Unfortunately, even flaky pie crusts and graham cracker pie crusts have their downfalls. Flaky pie crusts tend to be made with lots of butter while graham cracker crusts have to be made just perfect so they won’t crumble to pieces. So it seems I needed to find a middle ground. Now I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had this thought, but instead of doing things the easy way, I like to see what I can come up with on my own! It would have to have the best of both worlds: the crumble texture of a graham cracker crust with the slight crispiness that is the perfectly toasted crust.
Well I think this is it. What’s funny is I actually thought I had screwed it up – I meant to add coconut oil and completely left it out, oops! Turns out, it is absolutely perfect without it. And let me tell you, there are about a million variations you can make with this crust, which is one thing I absolutely love about it! But for now, let’s start off with the basic recipe:
Ingredients
1 c. pecans [preferable, but you can use walnuts, almonds, or possibly even cashews]
1 c. oats, divided
2 tbs. agave nectar
2 tbs. almond milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cinnamon [optional, depending on your filling]
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pulse 2/3 c. oats in a food processor until you have a flour like consistency. Add pecans and continue to pulse until pecans are finely chopped. You don’t want a nut butter so make sure not to pulse too long.
Add remaining ingredients and pulse until well combined. You should have a dough-like sticky consistency as this point. Add final 1/3 c. oats and pulse until just mixed, or mix in by hand.
Transfer to a greased pie pan (I use Baking spray, or just an olive oil spray with a sprinkle of flour covering the bottom). Place dough in the center and work it outwards, patting down the crust to ensure it is held together well.
Pierce the bottom of the crust with a fork a few times, and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool before topping with pie filling.
The perfect combination of a toasted pie crust with a graham cracker texture!
Recipe type: Dessert, Breakfast
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
- 1 c. pecans (or preferred nut)
- 1 c. oats, divided
- 2 tbs. agave nectar
- 2 tbs. almond milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pulse ⅔ c. oats in a food processor until you have a flour like consistency. Add pecans and continue to pulse until pecans are finely chopped. Be sure not to pulse it to a nut butter.
- Add remaining ingredients (less remaining oats) and pulse until well combined. You should have a dough-like sticky consistency as this point. Add final ⅓ c. oats and pulse until just mixed, or mix in by hand.
- Transfer to a greased pie pan. Place dough in the center and work it outwards, patting down the crust to ensure it is held together well.
- Pierce the bottom of the crust with a fork a few times, and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool before topping with pie filling.
