Habari Gani? (What's the news?): Raw chocolate-banana cream pie and beautiful blondes

Raw chocolate-banana cream pie and beautiful blondes

Today’s recipe is raw chocolate-banana cream pie with coconut-pecan crust. I made this a few weeks ago, from a recipe in Better Nutrition magazine, the free magazine they give you at Natural Way in Webster. I fed a slice to 6 people, and still have almost half left in my freezer. It’s been taste-approved by non-raw, non-vegan food lovers. And it’s so rich that a small slice takes care of all chocolate cravings, without the sugar to make you want more.

So, technically this serves 12. I used HALF of the recipe and served almost that many. Make sure your avocados are ripe, but not brown at all. Mine were a little brown and I used them anyway, but you can kind of taste that.

CRUST:

1 cup raw pecans

½ cup soft Medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped

1 cup plus 2 Tbs unsweetened coconut flakes

¼ cup raw cacao nibs

FILLING:

4 medium avocados, very ripe

½ cup raw, unfiltered honey (I didn’t have enough, so I subbed agave nectar for most of the honey)

¼ cup maple syrup

4 Tbs coconut oil, slightly softened

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup natural cocoa powder, raw if possible

2 medium bananas, very ripe

16 raw pecan halves

1. Lightly coat bottom and sides of 8-inch glass pie pan with coconut oil. Set aside. I only had a 9.5 inch pie pan, and was able to fill it with half the recipe by spreading the crust pretty thin. It just didn’t go up the sides of the pan much.

2. To make crust: combine pecans, dates, and 1 cup coconut flakes in blender; process until mixture is crumbly. Add half of cacao nibs, and pulse until mixture starts to form ball. Press mixture into pie pan to form crust, and place in freezer to chill.

3. To make filling: Halve avocados, remove pit, and scoop out flesh. Combine avocado flesh, honey, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, cocoa powder, and bananas in food processor. Process until very smooth and creamy, occasionally scraping sides of food processor with rubber spatula; add up to 1/3 cup warm water 1 Tbs at a time, if necessary, to thin.

4. Transfer filling to crust, smoothing top. Scatter remaining 2 Tbs coconut flakes and cacao nibs on top of pie. Arrange pecan halves around outside of pie. Chill 1 hour (or until firm) before serving.

I don’t go by recipes when it comes to things like sprinkling chocolate on something. So I probably put a lot more cacao nibs in the crust and on top. They’re delicious. Definitely let the pie chill for a bit, and store it in the freezer. Like I said, I’ve kept mine in the freezer for about two weeks and it’s still good.

Here’re some pics:

Back in January, the same weekend as Mandy's shower, Patty had us over so her sister Julie could work her Shaklee magic. By the way, Vivix is RAD. I highly recommend it. But, it was a chance for Mary's girls and Maddie to hang out with Ophelia. I wish Viv and Isabella (and Mary, of course) lived here so they could see her more often. Anyway, all these gorgeous girls are blond as can be, and totally adorable. See for yourselves: