My gluten free maple pecan pie recipe is one that’s very close to my heart. Over the years, I’ve adapted it to be dairy free, so that even Mark can enjoy it too.
First of all, a massive thanks to Schär for challenging me to see what I could whip up with their Mix it! Universal gluten free flour blend. I was a little stumped initially as there’s so many possibilities contained within that humble bag. A vast range of possibilities is definitely Schär’s strong point when it comes to gluten free products. As I’m sure you know, their range has so much variety of quality gluten free products without compromise.
After many hours of pondering, I finally settled on my Ouma’s gluten free maple pecan pie recipe. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me sharing it with you!
Ouma is South-African for Grandma, because in case you didn’t know, my Dad is from South-Africa. I guess you know now! She passed away 12 years ago, but a maple pecan pie never fails to remind me of her. On any special occasion, she would always have a maple pecan pie waiting for me. Even if that event was just that I’d come over to visit her!
I’m a natural worrier and negative nelly by nature, but she really taught me a lot about looking on the bright-side. She was so cool for a Grandma, a fashion-designer, bowls player who always watched the footy. There was certainly nobody quite like Ouma!
I guess my gluten free maple pecan pie recipe is my way of remembering all the fun times I spent with my Ouma over a slice of maple pecan pie. She did have an awesome taste in desserts! I hope that my gluten free maple pecan pie recipe does her’s proud.
My Ouma’s original maple pecan pie recipe was perfect, so naturally, it’s taken many hours of perfecting to get it gluten free and dairy free without compromise. But fortunately, I finally think I’ve nailed it! My past experience with shortcrust pastry has been an absolute disaster. It always gets totally annihilated when transferring it into the baking tin. Fail.
In those baking fail moments, I’m always conflicted between two sayings: ‘never give up’ or ‘quit while you’re ahead’. Why do we have so many conflicting sayings and mantras?! Sadly I decided to quit while I was ahead on that particular occasion. Lack of gluten – 1, Becky – 0.
But Schär’s Mix it! Universal challenge inspired me to get back on the pastry horse (not literally, but a pastry horse would be awesome though) and give gluten free pastry a good go again. After a few test runs, I’m glad to report that I’ve created gluten free shortcrust pastry that’s not only awesome to eat, but dough that’s awesome to work with too.
Read on for my steps to gluten free maple pecan pie success…
So what’s the secret to my gluten free shortcrust pastry? Well firstly, Schär’s Mix It! Universal as my #1 not-so-secret ingredient of course! But apart from that, this recipe also adds a little extra dairy free marg for added dough pliability, oh and not forgetting a crucial lesson – it’s all in the temperature.
A lot of regular (gluten containing) shortcrust pastry recipes call for your dough to be chilled and rolled out cold, straight from the fridge. However, this is definitely not a great idea when it comes to gluten free shortcrust pastry! The dough needs to be a little warmer to have the added flexibility that gluten often provides.
After a while, I found that chilling your dough in the fridge, but then allowing it to return to room temperature instead, resulted in a dough that was much more pliable, stronger and easy to work with. What’s cooler than being cool? Room temperature, I guess.
But even still, nobody is perfect and I almost always manage to damage my pastry slightly when upturning the dough into my baking tin. As long as your pastry is 90% in tact, a little patching up with spare dough and some water as glue goes a long way. It’s definitely something where practice makes perfect.
Once you’ve got your gluten free shortcrust pastry into your loose bottom baking tin, you’re already on the road to success! Making the filling for your gluten free maple pecan pie is a doddle, then all that’s left is to fill up your pastry case and pop it in the oven. Pat yourself on the back, you’ve just made a gluten free maple pecan pie!
As I mentioned, I’ve shared so many fond memories with my Ouma over a slice of pecan pie. But let’s say, I couldn’t eat gluten back then… would I have missed out on all those special moments? Would I remember them less fondly if I always had to awkwardly decline a slice? Much like I do now?
For me, dietary requirements can get in the way of living those special moments more than you’d think. I regularly decline invitations because of my dietary requirements and who knows what fond memories and moments I could have made by attending? My family love going out for meals and always invite us out, but being gluten free myself, my first reaction to an invitation is always the stress of ‘gosh, what will I eat?’
It’s that sort of situation that motivates me to blog and to keep on creating recipes. I hate the thought of anyone turning down invitations because of dietary requirements and missing out on living life, but I know it happens all the time. Hopefully with this recipe in hand, you can still share a slice of gluten free pecan pie with someone special and you never know… you might just make moments you’ll remember forever like I did.
Or at the very least, you’ll just remember how bloody awesome the pecan pie was! Here’s my gluten free maple pecan pie recipe…
Gluten Free Maple Pecan Pie (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 225g Schar Mix It! Universal
- tsp Xanthan gum
- 115g dairy free hard margarine I use Stork Baking Block (cut into cubes)
- 1 large egg beaten and mixed with a tsp of water
For the filling
- 200g pecan nuts
- 75g dairy free spread
- 6 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 225g light brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp gluten free plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Start by making your pastry. Sieve your gluten free flour, xanthan gum and salt into a bowl.
- Add your cubed margarine and rub in until it basically resembles breadcrumbs.
- Very gradually (1-2 tsp at a time) add in your egg/water mixture using a fork to bring the mix together into a dough. Once all your egg/water mixture is added it should be quite easy to form a ball of dough with your hands. (The mixture shouldn't be really sticky, but a slight stickiness isn't bad at all, it's better than it being too dry).
- Place in the fridge for a short while (20 - 30 minutes should be enough), after that get your pastry out and allow to return to slightly closer to room temp before rolling out.
- Cut a large piece of parchment/baking paper that you can roll the pastry out onto. Sprinkle a little gluten free flour on it and on your rolling pin.
- Roll out your pastry evenly to about the thickness of 0.5cm-1cm. Try to roll it into a more circular shape that is bigger than your tin as you will need it to go up the sides too!
- Next CAREFULLY upturn your pastry into the tin, gently pressing it snug to the baking tin. (I know everyone says it, but really don't worry if there are a few cracks in the pastry or if you need to add extra to the sides. Just patch your pastry up with any extra bits you've got.
- Leave to chill in the tin in the fridge briefly whilst you make your maple pecan filling.
- Heat your oven to 190C. Spread your pecan nuts on a baking tray and allow to toast for about 8 minutes in the oven. Allow to cool and then chop. (I chop mine quite loosely so there is a mix of sizes)
- In a saucepan gently melt together your dairy free spread, maple and golden syrup.
- In a separate large bowl, briefly mix your eggs and sugar together until combined.
- Add your butter/syrup mixture to the bowl followed by your vanilla, gluten free flour and salt. Mix again to combine.
- Finally stir in your chopped pecan nuts.
- Pour your maple pecan mixture into your pastry case and then bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. The filling should be set around the edges but can be slightly loose still in the middle. (If anything looks to be going too brown you can cover it loosely in the oven with some foil - but remember a pecan pie is quite dark in colour anyway!)
- Once baked, allow to cool in it's tin before carefully removing.
- Serve it up at room temp or slightly warmed if you prefer. (a little dairy free cream, custard or ice cream goes well with it... or just on it's own!)
- Enjoy!!
Notes
Thanks so much for checking out my gluten free maple pecan pie recipe and thanks to Schär for making it possible! I actually made this pecan pie and gave it to my Mum and Dad as a surprise. When my Mum answered the door and saw me with it, she immediately said “Oh, Ouma’s favourite!” which made me smile. I didn’t think anyone thought that but me!
You can pick up Schär’s Mix It! Universal in store at Waitrose and check out their full range on Schär’s website. I’d definitely recommend always having some Schär’s Mix It! Universal in the cupboard as it is one of the most versatile gluten free flour mixes I’ve ever worked with. It can be used for both sweet and savoury cooking… cakes, pies, biscuits and even bread!
Schär’s range is always expanding fast, so if you see that vibrant red and yellow packaging… let me know if you find something new!
Did you try this recipe? Any questions? Please do let me know by leaving a comment below or on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram!
Thanks for reading,
Becky xxx
This is a sponsored recipe with Schär UK. Schär’s Mix It! Universal RRP £2.00
Oh and don’t forget to pin this for later!
