This delicious vegan Carrot Pie recipe is sweetened with coconut sugar and maple syrup and baked in a gluten-free oat-pecan crust.
Some of my favorite recipes utilize the more humble winter vegetables for fall and the holiday season. Sweet potato brownies, butternut squash apple crisp, and pumpkin chili add much flavor and wonderful textures.
Why you'll love this recipe
- A delicious alternative to pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie
- Uses an easy press-in homemade crust
- It is gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free
Ingredients and substitutions
Here are a few quick notes about the ingredients in this recipe. You can see a complete ingredient list and instructions in the recipe card below.
Carrots - Fresh, naturally sweet carrots are really the star of the show here. You can puree them ahead of time and keep the carrot puree in the refrigerator until ready to make the recipe.
Almond butter - For this vegan pie recipe, almond butter takes the place of eggs and adds to the creamy texture. Cashew butter or sunbutter would work well as substitutes.
Coconut sugar - Instead of brown sugar, unrefined coconut sugar makes for a healthier alternative.
Maple syrup - A natural sweetener, maple syrup adds depth of flavor and makes a good pairing with coconut sugar.
Unsweetened almond milk - Other non-dairy milk will work here as well. Unsweetened cashew milk, coconut milk, or soy milk would work well as substitutes.
Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves - These warming spices pair beautifully with carrot, coconut sugar, and maple syrup.
Arrowroot starch - Acting as the thickening agent, arrowroot starch can be substituted 1:1 with cornstarch. A great gluten-free pantry staple!
Pecans - Raw pecans add a delicious nutty flavor to the crust. Pecan pie lovers with enjoy this one! Walnuts can also be used in place of pecans.
Gluten-free oats - For a toasty, wheat flour-like flavor without the wheat or all-purpose flour, make sure your oats are certified gluten-free if that is a dietary need for you or your guests.
Step-by-step instructions
Before you start: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray or vegan butter.
Step 1: Place pecans in the bowl of a food processor and process until a fine meal is achieved.
Step 2: Add oats, baking soda, and salt to the pecan meal and blitz again to a course oat flour texture is achieved. Add the coconut oil in pieces then pulse until a dough has formed. Add the maple syrup and pulse again to combine.
Step 3: Transfer the dough to the prepared pie plate. Press into the bottom of the pie plate and up the sides until the dough is evenly distributed. Place the unbaked pie crust in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
Step 4: Bake in the oven for 9-10 minutes, then allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once the crust is out of the oven, adjust the temperature to 425 degrees F.
Step: 5: Place carrots in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover the veggies. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil, cooking until soft. Drain and transfer into a cleaned food processor bowl.
Step 6: Puree carrots, then add spices, coconut sugar, and arrowroot. Pulse to combine, then add maple syrup, almond butter, and almond milk. Process until smooth and creamy.
Pour pie filling into the cooled crust and bake for 50-55 minutes. Cool at room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator.
Recipe tips
- For holiday prep, peel carrots, slice, cook, and puree the carrots ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator.
- Chilling is essential for allowing the filling to set completely.
- Utilizing a pie crust shield or homemade shield with foil is essential for keeping the pecan crust edges from burning.
How to serve
This spiced carrot pie is wonderful on its own but is even more delicious with some cool and creamy garnishes. Serve a slice with:
- Chocolate tahini ice cream
- Vanilla ice cream (dairy-free if needed)
- Coconut whipped cream
- Dairy-free creme fraiche
FAQs
This sweet carrot pie is similar in taste to a sweet potato. Warmly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, it is a great way to add interesting pie recipes to your dessert table.
Absolutely. This carrot dessert recipe can be made a day ahead and chilled in the refrigerator overnight.
Looking for a crustless pie option? Check out this crustless pumpkin pie as a gluten-free alternative.
More vegan pie recipes
Love this recipe? Please consider leaving a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating on the recipe card below and let me know what you think in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Carrot Pie (Vegan)
Equipment
Ingredients
For Crust
- 1 ½ cups (190g) raw pecans
- 1 cup (90g) gluten-free oats
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter solid
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
For Filling
- 2 cups peeled and sliced carrots (into 1-inch pieces) about 6 carrots
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot starch or cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt (reduce to ¼ t if using salted almond butter)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch of cloves
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¾ cup unsalted almond butter
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- For the crust: Grease a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray or extra vegan butter.
- Place pecans in the bowl of a food processor and process until a fine meal is achieved. Add oats, and salt to the pecan meal and blitz again until a course oat flour texture is achieved. Add the vegan butter in pieces then pulse until a dough has formed. Add the maple syrup and pulse again to combine.
- Transfer dough to pie plate and press into bottom of pie plate and up the sides. Place in refrigerator for 30 mins. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 9-10 minutes, just until crust starts to turn a golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack until you are ready to fill it. Once the crust is out of oven, turn oven temperature up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- For the filling: Place sliced carrots into a medium saucepan and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cook until carrots are soft, about 20-30 minutes.
- Drain and transfer carrots to the bowl of a food processor. Puree the carrots and then add the coconut sugar, arrowroot starch, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Process until ingredients are incorporated. Add the maple syrup, almond butter, almond milk, and vanilla. Process until smooth.
- Pour filling into crust. Depending on the depth of your pie plate, you may have excess filling.** Cover crust with pie shield or foil to prevent burning. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake for 45-50 minutes until center of pie appears set. Test with a fork or toothpick.
- Remove from oven and allow pie to cool completely on a wire rack. When cooled, chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours or overnight before serving.
- Serve with coconut whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.Store covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Kim
Can't wait to try this!
Bethany @ Athletic Avocado
Woah!! Carrot cake in a pie form? This looks amazing!!
Tessa
Carrot cake has a new rival. ;) Thanks so much, Bethany!
Kathryn
Carrot pie?! I'm intrigued. I never would have thought to use carrots in this way but it sounds just wonderful. I hope you had a relaxing weekend and have caught up on you sleep a bit!
Tessa
I know, I was totally skeptical at first and now I'm a believer. ;) Luckily, our Thanksgiving holidays are allowing for some extra sleep-in days!
Rakhee@boxofspice
What a lovely pie! I love carrots in sweet dishes and we in India use carrots to make halwa (you might have heard of it!). This pie looks really incredibly yummy! :)
Tessa
Thank you, Rakhee! I had not heard of halwa, but now I want to know more! :)
Amanda Paa
i love, love this carrot idea! and i bet the coconut sugar lends lovely caramel notes. situated in that walnut-oat crust, dang!
i hope you get some rest this week - sounds like all the traveling was a little stressful. hugs, and love.
amanda
Tessa
Oh, thank you!! :) You are so right, the coconut sugar does add a lovely caramel-y flavor to it.
Thanks for the love, my friend! xo
Sarah
This looks delicious! Perfect for the holidays. I love carrots and I especially love pie.
Tessa
Haha, now you can combine your love for both! ;) Thank you, my dear!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
I love carrot cake, so carrot pie sounds amazing! Have a lovely week friend, hope you recover and get some rest in :) I'm thinking this will need to be made for that in-between Thanksgiving and Christmas time!
Tessa
Haha, I love carrot cake too. I was thinking the other day that this is like a deconstructed carrot cake. And then I thought that I just like the word "deconstructed" because it sounds fancy. Or something. ;) Thank you, dear! Happy Thanksgiving week!
genevieve @ gratitude & greens
Carrot pie! Oh this sounds so intriguing, I love vegetables in my dessert. Your photos have given me a pie craving, which is no good as I'm already in bed and there is no pie in the kitchen waiting for me, haha! I can't wait to try this! xo
Tessa
Being in bed with no pie is no good!! :) I hope you get to try it! xo
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health
I would have never thought to make a carrot pie but now I that I see it like this, it makes perfect sense. The natural sugar in carrots would be just as delicious, if not more, than pumpkin or sweet potato. And the crust looks like the perfect compliment to the filling. I hope you are able to get some rest this weekend!
Tessa
I know, carrots as a pie filling had never crossed my mind either! :) It does make for a nice and balanced sweet but not too sweet pie. Hope had a great weekend!
danielle is rooting the sun
tessa, i can't even begin to explain my complete and utter love for this! carrots are my favorite vegetable (i've been thinking hard on this lately) - and to combine them with a walnut-oat crust? it surely rivals any traditional holiday table pie. swoon swoon swoon, i love. happy weekend, may you rest easy. ♥
Tessa
Oh, yay! Thank you, Danielle!! I am still so excited about this recipe. Carrots are such a staple and they lend such a perfect sweetness to the pie. I'm so happy you like! xo.