Paleo Chocolate Pecan Tart |Cooking With Amanda

About a month ago, I found myself seated at a lunch table for about 20 in a detached garage like side building of an Amish person's house in the middle of Ohio. I've had Amish food before (having gone to college in the heart of central Pennsylvania, there was plenty of that) but I've never had quite as authentic a meal as this lunch.

After 2 rounds of chicken, pulled beef, green beans, mashed potatoes and the most amazing homemade bread I've literally ever tasted, we dug into dessert.

Set out on the table were different plates of 3 types of pie: an apple oat crumble, a fluffy peanut butter pie and a traditional pecan pie. I honestly thought I'd be all about the apple oat crumble, fruit pies are way more my style, but just as I was about to lay my fork down for the day, I decided to take a little bite of the pecan pie.

Oh my.

It was sticky, sugary, melt in your mouth buttery and pretty much a heart attack/artery clogging piece of amazingness. I don't even really like pecan pie and I've been thinking about it every day since. So much so that I decided it needed to be inspiration for a paleo version.

Let's get something straight with this recipe, just because it's paleo folks, does not mean it's healthy. There may not be refined sugar in this, but there's enough maple syrup, coconut sugar and fats from all the nut flours in the crust to pretty much fill (or more likely, exceed) your daily quota for all those things in just one slice. That said, it's worth every calorie-filled bite, trust me.

The chocolaty tart crust gives the pie an almost brownie (paleo brownie that is!) like bite on the bottom with all the sticky sugar filled goodness you expect from a pecan pie on top. The richness of each bite will literally leave your taste buds begging for more while the whispers for help from your waist line get ignored by that "it's the holidays, I deserve to indulge" devil on your shoulder. My advice to you, listen to the devil this time around.

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Paleo Chocolate Pecan Tart Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups cashew meal
3/4 cup almond meal
3/4 cup tiger nut flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons coconut sugar
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1/3 cup coconut oil, softened, not melted

For the Filling:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup coconut sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
3 eggs
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 cups pecan halves

Directions

For the Crust:

Preheat oven to 325°F.
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until mixture comes together and starts to become lumpy/form a ball.
Transfer the mixture into an 11-inch tart pan and spread out evenly on the bottom of the entire pan using your fingers.
Poke a few holes using the tines of a fork in the crust then place pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove set aside and let cool.

For the Filling:

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Whisk the butter and coconut sugar in a medium bowl until combined.
Add the eggs, maple syrup and vanilla bean paste and whisk again until smooth.
Add the pecan halves and stir.
Place the tart pan with the cooled baked crust on a baking sheet. Pour the filling into the pan on top of the crust. Use a spatula to evenly distribute the pecan halves on the surface of the tart.
Place the baking sheet with the tart pan on top in the oven.
Immediately reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for about 40-45 minutes until the center of the tart is set and not wiggly.
Remove from the oven, transfer the tart pan to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.