Oh. My. Mock. Duck. The best thing to order at any chinease/thai/vietnamese/asain style restaurant. I wish they had brown rice though, white rice doesn't offer up any real nutrients, but it is delicious.
Before devouring my leftovers I stumbled upon this flourless carrot cake recipe. I really wanted to chuck the stupid butternut squash in the trash and make that, but I decided I could make a sweet treat inspired by that delicious looking carrot cake.
And this is the result of that idea:
Me hand grinding walnuts with a knife and a potato masher because I have no blender or food processor to grind walnuts for...Vegan Walnut Pie Crust. Why did I need Vegan Walnut Pie Crust? To make this...
Oh yes I did make another sweet treat for myself. Seriously my sweatpants just got tighter from looking at this pie. I need big meaty thighs to trudge through the slush snow that has recently become a part of my life...right?
Don't worry I'll be fine, I've got this pie to comfort me when my Uggly boots are soaked through from the snow sluch and my skinny jeans won't button.
Butternut Squash Apple Pie
Vegan Walnut Pie Crust
Makes one 9 inch crust
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups ground walnuts
½ cup whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp sea salt
3 TBSP coconut oil
3 TBSP maple syrup
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (optional I forgot this and mine turned out fine- it might be better with it though)
Apple Filling Ingredients:
2 thinly sliced apples
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 TBSP whole wheat flour
¼ of a lemon’s juice
~ ½ TBSP vegan butter (optional)
Butternut Squash Filling Ingredients:
1 cup butternut squash puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
¼ cup almond milk
Nutmeg,cinnamon, salt
1 TBSP whole wheat flour (one for each)
1/2 tsp vanilla
¼ of a lemon peel finely grated
Directions:
1. Make the pie crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Finely chop the walnuts or use a food processor to grind. Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Don’t worry the mixture will be crumbly. Using hands firmly press the crust into a 9-inch pie pan. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until pie crust is crisp.
2. Make the apply pie filling. Be sure to thinly slice the apples- this is the key to a good apple pie! I find that slicing the apples in “half moon” shapes makes for a very pretty pie, since these will be the top later of the pie. Mix together the brown sugar, whole wheat flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour this crumbly mixture over the apples and stir well to evenly coat all the slices of apple. Try not to eat too many apple slices!
3. Make the butternut squash filling. Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl until evenly mixed and smooth.
4. Layer. Your piecrust should be done by now. Start with a layer of apples (half the apple filling mixture). Take a quarter of a lemon and squeeze it over the apple layer, reserving some juice in the lemon for the second layer of apples. Then layer the entire butternut squash mixture over the apples. Use the rest of the apples to top the pie- be sure to arrange them prettily as these are the top of your pie! Squeeze the rest of the lemon over the top of your pie. Dot with vegan butter and cover the pie crust edges with aluminum foil.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Or until the apples are baked to desired “mushiness”. Let cool, cut and enjoy!
The pie mixture, as you can see it is pretty crumbly, don't worry it'll stick together just fine when you press it into the pie pan.
Slicing apples thinly is the key to an apple pie...just make sure you don't slice off your finger in the process, like I did :(
The apple filling mix with all the apples evenly coated in the cinnamony sugar delight.
The delicious butternut squash filling mix (seriously taste it, you won't want to actually bake it, you'll want to eat it as pudding!)
Apple layer getting a coating of lemon, it adds just a little zest, barely noticeable but it definitely adds some depth to the pie.
Look at how efficiently I used up this lemon! Grated on one size, squeezed on the other. Another thing I used efficiently....
The oven! While I was baking this pie I popped in some parsnip fries, sooooo good if you haven't ever made them do it now!
To Make Parsnip Fries:
I just chop up a parsnip, toss in olive oil, salt, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin for fast and easy parsnip fries. Eat them with some All-Natural Ketchup and you will be one happy camper.
Ohhhh yes. This will be on the Thanksgiving table two weeks from now.
I forgot to put foil around the edges of the pie crust, so mine got a little burnt. I couldn't notice it when I was eating it, but next time I'll definitely remember the aluminum foil.
Layers of love. The walnut crust combined with the tart apple and the gooey butternut squash filling makes for quite the pie eating experience.
A lovely slice for one, topped with a walnut. :)
Enjoyed with a glass of vanilla almond milk...I was wishing for a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream, but for the sake of my thighs I'm glad I didn't have any in the apartment. This pie was still delicious to the last bite.
Well and until I ran to the kitchen to slice myself "just another little itty bitty piece" ;)
Do pies freeze up well? I think this baby will be haunting me until every last crumb is licked out of the pan. Looks like it's time for me to have a pie eating party!
What is your favorite pie to make for Thanksgiving? Mine has go to be pecan pie...I've got quite the sweet tooth sometimes!
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