Monday, August 17, 2009

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Pie

Oh, this was good, good, good! Not perfect, but chocolaty deeelicious.


I have a cookbook titled Retro Pies. It doesn’t have a plentitude of recipes I would like to try to veganize, but this southern Chocolate Peanut Pie definitely got my attention. I will give you the recipe as I made, then tell you how I think it would have been perfect.

Chocolate Peanut Pie

The filling cooks up in layers – kind of gooey on the bottom and almost crispy on top, and the crunchy peanuts rise to the top.

Ingredients:

2 (1 oz.) squares unsweetened baking chocolate
¼ cup margarine
¼ cup brown or turbinado sugar
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup nondairy milk
2 T. maple syrup
2 T. light corn syrup (karo)
2 t. vanilla
3 EnerG eggs
1 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Make 3 EnerG eggs and set aside.

Melt chocolate and margarine together in a small saucepan over very low heat. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Combine sugars, milk, syrups, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat with electric beaters or in your electric mixer. Add eggs and mix well. Mix in chocolate mixture until well combined. Stir in peanuts. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool thoroughly before slicing.



I know it seems really sugary, but even for me it seems perfectly balanced by the salty peanuts. So, my suggestions for improvement:

Can you tell there is no crust on my pie? I made a chocolate cookie crust and it literally melted away! Lesson learned – cookie crusts are for pies that do not require baking. Use a sturdy, i.e., standard pie crust for this recipe.

Did you notice this is a flourless (gluten free) pie? I had to refrigerate my pie to get it to set up completely. I don’t normally attempt to veganize recipes that contain 3 eggs, and this is why. I think a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch or flour (AP or GF) would give this pie the stability it needs. But hey, its still crazy hot here and we did not mind eating a cold pie!

This Chocolate Peanut Pie was for my mom’s birthday party. It was actually for the vegans and all chocolate lovers. After I baked this pie, I made a pie especially for my lemon lovin’ mom. Her birthday pie was a simple but very lemony pie, made with lots of love. It was not vegan because my mom is not vegan, but it could have been by using vegan cream cheese and milk. It turned out perfectly creamy and beautiful and my mom loved it.



I would have posted this nonvegan pie anyway, but I am posting it specially tonight as a show of solidarity for my friend Veggie Girl. I will let her address her issues on her own, but I will take this opportunity now to remind my readers to be compassionate to all beings. Where is it written that vegans should be kinder to animals than they are to humans?

And finally, I have had THREE very nice happenstances recently! Some of my Facebook and Twitter pals know I’ve been sick for the past several days, so fun stuff while I’ve been sick has been really great. (I'm feeling much better this evening.) So, I won TWO blog giveaways!!! First I won a whole box of chocolate Weil bars from Pride & Vejudice, plus Nora threw in 2 extra flavors.


Thank you, Nora! I’ve been enjoying these bars almost every day.
AND I won Kristen’s complete set of Raw ebooks! Yep, all eleven books full of recipes and information I am reading as fast as I can. Thank you again, Kristen!

(Oh, I should remind you now to enter MY giveaway – drawing this Sunday the 23rd.)

The third and most rewarding thing was an email I got. It began, “Hi Diann, I have been an avid reader of your blog for over a year now. I am ready to take the plunge to become a vegan…”

And life is good.

27 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

1.) Thank you so much for your support!!! Big hugs and thank you again for just being YOU.

2.) Scrrrumptious pie!!

3.) Congratulations on winning Kristen's books!!

Anonymous said...

That pie sounds heavenly! Chocolate and peanuts are always a winning combination. It was so nice of you to make the lemon pie for your mom's birthday, I am sure she loved it.

Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well! I hope you feel better soon.

Chocolate-Covered Katie said...

Ohmigosh, Diann, can I have a slice? Holy chocolate!!

Ricki said...

So many great things in this post! The pie(s) both look delicious. And congrats on the two giveaways! But your blog reader's email must have REALLY made your day--yay! See, you make it look so easy--and good--you've convinced your readers to become vegan, too. :)

Carrie™ said...

Chocolate & peanut are meant to be together. It's one of the laws of the universe. Also that creamy lemony pie looks soooo delicious!! I hope you're feeling better & more like your self again,
Great for the shout out to Liz. Some people think their way is the only way, eh? I

Carrie said...

eeek that pie looks evil (yet delicious)!

nora said...

Hey Diann! I'm so glad you like them! Is the chocolate your favorite? (You almost haveee to say yes, don't you?! haha)

Your pie looks great--it's a nice change from the usual peanut butter choc pie to have one that actually has whole peanuts! :)

Jes said...

That chocolate peanut pie looks like heaven in a pie dish! I'm definitely adding it to my list :)

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

I'm also a lemon lovin' mom! And you, Diann, are one sweet vegan!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

wowza that chocolate pie looks amazing!

Gina said...

That pie looks fantastic!! And I don't really like pie crust, so I'd be perfectly happy with the melted cookie.

Congrats on winning two giveaways, that is amazing!

Hannah said...

Mmm, choco-peanut pie, does it get any better? Awesome job veganizing that recipe, it sounds dangerously good!

bazu said...

I'm glad you're feeling better, Diann! That choco/peanut pie looks wonderful and you know what? I would PREFER a cold pie right about now!

Unknown said...

you know, the petroleum based vegan lifestyle gets me down (talking about everything plastic and artificial!), though i'm 99% vegan. thanks for posting the non-vegan stuff! i'm sure your mom loved it.

we had a cool down and some rain in portland last week, but this week is nice n hot again, though i don't think we'll break 100.

A_and_N said...

God, those pies look mouthwatering!

Alisa - Frugal Foodie said...

Wow, that is some serious chocolaty goodness!

Anonymous said...

That pie sounds so yummers - peanuts & chocolate are just so happy together! And I hope you're feeling better soon, Diann. Winning great prizes like that does help a little, though, right? I just love those Dr. Weil bars!

urban vegan said...

Those pies look absolutely awesome. And congrats on the wins...you deserve them. Hope you're feeling better, Diann!

Usha said...

The pie sounds awesome !

Oraphan said...

Hello Diann,
I'm back!!! Your pie looks amazing and sounds so delicious, thanks for the recipe. I'm so happy for you for winning 2 giveaways and that you're feeling better. I wanted to tell you that I got a tear in my eye when I read about your reader who becomes a vegan. Yes, life is good!!!

jessy said...

i love the chocolate peanut pie, Diann - and i hope you're feeling better! winning giveaways & getting awesomeness in the mail = the best ever! actually, having someone e-mail you letting you know that they love your blog and are becoming vegan = even better! wahoooooooooooooooooooooo! life is good, indeed! yay!

Jackie said...

Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well Diann. Congrats on winning :)

The Chocolate Peanut Pie sounds sooo, sooo scrumptious.

Jackie said...

Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well Diann. Congrats on winning :)

The Chocolate Peanut Pie sounds sooo, sooo scrumptious.

Amy said...

Glad to hear you're feeling better! Sorry you've been sick :(

I am desperately craving some of that chocolate peanut pie!!! Oh MY YUM!!!

And the pie you made for your Mum's birthday looks delicious too!

Congratulations on your wins :D They both look wonderful!

The Voracious Vegan said...

My jaw just hit the floor. Chocolate peanut pie!?!?! You are a GENIUS! I want, no, I NEED a slice of that right now! Amazing!!

Andrea said...

Whoa. That looks like a pie my family would love. (the peanuty one) I love the idea of cooking from retro cookbooks. I have one called "Joy of Jello." It's hilarious but fun to veganize.

And I agree that we shouldn't tell others what to eat, and should be respectful of their choices. I never offer information about my diet unless I'm asked - except on my blog!

Debra said...

These look amazing! And a fellow foodbuzz FP! cool!