First snow & Pecan Pie (gluten-free, sugar-free)

Yay! Our first good snow! We were so excited! I could hardly believe it was only 18 degrees outside, because it wasn't painfully cold. We walked around and played for a really long time, and only went inside because Ashley wouldn't stop eating snow (she isn't picky about the color of the snow she puts in her mouth :-)). Inside we made hot chocolate with almond milk and created a huge pile of snow suits, coats and gloves by the door.

I was so excited when I found this wooden Advent calendar a few years ago on clearance at TJMax. It needed some minor repairs, and I repainted the framework and sides green. Andrew is fond of using berry xylitol mints and Kinder toys from when we were in Europe inside the boxes. On top is a gnome or nisse, as we like to say, which Andrew's mom painted a long time ago, and was nice enough to give us.

And here is the pecan pie that I promised you. It is free of refined sugar, gluten and casein. I am so thrilled with how well it came out. Andrew usually doesn't like anything with ghee, but this he loved. The pie filling is so sweet and gooey, no one would ever believe there was no corn syrup or gluten for thickener! The crust was especially exciting though, since I already knew how I was going to make the filling (similar to the cherry almond pie), but I didn't plan the crust recipe till the last minute. It came out so light, flakey and delicious! I can't wait to make it again for Christmas! Cheers!

Pecan Pie (gluten-free, sugar-free):

Crust:

Soak 1 cup of cashews for about 8 hours.

Rinse well in a bowl of fresh water and strain.

Repeat about 3 times.

Add the cashews to the food processor with:

1 tbs ghee

1 tbs honey

1/2 tbs xylitol

1 tsp vanilla

Puree. Scrape the sides, then add:

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Puree to form a ball. Press into ungreased pie dish.

Filling:

7 dates, pits removed

7 prunes

Covered with 1 and 1/4 cups of water, and soaked for about 8 hours.

Add the fruit and it's soaking water to the food processor with:

1 tbs xylitol

1 tbs ghee

1/2 tbs vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbs Quinoa Flakes

Puree.

Add 1 and 1/2 cups roughly chopped pecans, lightly toasted if you like, to the filling.

Pour the filling into the pie crust.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes.

Chill in the fridge a few hours before serving.

Top with my Vanilla Pudding or a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream if you like.