This pie actually began as butter tarts. In my effort to rawify all the holiday food favourites, I remembered a Canadian Christmas classic: butter tarts. As you may be able to guess by the name, they aren’t the healthiest thing you can put in your stomach. They are pretty much white flour, sugar, butter, raisins, more butter and more sugar. Time for me to step up to the plate and see what I can do (I like to pretend I’m a superhero.)

chia caramel pecan pie with cinnamon chocolate sauce: makes one pie

Crust:

• 2 cups nuts (I used pine nuts and cashews)
• 1 cup dates or prunes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dates
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 6 tablespoons chia seeds mixed with 12 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• more water, if needed
• 1/2 cup more raisins

Cinnamon chocolate sauce:

• 1 tablespoon cacao
• 1 tablespoon nut butter or melted coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon agave/maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

1. To make the crust: pulse nuts in your food processor until they are crumb-sized. Add dates and salt and process until it stick together. Press into the bottom of a tart plate. Put in fridge.
2. To make the filling: process all ingredients – except the last 1/2 cup of raisins – until smooth. It will taste like a divine entity has landed in your mouth, plus chia seeds. Stir in the 1/2 cup of raisins by hand and pour into your crust. Let it set in the fridge then decorate with pecans, pumpkin seeds and chocolate sauce. Or not.
3. To make the chocolate sauce: mix all ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle onto your pie. Eat it while listening to this song.