

If anyone says to you that vegans don’t know how to party when it comes to desserts, just send them this recipe post. Or better yet, serve them up a slice of this velvet-y rich Peanut Butter Cup Pie and taste-test them into agreement. Vegan desserts rock.

This Pie. If you love peanut butter cups. (Or almond butter cups!) And really, who doesn’t? Take your love one step further and turn those flavors into PIE. This Raw, Vegan, No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Pie is rich and decadent with two layers of coconut-cashew chocolate fudge and one nutty sweet peanut butter layer. Actually, I used almond butter instead of peanut butter for my pie – but either nut butter will work. You could even use cashew butter, sunflower butter or macadamia nut butter. The point is that each bite combines rich (and I mean rich!) chocolate flavor with some creamy nut butter. An easy walnut-date crumble crust completes this dessert…

Restaurant Style Dessert. This is the type of decadent dessert you might order in a restaurant and share with friends. A few bites and you are OUT. Defeated by rich chocolateness. Just a small sliver is a perfect serving size. This pie really is like biting into a peanut butter cup! So you have been warned, this pie serves a crowd. Or store in the fridge (sealed tightly) for up to about 5-7 days tops. It will dry out a bit if not eaten that first day. And it may even freeze well since it is high in fat. I have plenty of leftovers that I am going to freeze.

My advice, make this for your next pot-luck, dinner-party, bring-something-yummy event. Slice up these chocolate-nutty-filled layers and serve to friends because 1) everyone will love you for it, 2) want the recipe and 3) invite you to every single party they have, ever.

Raw. So it is very heard to find raw peanut butter. You can buy Raw Wild Jungle Peanut Butter but it is pretty pricey. So to make this truly raw you may have to do the almond butter option like I did.

The calorie tag? If you slice 16 sliver servings – a sliver is all you need – you can enjoy this decadent dessert for around 300 calories. Not bad considering one serving of coconut milk ice cream usually clocks in at around 290 calories. (I’m not a huge fan of calorie counting, but it is nice to know what you are getting into.) So those slivers look like this..

..Yes that IS a lot of fat. But it is good fat. Nut oils galore. GOOD STUFF: omega-3-rich raw walnuts, raw antioxidant-rich/heart-healthy cacao powder, raw nut butter and organic natural raw sweeteners. Treat yourself (and maybe some lucky friends) to this one!..

Peanut Butter Cup Pie (Or Almond Butter Cup Pie!)

vegan, makes one pie

3 cups soaked/drained raw cashews, (soaked in salted water overnight – about 2 1/3 cups pre-soaked/dry nuts)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or sub with a real vanilla bean)

1/3 – 1/2 cup agave syrup (organic raw blue agave used)

1/4 cup coconut oil, extra virgin/raw (softened or melted)

3-4 Tbsp cacao powder (adjustable, based on how rich of a chocolate taste you’d like, I used 4 Tbsp)

1/2 tsp pink salt

3+ Tbsp warm water (if needed to loosen blend)

additional 1 Tbsp melted coconut oil for top chocolate layer

Filling: 1/3 cup (raw almond or peanut) butter + 3 Tbsp agave syrup

Crust: 2 cups raw walnuts + 2 large medjool dates (pitted) + pinch of salt

subs: You could sub the agave with real maple syrup. Sub pink salt with regular salt. And if you’d like sub the nut butter with any nut or seed butter.

Directions:

1. Soak cashews overnight, or at least 6-8 hours. They should be soft and enlarged and bendable, The halves should fall apart easily.

2. Crust: In a high speed blender or food processor, process the walnuts, salt and dates until fine and crumbly. Scoop out crust mixture into a well-greased pie dish. I grease with coconut oil. Press the mixture into the dish using your hands until a thick, smooth crust forms. Place in fridge until needed.

3. Filling: Add the cashews, water (start wit 3 Tbsp), coconut oil, agave syrup, cacao, salt and vanilla to blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. This may take some time and since the mixture will be quite thick you will need to stop and scrape the sides of the container to thoroughly blend the entire mixture. (Note: If you are having a really tough time blending, you may not have soaked your cashews long enough. You can quick fix this by adding in a bit more water or non-dairy milk — however your pie might not firm up as much as you’d like. Add another splash of melted coconut oil may help with that.)

4. Pour 1/2 of the chocolate filling mixture over top the slightly chilled crust. Using a spatula, smooth out the chocolate into an even layer. Place in the freezer.

5. Warm the nut butter with the agave, you can do this in the microwave or using a small sauce pot. You want the nut butter filling to easily pour into the pie dish just enough so that you can smooth it into an even layer. Pull pie from freezer and pour nut filling over top bottom chocolate layer. Place pie back in the fridge or freezer.

6. The last step is to slightly re-blend the remaining chocolate mixture with the 1 Tbsp added oil. This basically makes that top layer a bit more sturdy upon cooling, and re-blending with this melted oil loosens the chocolate for easy pouring too. Pull your pie and pour that top chocolate layer over top, spreading with a spatula since it will still be very thick to “pour.” Smooth evenly with elegant swirls.

7. Place the pie in the fridge to cool for at least 4 hours – overnight is best for a firm, easily slice-able pie.

Serve chilled – add a half of a vegan peanut butter cup on top as garnish.