridge full of CSA carrots haunts me, I’ll make one for him.

This recipe is adapted from Easy as Vegan Pie. I didn’t use as many carrots as the original recipe called for, so I made a few adjustment.  It tastes and feels a bit like a cross between a carrot cake and a pumpkin pie. I wasn’t crazy about the vegan pie crust. Feel free to use your own. If anyone has suggestions for a go-to vegan pie crust recipe, please let me know.

Vegan Carrot Cake Pie

 

Prep time

1 hour 30 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

2 hours 15 mins

 

This pie has a flavor combination and consistency between a carrot cake and a pumpkin pie.

Author: heidi

Recipe type: dessert, vegan

Yields: 8

Ingredients

Vegan Pie Crust

• 1 ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp chilled, quartered non-dairy margarine
• 1 ½ tsp lemon juice
• 1-2 Tbsp ice cold water
• Extra flour for rolling

Roasted Carrot Puree

• 1 pound carrots, peeled
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Batter

• ½ cup almond milk
• ¼ cup margarine, melted
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour
• ½ cup raisins
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts.

Instructions

For the Crust

1. With a few pulses, combine the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of your food processor. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry blender or a fork.
2. Add your margarine in the bowl, a few chunks at a time, pulsing in between each addition.
3. Once all of the margarine is in the bowl, give it a few more pulses, until the texture resembles a coarsely ground meal.
4. Drip in the lemon juice and the first tablespoon of water. Give it a few more pulses. If the dough holds together when you squeeze it, it's ready. If it's still crumbly, continue adding water.
5. Pull the dough out of the food processor and use your hands to roll it in a ball. Flatten the dough ball until it's ½ an inch thick and wrap with plastic wrap.
6. Place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.

Roast the Carrots

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Peel and cut your carrots into pieces that are 2-3 inches long. You want them all around the same size and thickness so they roast evenly.
3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
4. Coat the raw carrots with coconut oil and place in the oven.
5. Roast for 30 minutes until they're lightly toasted and easily punctured with a fork.
6. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes.
7. Place in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Putting it all Together

1. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
2. Roll out your chilled pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Place the flattened crust in a 9 inch pie pan.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the pureed carrots, almond milk, melted margarine, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, and salt until smooth.
4. Next, stir in the flour, then raisins, and walnuts.
5. Fill the pie crust with the batter. Use a spatula to smooth the top of the filling.
6. Place in the oven for 45 - 50 minutes.
7. Let cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving to help it set.

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So what about you? How do you feel about carrot desserts?

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