Lately, I’ve been reflecting on lessons that I’ve learned since changing my career path and branching out on my own 4 and 1/2 years ago. Trying to pursue a new field in which I had no prior experience and grow a business feels like a rollercoaster most of the time. There are many ups and downs! Disappointments. Set backs. Progress. Self-Doubt. Excitement. Stress. Gratitude. Growth. Burn out. Deal Breakers. It’s been such a crazy ride, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Well, there is one thing I would do differently – I would’ve hired an accountant much sooner than I did. They are worth their weight in gold.
Other than that, I’m a firm believer that the mistakes and tough times are incredibly valuable. I’ve learned to believe in myself which was never something that came to me naturally. I’ve turned down opportunities and walked away from deals because they didn’t have my best interests at heart. While scary at the time, those are some of my proudest moments because I was true to myself and what I believe in.
Whatever path you happen to be on, believe in yourself. Stick to your guns if it’s important to you! When you have a bad feeling about something, listen to your gut. And most importantly, don’t let someone else convince you that you’re nothing without them. It just isn’t true. You might just be one person, but you are everything to your vision. Maybe your journey won’t look exactly as you thought it would, but sometimes that’s for the better anyway. If you have the passion and drive for something go after it and share it proudly with the world. We’re anxiously waiting to see it.
I’m happy to say that I’m getting into a good groove again with recipe development. Look at me posting on a Saturday of all days! Recipe ideas are starting to flow and most of my trials are turning out, almost effortlessly at times. It feels good after a long period of feeling drained on the creativity front. For the first time in a long while, I actually know the next recipe I’m posting on this blog which hasn’t happened in probably 6 months. hah. (Spoiler alert – you’ll never see Tabbouleh the same way again).
This pie. Finally, I get to this pie. Well, it didn’t last long! What else is there to say? I threw together a simple crust made with almonds, oats, coconut oil, and maple syrup. As I’ve mentioned many times before, I prefer this type of press-in crust over traditional flour pie crusts because the flavour is just incomparable. Plus, no rolling or kneading. It’s a no brainer.
The other day I was making my 2-Ingredient Chocolate Frosting and I realized it would make a fun, truffle-like pie filling because it hardens nicely when chilled. I paired it with a warm strawberry vanilla compote to serve on top. The compote is totally optional, but the cold and warm contrast was really nice! It’s also a great way to use up bruised berries that are on their last legs.
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Chilled Dark Chocolate Pie with a Toasted Almond Crust and Strawberry Vanilla Compote
Yield
12 servings
Prep time
Rest time
30 minutes
Cook time
Chill time
2 hours
Total time
Pie crust adapted from pecan pie crust.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 3/4 cup raw almonds
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
For the filling
- 1 bag dark chocolate chips (about 340 grams)1 (15-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk, chilled in fridge overnightLiquid sweetener, to taste (optional – I used 2 tbsp maple syrup)Pinch of salt1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the strawberry compote (optional)
- 1 pound strawberries, hulled and diced2-3 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or other sweetener), to taste1 teaspoon arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)1 vanilla bean, scraped (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
Directions
- For the crust: Preheat oven to 350⁰F and lightly grease a 9-inch pie dish with coconut oil. Add almonds into a food processor and process until a fine crumb forms, the size of sand. Now add the coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, and oat flour and process again until the dough comes together. Finally, pulse in the rolled oats until the oats are finely chopped, but still have some texture to them. The dough should stick together when pressed between your fingers. If it doesn’t, try processing for a bit longer.
- With your fingers, crumble the dough evenly over the base of the pie dish. Starting from the middle, press the mixture firmly and evenly into the dish, moving outward and upward along the side of the pie dish. The harder you press the crumbs into the dish, the more it will hold together. Poke 5-6 fork holes into the bottom to let the air escape.
- Bake pie crust, uncovered, at 350⁰F for 10-13 minutes, until lightly golden and fragrant. Remove from oven and set aside to cool on a rack for about 20 minutes.
- For the filling: Chill can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight so the cream can solidify. When ready, open the can and carefully scoop out the solid white coconut cream into a pot, discarding the water. Add chocolate chips and stir until combined. Heat over low-medium heat until most of the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and stir in the optional sweetener, salt, and vanilla until smooth.
- For the strawberry compote: Add diced strawberries into a pot and increase heat to medium. In a small bowl, whisk together the sweetener and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) until no clumps remain. Add to strawberries and stir. Increase heat and bring mixture to a simmer and cook the strawberries for around 9-12 minutes or longer, until thickened and soft. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Assembly: Pour chocolate filling into pie crust and smooth out. Place in the freezer, on an even surface, for a minimum of 2 hours, or until firm throughout. Allow pie to sit on the counter for 15-30 minutes before attempting to slice. Slicing the first piece of pie is quite tricky, but I promise the second slice comes out much easier! Serve the pie chilled with the optional compote on top. Wrap leftover pieces of pie in tin foil and store in the freezer for up to 1 week.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Hope your weekend squeezes in some chocolate, fun, sun, & relaxation!
I just made this pie for Thanksgiving and my whole family loved it! So delicious! I will be passing out the recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know :)
This looks delicious! Has anyone tried freezing this pie? I’d like to make one and freeze it for the holidays, but I don’t want to ruin it… I’m thinking it should work but I wanted to see if anyone else had tried it.
We made this for Christmas dinner, but skipped the strawberries. Instead, I spread a layer of natural peanut butter on the crust before pouring in the filling. It was a huge hit!!
Delicious! Made this for Christmas. Trader Joe’s brand coconut milk seems to be the only one in my area that works for these types of recipes. Compote was not necessary. Fresh strawberries would supplement quite nicely (if you can find them this time of year). Everyone was sick and couldn’t taste it…except for me…MORE.FOR.ME!
What an amazing recipe Angela! I used the light coconut milk and it turned out great. I had some extra filling which i just refrigerated and ate with a spoon;) I will definitely make this again, and maybe experiment with the crust as a cookie or maybe the base of a fruit pizza…
I made this pie and the crust was really nice. Now I’m wondering if I can use this crust also for another kind of pie, that needs to be baked more time in the oven (pie with topping made of blueberries, which are frozen in this case). Should I prebake the crust, or does the crust get very hard if it’s over 15min total in the oven?
Thank you.
I would really love to make this pie for my dad because he loves chocolate pie (processed full of sugar kind) and he is trying to lose some weight for 2014. I have all the ingredients to make this pie tomorrow but before I do I was wondering how the texture of the filling is after it sits out for 30 minutes because I froze some coconut cream as an experiment and it was rock hard. Deff not suited for pie. Do you think the texture would be the same if I make coconut whipped cream with coco powder in it then froze for a lower fat version, no chips?
I made this pie 2 times now for a ‘non-vegan’ party, but everybody just loved it! And it is delicious!
The last time my coconut milk didn’t separate in the fridge, so I just used 3/4 of the can and went ahead and made it anyway. The filling doesn’t set as much, but has a goeey and soft texture. Really good too!
I made this over the weekend for guests and it was amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe! Just wondering, is there a way to make the chocolate flavour slightly less intense? Would you add extra coconut cream and less chocolate?
Can I use Safflower oil instead of Coconut oil? Also can I use unsweetened Almond Milk instead of Coconut Milk? I want to make this for our Valentines dinner.
Angela! I just made this pie for my birthday (as I don’t’ like cake, and I needed a vegan something special to celebrate with), and it was fan-freaking-tastic! I actually just used fresh strawberries on top instead of making the compote, a much quicker alternative, but tasty none the less. My step mom also pre-ordered me your book and I’m SO excited!!!! Thank you for all of your wonderful creativity!
<3 Bre
Hi ! This recipe looks delicious. I want to try it, but as I live in Mexico, oddly enough, only have access to raw cocoa seeds. How could I go about the chocolate chip part?
thanks in advance and yummy!!!!
:)
I’m not sure if anyone has asked this already, but what brand/type of chocolate chips do you use? I normally use Enjoy Life brand, but they are sweetened with evaporated cane juice, which is less than desirable… What are your thoughts on grained-sweetened chocolate chips? Love your blog! Thanks for your input :)
Hi Angela, thanks for the wonderful recipe and inspiring post. I made this pie tonight and it turned out great, it’s actually quick and easy to make. It’s not quite strawberry season yet so I made an orange compote, which turned out pretty good. The crust is absolutely delicious! and so is the filling, to be honest. Thanks again!
Love from France
Wow, this pie is amazing! I made it for valentines day and it was the perfect fancy dessert. Usually I am nervous to try anything more complex than cookies but this turned out to be really simple to make! I appreciate that there aren’t that many ingredients, yet it is so rich and delicious. Perfect. Thanks so much!
Dear Oh She Glows, I love you. You may think that’s just something to say but no….I deeply and truthfully love you. I have food allergies (to almost everything) I really thought I would never eat anything delicious ever again. And then you *tear* you magically appeared on my computer screen and saved my culinary life. I just posted this recipe to my face book page with the following description:
“People, this is most magical chocolate tart, scratch that, chocolate dessert…..nope just dessert, magical dessert. This is the holy grail of food. It’s like a tart that is made by elves who live in a magical, enchanted tree and sprinkled with glitter gifted to you by the princess of unicorns, then frosted by rainbows and sun beams. It’s pretty much the most amazing thing you will ever eat…ever…..no really I’m not exaggerating. Ask my mom who was all like: “oh just a small piece….blah blah blah.” Then once she tasted it? Well her eyes rolled back in her head, and the only sounds you could hear was the soft muttering of ‘thank you sweet Jesus’ in between sacred holy bites. There may have been a single tear rolling down our cheeks as we savored and mourned our last bite…. Go now, take your hiney to the store and get the ingredients and make this.”
Thank you…..just so very much.
Erin, this might be the most awesome/hilarious comment I have ever received!!! hahah. Thank you for making my day…no my life! xo
So delicious! Husband loved even though he claims to not like nuts. (I didn’t tell him they were in there)
This looks amazing! Was just wondering how long you think the can of coconut milk should be chilled for? I am always a terrible planner and forget to put things in the fridge the night before (oops) but I will not be making the filling for another 5 or so hours so if that’s long enough I might be in luck!
Made this tonight with my daughter. Super rich and yummy! Will definitely be making this again.
Tried making this pie, the crust is great but the filling is not! Its basically just melted chocolate chips, it’s way too sweet, it needs something else in it.