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Can you make a “good pie crust” using chilled almond butter as the fat source?

Healthier Holiday Desserts

Fran Costigan - Healthier Holiday Desserts

Recorded

This event was on November 9, 2022

It’s the time of year to be thinking about Holiday Meals, and Holiday Desserts are a must! This year let’s enjoy desserts that are healthier and lighter but no less delightful. Join Vegan Pastry Master Fran Costigan for this exploration of full flavored but surprisingly better-for you desserts! Bring your questions and your favorite recipes for Chef Fran to help you make some adjustments.

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Question

Char Nolan

Can you make a “good pie crust” using chilled almond butter as the fat source?

Answer

Sure that's an interesting question and you know, the operative here is good. You can't do a rolled crust that way. I haven't done it. So I shouldn't say that definitively, but I'm pretty positive. I've made I've really been making, you know, I've made a lot of pastry doughs over the years. What you can do is get away from the idea of a rolled crust and do a press crust, you know if you just take nuts and dates, for example and oats oats are always good to add. I like to add oats to my dessert and Buzz it in the food processor. It's going to make a paste or use a nut butter if you want and then press that into a pie plate and bake it I would add a little bit of baking soda maybe and then it's really terrific.

Fran Costigan

Director of Vegan Pastry

FranCostigan.com

Fran Costigan is internationally renowned as the authority on vegan desserts. Trained at the New York Restaurant School and Natural Gourmet Institute, Fran was a chef in both traditional and vegan pastry kitchens before moving into teaching over 20 years ago. A lifelong chocoholic and long time vegan, Fran’s latest book, Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy Free Desserts, (Running Press 2013) is for all who madly, deeply love chocolate desserts, whether or not dietary considerations are an issue. Her previous cookbook, More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally (Book Publishing Company 2006) is the basis of the Costigan Vegan Baking Boot Camp Intensive®. For more information, www.francostigan.com.