In loving memory of my grandmother.
My grandmother loved to bake. She had a true passion for baking pie — apple pie, cherry pie, pumpkin pie. Whenever my parents and I visited my grandparents in Kansas, pie was always ready for dessert, typically served with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream.
When I was growing up, my grandmother always wanted to teach me how to bake, though at the time I honestly didn’t have much interest. However, I do remember her teaching me how to bake a pie from scratch, finding the transformation of ingredients almost magical. Always intimated, I never tried baking a pie from scratch as an adult. But now that I am more familiar with grain-free baking, I decided it was time to finally give it a try. Somehow, on my first attempt this pie came together, almost like magic.
Allergy-friendly and paleo, this Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie has a rich and indulgent filling, balanced with a light “graham-cracker” crust made with tigernut flour and arrowroot powder. Not only is this pie made creamy with full-fat coconut milk, but it is grain-free, refined sugar-free, and Top 8 allergen-free.
If following the initial elimination phase of the AIP diet, replace the cocoa powder with carob powder and sprinkle with carob chips if desired.
If you have successfully reintroduced cocoa into your diet, no swaps are necessary.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- If following the AIP elimination phase, you can swap out the cocoa powder for carob powder.
- The pie should be chilled for at least 4 hours before serving.
- If there are leftovers, store the pie in the fridge. The pie can be loosely covered with aluminum foil for up to 4-5 days. Before serving directly from the fridge, let pie sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie (Top 8 Free)
This Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie has a rich and indulgent filling, balanced with a light “graham-cracker” crust made. Diet Type: SFED, Paleo, AIP (modified)
Ingredients
- Crust Ingredients
- 1/2 cup tigernut flour
- 1 cup arrowroot powder
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup coconut oil, cold
- 1/4 cup water, cold
- Filling Ingredients
- 1 can (13.5 oz) full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tbsp unflavored gelatin
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup pureed sweet potato
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Directions
- Step 1 For preparation of the crust dough, it is important the water and coconut oil is cold. Place the water in the fridge to chill and the coconut oil in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
- Step 2 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set aside a 9-inch pie dish.
- Step 3 To make the crust, mix together the tigernut flour, arrowroot powder, coconut sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Step 4 Once the water and coconut oil are chilled, remove from the fridge and freezer. Cut in the chilled coconut oil into the dry crust mixture, using a knife or our fingers until you have pea-sized pieces. Gradually add the cold water, mixing gently with your hands. The final texture should feel like dough and not sticky. If the dough feels too tacky, gradually add a bit more arrowroot powder until the desired texture is achieved.
- Step 5 Place the ball of dough into the pie pan. Using your fingers, press the dough, spreading the dough evenly across the bottom and sides of the pan. Poke holes into the base and sides of the crust to prevent bubbling while baking.
- Step 6 Place the crust into the oven for roughly 25-30 minutes. Check the pie crust at 20 minutes and keep baking until the crust is slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Step 7 While the pie crust is cooling, prepare the pie filling.
- Step 8 In a medium saucepan, pour the full-fat coconut milk. Sprinkle the gelatin over the coconut milk and let rest for 5 minutes to bloom. After 5 minutes, heat the pan to a low-medium heat and whisk the gelatin and coconut milk until fully dissolved and remove from heat.
- Step 9 In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, pureed sweet potato, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add this mixture to the coconut milk and gelatin mixture on the stovetop. On a low heat, start mixing the ingredients until fully combined and smooth.
- Step 10 Remove filling mixture from heat and carefully pour the cocoa mixture into the pie crust. Gently transfer the pie to the fridge.
- Step 11 Refrigerate the pie for at least 4 hours before serving. Once the pie filling has set and is firm, top with cacao nibs or carob chips for extra crunch and decoration.
- Step 12 Before serving directly from the fridge, let pie sit for 10 minutes before serving.
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