Halloween week without chocolate is simply a crime. We must fill our quota! Luckily, I have the perfect solution..
After teasing you with this dessert the other week (and seeing you lose your mind over it) I figured I better deliver the goods. I set a lofty goal of making this chocolate pie as friendly to as many different dietary needs as I could. I always love a good challenge in the kitchen; it keeps me on the brink of crazy town.
In addition to being vegan, this pie is also gluten-free, grain-free, and nut-free. A Halloween miracle if you ask me!
It’s also free of self-control because it’s impossible to have any when this pie is near. Obviously.
Halloween chocolate quota fulfilled. Check, check, GULP.
After drowning myself in chocolate, I’m absolutely thrilled with the final result. Plus, now I have a freezer full of chocolate pie for a couple parties we’re hosting this week. [Eric said, “Well that’s if I don’t eat it all first!”]
And of course, let’s not forget HALLOWEEN. Adriana is going as a carrot to balance out the chocolate. I know…she’s going to hate me. But come on, a newborn carrot bunting costume? JUST STOP.
Tip: I had major trouble with the pie crust sticking to the dish in an early trial. Eric saved the day with his genius solution. It involves three strips of parchment paper placed on the base of the dish, and then you cover it with a piece of plastic wrap on top. This way you can pull out the entire pie using the parchment paper. It still takes some wiggling to pop it out, but this worked so much better than my other attempt. Thanks Eric for letting me sleep at night. Note: The pictures below don’t show the parchment strips because it was an earlier trial.
Ok enough chit chat. I’d say there’s still time to whip up a crazy decadent, show-stealing, rich chocolate pie. And it’s no-bake to boot. Thirty minutes of prep and a few hours in the freezer is all that stands in your way. Nothing scary about that!
PS- Don’t mind the long recipe – I learned a lot of tips as I made this pie so I wanted to be as helpful as I could when writing up the recipe.
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Double Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroon Tart
Yield
9-12 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Chill time
3 hours
Total time
Calling all chocolate macaroon lovers! That's everyone, right? This tart combines two of my favourite flavours - dark chocolate and coconut. The velvety filling is made up of 70% dark chocolate and rich coconut milk while the coconut, date, and cocoa crust tastes just like a chocolate macaroon. Be sure to read the entire recipe before you begin to pick up my helpful hints.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 1/4 cups packed pitted Medjool dates (see note)
- 1 1/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 1/2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon water (if needed to bind the dough)
For the filling:
- 3 (70%) good-quality dark chocolate bars (300 grams total)
- 1 (400ml) can full-fat coconut milk, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of choice)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- small pinch fine grain sea salt
Coconut whipped cream (optional):
- 1 (400ml) can full-fat coconut milk, chilled overnight
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of choice)
For the garnish:
- 1/2 cup toasted large flake coconut, flaked sea salt, leftover coconut whipped cream (optional)
Directions
- Toast the coconut (optional step, but recommended): Preheat oven to 325°F. Place shredded coconut and large flake coconut (if using for garnish) on baking sheet. Keep separate on baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until lightly golden but not brown. Set aside to cool.
- Line a 9-inch glass pie dish with 3 (2-inch wide) strips of parchment paper, one going each direction, with overhang. Now place a large piece of plastic wrap on top and press down (see this photo for a visual). The parchment strips will allow you to lift the pie out after freezing. I highly recommend doing this or the crust will stick miserably to the dish.
- Prepare the crust: In a heavy duty food processor, add the pitted dates and process until finely chopped. A big ball will form. Add in the rest of the crust ingredients (including the toasted shredded coconut - but not the large flake coconut) and process until everything is combined. The dough should stick together when pressed between your fingers. If it doesn’t, add optional water and process again.
- Spoon the crust mixture into the prepared pie dish. Spread out evenly. Starting at the centre, press down firmly moving outward and up the sides of the pie dish. Place dish in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
- Prepare the filling: Break up chocolate bars into chunks and place into a medium-sized pot. Melt the chocolate over the lowest heat setting (or use double boiler). When the chocolate is 2/3 of the way melted, remove from heat and stir until completely melted and smooth.
- Shake the can of room temperature coconut milk. Open it and measure out 1/4 cup of milk. Save the 1/4 cup of milk for another use (such as a smoothie) and pour the rest into the pot with the melted chocolate. Whisk vigorously until completely smooth. Finally, whisk in the maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until smooth. Set aside.
- For the whipped cream (optional): Open the can of chilled coconut milk and scoop off the cream portion only. Discard the water or save for a smoothie. Place the cream into a bowl along with one tablespoon of pure maple syrup. With electric beaters, whip the cream until smooth.
- With a spatula, scoop the chocolate filling into the pie crust until almost full (to avoid overfilling, you might want to refrain from using all the filling- see my note below).
- Drop a few tablespoons of whipped cream all over the chocolate filling and swirl it all around with a knife. Carefully transfer the pie dish into the freezer on a level surface for approx. 3 hours, or until firm throughout.
- Remove pie dish from freezer and let sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes. Grab the parchment paper and lift the pie out of the dish (I had to grab the strips of paper and wiggle it back and forth several times before it popped out).
- Slice and garnish with toasted coconut flakes, leftover coconut cream, and flaked sea salt, if desired. Serve immediately as pie will soften quickly.
Tip:
- If your dates are firm, soak dates in a bowl of water for 30 minutes prior to starting. Drain well.
- You can totally skip the coconut whipped cream if you prefer.
- The chocolate filling makes almost too much filling for the pie and it nearly overflows. If you prefer, you can leave out 1/4-1/2 cup of filling. You can place leftover filling in a small dish and freeze it, then cut into "freezer fudge" - just an idea!
- For how to make coconut whipped cream, see this tutorial.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
PS – Looking for other Halloween recipes? You’re in luck – I have 3 pages of recipes
PPS – Don’t forget there is still time to enter The Oh She Glows Tea Shoppe giveaway!
So, I actually made this last night. Because my freezer is too narrow, I put it in the fridge for a couple of hours, which worked out fine. I also added crushed macademia nuts to the crust, and left out the flax seed, which I couldn’t find when I was out shopping. And just because I can’t help it, I added chili to the chocolate. All that said, what made this such a fantastic dessert was the consistency of the filling. The coconut cream and chocolate worked set beautifully–so smooth and decadent. Once it thaws a little, it’s the most perfect pie filling I’ve ever had, which is great if you bring it to a party since it can sit on the table and get better with time. The coconut in the crust gave added a nice crunch/flavor to keep each bite of chocolate interesting. Coconut whipped cream is always a bonus, and in this case an incredible boost to an already great dish. So I’d just change the “optional” designation on that–people may not realize what they’re missing. Thanks so much for sharing this. I’m gluten-free and have friends who can’t consume dairy. Everyone was thrilled about this dessert. Brava to you for developing it!
What a great recipe for my gluten free, egg free friends.
Easy to make and totally impressed my friends.
Yummo.
Hi, I’d like to make this amazing-looking pie and bring it to a friend’s house for dinner. If I make it a day ahead, do I just keep it in the freezer the whole time? And when I get to their house, should I stick it back in the freezer again untill about ready to eat? Thanks!
This might be too late for your dinner date, but I made it the night before and left it in the freezer. I just set it on the counter for about 15 min before we dug in. It was still mostly frozen like an ice-cream pie, by the time people went for seconds (10-15 min later) it was a bit softer, delicious either way.
After a long day I decided that I’d make a hybrid of this delicious recipe and your chilled dark chocolate pie. I lined the tine with the baking paper strips and the cling wrap and managed to successfully press the crust into the base. I was feeling pretty proud of myself. As I was making a hybrid I looked at the chilled dark chocolate pie recipe and decided it might be a good idea to bake the crust. Not until it was out of the oven and cooling I remembered that I had lined it with cling wrap.. Derp. Massive lesson as to why to follow your recipes to a T! No guilty weeknight dessert for me.
Hi Lauren,
I knew where this story was going before I finished reading it. Sounds like something I would do, haha. I hope the next one goes better. I’m sure you’ll never do that again!
I have made this dessert twice and it has been an absolute hit! Leaving it out a little longer like 15-20 mins makes it closer to mousse texture, amazing dessert!!! so easy and fun to make:)
We just made this amazing tart this weekend. It is absolutely delicious! It was the star dessert at our birthday party! :) I love that it is nearly oil-free and totally rich and simple. Way to go Angela, this is a wonderful recipe! The crust is nice with a tiny bit of salt and pairs perfectly with the sweet and smooth filling. Thank you so much for this incredible recipe!
Loved this! Made it twice so far to rave reviews…omitted coconut oil in both parts of the recipe to no disadvantage. The crust itself also makes for an excellent “truffle” rolled in dark cocoa powder. :-) Thanks for sharing! It’s a winner!
This looks amazing! Have you tried making it with home made raw chocolate instead of the bars? I thought I might try it…
Hey girl, I just made this for some dinner guests tonight, but with a raspberry drizzle folded into the mix instead of the coconut whipped cream because I ran out of coconut milk. RAVE reviews, and the evening ended with a small gathering of people around my laptop screen looking over your recipe while I emailed them the link. :) Thank you so much for the great recipe! And thank Eric for the pie crust tip! Worked like a charm. ;)
Hi, I know this is an old recipe but can you clarify something for me? Is the coconut oil melted or not? Thanks
Will be trying this real got a lot of time on my hands
What chocolate bars did you use?
Can I make this the night before? Keep it refrigerated over night? Any suggestions
tHANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE!! i made this for my 21st birthday, it was amazinngggggg, my entire family (who is not vegan) loved it too! it was rich and creamy and sweet and mmmmm, it was amazing!!!!!!!
Could you use unsweetened bakers chocolate for the filling?
so delicious! Looks great I can not wait to try
Oh yum! This was fantastic, and enjoyed by the whole family! Hubby had one of those gargantuan dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s, so this was a good way to put a dent in it. Just a tiny slice suffices, and it’s so nice to have dessert ready and waiting in the freezer. I’m not even a vegan (or vegetarian), but enjoy cooking meatless much of the time. Thanks for another winner!
And I forgot the star rating. Big FIVE!
i just made this pie! It’s in the freezer :) can’t wait!
I used a cake pan so it didn’t overflow. The filling and the crust tasted lovely!!
Will report later with more info haha <3
This is the BEST PIE EVER! So yummy and creamy! I love love love the coconut and chocolate combo! My friends and family just beg me to make more!