Gluten-Free Pecan Pie & Mini Tarts

Slice of Gluten-Free Pecan Pie made with Wholly Wholesome pie shell and dark agave instead of corn syrup

Gluten-Free Pecan Pie & Mini Pecan Pie Tarts

So this post brings me great joy and I’m so happy to share this recipe for gluten-free pecan pie treats with you. I made both a pecan pie with a gluten-free Wholly Wholesome pie crust AND mini pecan tarts with Schär puff pastry dough.

I don’t often make sweet things, but we always have baking essentials around the house for when the cravings hit. All the different types of sugar. Vanilla. Eggs. Ghee and goat’s milk butter (my new favorite for baking).

And lately I’ve been trying different savory recipes with the new gluten-free Schär puff pastry dough. We made the most delicious mini quiche Lorraine bites with it. As well as spinach goat feta puff pastries.

It was also perfect when fried to make beignets. But what I haven’t had in years is a pecan pie tart. And I loved those little things so much back in the day.

The rich caramel-like filling. Crunchy sugar and pecans on top. Awesome flaky crusts. Mmmmm. Pure decadence.

Mini Pecan Pies made with Schär gluten-free puff pastry crusts

Gluten-Free Mini Pecan Pie Tarts

So I was comfortable using the Schär puff pastry as the crust because it worked so well for the mini quiche and spinach feta puff pastries.

I just needed to find a recipe for the pecan pie filling. And most recipes for pecan pie use corn syrup.

Of all the organic, non-GMO, different types of sugar that fill our pantry – corn syrup is not one of them.

So I thought maybe we could use organic dark agave instead of the corn syrup. And we found a great recipe using agave from Aarón Sánchez on the Food Network. I only had to make a few minor adjustments.

Like using goat butter instead of regular butter. Ghee doesn’t work well when cooked with sugar. So I’m really glad we have a goat butter with fat in it that I could use! It is a great substitute for butter in biscuits, too.

Gluten-Free Mini Quiche Lorraine

When we made the mini quiche Lorraine, I managed to make 22 crusts. But I wanted a little more crust around the edges so that the pecan pie mixture wouldn’t overflow.

So the puff pastry made 19 mini crusts pressed into the mini-muffin tin.

Mini Pecan Pies made with Schär gluten-free puff pastry crusts

Then I made the filling. Just a mixture of goat butter and light brown sugar melted gently over the stove. Remove from heat and add in the agave, vanilla, beaten eggs and chopped pecans. Then fill the puff pastry crusts and bake for about 20 minutes.

Here are the specific products we used to make the pies and tarts:

But I only needed half of the mixture in the pecan pie tarts. So luckily I had gluten-free pie crusts in the freezer, too.

Gluten-Free Pecan Pie made with Wholly Wholesome pie shell

Gluten-Free Pecan Pie

I used a Wholly Wholesome Gluten-Free Pie Shell. Pulled it out of the freezer and let thaw (about 15 minutes). Then I poured my remaining mixture into the pie crust.

Make sure to give it a good stir before pouring because the sugar will settle to the bottom.

We baked it for about 20 minutes then pulled it out to cover the pie crust edge so it wouldn’t burn. Then continued to bake until nice and firm, about another 15-20 minutes. Let cool and then refrigerate. O.M.G.

I liked how the mini pecan pie tarts turned out, but I absolutely loved how this pecan pie turned out. It was so good. And not too thick. And a lot less labor intensive because the crusts are ready to go. SO GOOD!

The nice thing is that the Wholly Wholesome pie crusts come in sets of two. So do the Schär puff pastries.

Slice of Gluten-Free Pecan Pie made with Wholly Wholesome pie shell

So if you aren’t making the mini tarts, you could easily make two pies with the filling mixture in this recipe. Or probably a really big thick pie (you’ll have to bake it longer).

Or you could use both Schär puff pastries to make more of the mini pecan pie tarts.

Lots of options. All good.

Anyway, I hope this recipe for a variety of pecan pie options brings you as much joy as it did me!

Want More Gluten-Free Sweet Treat Recipes?

Kinda Buttermilk Pie

Gluten Free Pecan Pie & Mini Pecan Pie Tarts

This agave based recipe makes both gluten-free pecan pie mini tarts with Schär puff pastry and a gluten-free pecan pie using Wholly Wholesome pie crust.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword dessert, gluten-free mini pecan pie tarts, gluten-free pecan pie, Schär puff pastry
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 19 mini pecan pie tarts, 1 pie
Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup goat butter
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 cup dark agave
  • 1 tsp homemade pure vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 Schär gluten-free puff pastry dough, thawed
  • 1 Wholly Wholesome gluten-free pie crust

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pecan Pie Filling

  1. Melt the goat butter in a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Add the light brown sugar and whisk until well incorporated. Remove from heat and let cool a bit. Add the agave and vanilla. Add the beaten eggs. Whisk until smooth. Add in the chopped pecans and stir well.

Mini Pecan Pie Tarts

  1. Roll out the puff pastry and use a small bowl to cut out disks in the puff pastry to fit into a mini-muffin pan. After rolling it out with a rolling pin to make it more pliable, press it into the muffin tin. Make sure the edges of each well are well covered with dough.

  2. Take the extra pieces of dough and work them into the bottom of the crusts. This will give you a flaky and more dense bottom crust.

  3. With any leftover pastry dough, form into a ball and then use a rolling pin to thin it out again. You can cut a few more crust from that. I ended up with 19 puff pastry crusts.

  4. Stir the pecan pie filling very well and ladel into the puffy pastry crusts.

  5. Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.

  6. Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack. Remove the tarts from the muffin tin and store in the fridge.

Pecan Pie

  1. Thaw the pie crust and keep it in the metal tin container. There should be half of the pecan pie filling remaining. Pour into pie crust.

  2. Place pie onto a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and cover the edges of the pie to keep it from burning. Place back in the oven and bake until done, 15-20 minutes more. The center should rise and set firmly.

  3. Let cool to room temperature on a cooling rack and place in the fridge.

Deana Larkin Evans

You get one life - do your best to ENJOY IT! So hi, I'm Deana. This food blog is all about cooking wholesome real food and developing gluten-free recipes for some of our favorite comfort foods. I had to start eating gluten-free in 2010, then cut dairy and casein (except for the occasional Parmesan) in 2014. We learned A2 casein (goat, sheep and buffalo milk) is easier to digest than the predominate A1 form in cow milk. So we brought back goat milk dairy into our recipes in 2016. Thank goodness, right! So I'm kind of a science nerd, too. In the '90s, I earned an undergrad degree in biochemistry from The University of Texas at Austin. Hook 'em! Then followed up with a PhD in biochemistry and a law degree from the University of Houston. I recently earned a certificate in genomics/sequence analysis from Johns Hopkins University, where I also took a very cool food microbiology course. Currently, I'm learning about the microbiome and gut health. And trying to come up with healthy recipes to feed those gut bugs! #feedthegutbugs

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