By The New York Times
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- 5(1,133)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This vegan pie pairs a thick, creamy, chile- and cinnamon-laced pudding from Mark Bittman with a graham cracker crust adapted from the cookbook "Vegan Pie in the Sky." The pudding, whose flavors recall Mexican hot chocolate, can also stand alone. It's made with silken tofu, and it comes together in 10 minutes in the blender, which whips in air for a mousse-like texture. The chocolate is of the utmost importance here; its flavor will be the one that dominates, so be sure to buy the highest quality you can. Top with shaved chocolate if you'd like.
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Ingredients
Yield:One 9-inch pie
- 10whole graham crackers (approximately 5.5 ounces)
- 3tablespoons sugar
- 4tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1tablespoon plain soy milk or almond milk
- ¾cup sugar
- 1pound silken tofu
- 8ounces high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted (at least 60 percent cacao)
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼teaspoon chile powder, or more to taste
- ⅛teaspoon salt
- Chocolate shavings (optional)
For the Crust
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
For the Crust
Step
1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.
Step
2
Place the graham crackers in a food processor and process until finely ground, about 30 seconds (you should have about 1¼ cups of crumbs). Add the sugar and salt, drizzle over the melted coconut oil and soy or almond milk, and pulse until the mixture begins to clump together.
Step
3
Pour the crumbs into the pie plate. Press crumbs into the sides of the plate first, then work your way down to the bottom. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until firm and slightly golden. Let the crust cool while you prepare the filling.
For the Filling
Step
4
In a small pot, combine sugar with ¾ cup water; bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.
Step
5
Put all ingredients except for chocolate shavings in a food processor or blender and purée until completely smooth, stopping machine to scrape down the sides if necessary. Pour into the cooled crust, and press a piece of plastic wrap directly to the top of the pudding. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours and up to overnight. If you like, garnish with chocolate shavings before serving.
Ratings
5
out of 5
1,133
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Cooking Notes
Maggie
For people who are saying that the filling is too soft, I suspect the answer lies in draining the tofu. That's a step that this recipe omits, but that most similar recipes (Alton Brown's, for instance) include.
Sam
The key to this recipe is SILKEN FIRM tofu--this is generally in shelf-stable packaging, but there is zero reason to drain it. With regular silken tofu, your pie will already be much looser, and that can only get worse when you add more water....using Silken firm tofu, mine set up very firmly (moreso than the average cream pie) and was easy to slice cleanly.
Tuvana
I am not vegan; I only made this because it looked delicious and it exceeded all expectations! I think I could reduce the sugar next time
ck
Thanks to other commenters notes, I used only 1/2 cup sugar in the pie, and as the graham crackers had sugar in them already, I left out the 3 tablespoons of sugar in the crust. Drained the silken tofu on paper towels for 15 minutes and, combined with using only 1/2 cup of water in the simple syrup, the texture ended up being prefect...thick, firm yet creamy, it held its shape and the sweetness was perfect. A major hit at a small dinner party and was entirely demolished.
Lucy Gorham
This is delicious and, while I've made chocolate mousse with silken tofu before, the spices kick it up a notch. By the way, not all bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate is vegan but there are plenty of options out there if you want a completely vegan dessert. Here is a link to some dairy-free options that shouldn't be hard to find:
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/shoppingproducts/f/veganchocolate.htm
Grammy
Very nice dessert. Vegan son scarfed it up! I embellished with whipped coconut cream flavored with a little maple syrup. Definitely a keeper. Next time will cut back on some of the sugar; it's overly sweet IMHO.
Sam
I altered the recipe to be more in line with standard vegan tofu pies. Sugar syrup won't work--yes, it prevents the sugar from being gritty, but it thins the filling till it can't hold it's shape. Instead, I used semi-sweet chocolate + cocoa powder, so the sugar was already incorporated. You could also dissolve most of the sugar in a few Tablespoons of non-dairy milk. 3/4c is way too much, also.
Use the best chocolate you can. Doubled spices. Huge hit! No one guessed tofu!
Karen
Want to save time? Use a pre-made graham cracker crust; the filling is a perfect amount for a standard store-bought graham cracker crust. Although I'm sure that homemade is much better.
Linda
Delish. Made this with a cup of dates (broken up in a processor) in the crust and 1TBSP of coconut oil. Gave it a bit of sweetness that made it more interesting, and did not add any sugar in the filling.
Pam Baker
Recipe says add salt and sugar to the graham cracker crust but doesn't say how much salt. I'm going to put in a dash or so. . .
Laura
This pie is fabulous. I didn't have cayenne, so I used about 1/8 tsp of chili powder instead, and it came out perfectly. I also used 5oz unsweetened chocolate and 3oz bittersweet chocolate chips, which I think kept it from becoming overly sweet. I will be making this anytime I need to bring a dessert somewhere... and anytime I just need some chocolate!
Lynne B
Made this for a party (including a vegan guest) and it was superb. Had no problem with the center setting and firming up. I did need to bake the crust an extra 5+ minutes and, based on suggestions of others, I cut the sugar by about 25%. This ended up perfect (with the use of bittersweet, not semisweet chocolate).A warning, however: not all bittersweet chocolate is vegan! Baker's IS, but Ghiradelli is not (it has milk fat). So if you truly want vegan, be sure to check.
Deni
No! This is also known as Chocolate Tofu Pie and it's a keeper! Don't let the tofu scare you off. Just try it and you will be so glad you did!
LMC
The consistency came out more like pudding and wouldn't hold shape in the pie. Perhaps using less than 3/4 cup water when making the simple syrup would fix it?
It tasted great however, so points for that (even to an omnivore like me).
Raya
Used 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 water. Used 70% chocolate. Topped with a thin layer of coconut whipped cream before the chocolate shavings. Heaven.
Beth Franzese
I make it as a pudding for daily use, but for a party I make a crust out of chocolate crackers instead of graham. Sometimes add chopped almonds
Frizzle
I used pre made graham cracker crust (Kebbler brand is accidentally vegan) and only used 1/2 cup sugar. huge hit. I don't even like chocolate and I loved his. my boyfriend thought it was very decadent so you can cut small slices to serve more :)
Amirissa
I thought the final textures were great, however, the cinnamon was too much even after I also added some espresso powder to bring out more of the chocolate flavor. Maybe this was because I used vegan chocolate, which the recipe did not specify, but if I were to make again, I would halve the cinnamon flavor.
Nicola
I made this with Whole Foods brand silken tofu, I just put this in a strainer and then put this in a food processor. After reading the comments I used 6 soft pitted dates, 1/4 cup maple syrup and 5 oz of melted Trader Joe’s dark chocolate and the listed spices. It came out well, just sweet enough, delicious, using this as a stand alone pudding not in a pie, though I believe it would work slicing wise. Nice vegan option!!!
Josie
Instead of the cinnamon and chile, I added instant espresso powder for more of a mocha flavor. I dissolved it in the sugar water mixture. It worked great!
Alice
Brilliant recipe! Be sure to spray/grease the pie dish to avoid a crumbling crust. Used a mixture of 100% cacao and semisweet chocolate chips so adjusted the sugar to taste. Per other's comments, used slightly less than 3/4 cup water which worked perfectly.
Tracie
this is amazing! I didn't buy enough silken tofu so I added in additional plant-based cream cheese. I also chilled the pie dough overnight so it was really nice and solid and whipped up some plant-based heavy "cream" with additional vanilla. I'd make this again for a party, no problem!
Carol
Delicious.. have made it twice! I added a little more chili than suggested. Chilling overnight makes all the difference in it setting well. No need to really drain the tofu.
Heather
Absolutely delicious and a huge hit with everyone! I reduced the sugar to 1 tbsp in the crust and 1/4c in the syrup. Also, I reduced the water to 1/2c. It was perfect!! I can’t wait to fool my friends who say they hate tofu!!
Erin
I cannot believe how good this was! I did follow some advice from others- I drained the tofu with paper towels and also cut the simple sugar measurements to 1/2 cup each instead of 3/4. The texture was perfect as was the level of sugar! After it was set I did a layer of coco-whip (coconut whipped cream) and let that sit in the fridge while we ate dinner. Absolutely delicious, if I wasn't so full I would have eaten the entire thing :)
Marian Starkey
This was DELICIOUS. I took another person's advice and used shelf-stable extra-firm silken tofu, as opposed to the refrigerated silken tofu I've used for savory dishes in the past. This was the right call—it's smooth and slippery but not waterlogged and gave the pie the perfect consistency. I found it in the Asian foods aisle of Whole Foods.I used 48% cocoa chocolate, guajillo chile powder, and Annie's cinnamon grahams. This recipe is going in the dessert rotation!
Dawnus339
Really yummy. I did drain the silken tofu. It firmed up perfectly. Also used GF graham crackers. Would definitely make again and take somewhere to share.
marie
Yummy Vegan dessert. Made only the filling as a pudding. Skipped banana and decreased sugar by one third. Let it rest overnight for firmer consistency. Sever with TJ pumpkin granola.
Marmix14
You can use biscoff, go double on the crust — more is better.The pie should be sweetened, you could use maple syrup. Also a coconut whipped cream would be amazing.
Becky F.
This dessert is so light yet creamy. Its chocolatey and oh-so-satisfying. I even have my tofu averse parents loving this one. I've made it 5 times and look forward to the 6th.
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