Mary Estella’s Pecan Pie

I own a lot of cookbooks. But only one have I made every recipe in the book, over and over again. Mary Estella’s Natural Foods Cookbook.

I could never stand that Southern classic Pecan Pie, laden with corn syrup and horribly over sweet.  I have been making this recipe for years and have it every Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.  It’s also available for order on my website- Pecan Pie.

It uses no added sweetener, but is plenty sweet.

Mary Estella’s Pecan Pie

Serving Size : 8

2/3 cup apricots, dried

1 cup dates — pitted

2 cups apple juice

2 tablespoons agar or gelatin

1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot

1/4 cup apple juice

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups pecans — roasted

1 Gluten free pie shell

1) Preheat oven to 350°

2) Place dates and apricots in a pan with the 2 cups apple juice. Bring to a simmer, turn to low heat and simmer 20 minutes.

3) In the food processor, grind almonds to a coarse meal. add flour and with processor still running, add oil, then begin adding water a small amount at a time until mixture is moistened.

4) Bake pie shell

5) Mix arrowroot with the remaining apple juice, stir well and add to the date mixture. Stir, bring to simmer, add vanilla, and remove from heat.

6) Put date mixture in food processor with the pecans and pulse briefly. you want the mixture still chunky

7) Pour mixture into the pie shell and chill until set..