Healthy Pecan Pie Bites – Two Ways!

on Nov 15, 2020, Updated Jan 27, 2022

This post may contain affiliate links.

Pecan Pie is decadent. Truffles are decadent. And well, these Healthy Vegan Pecan Pie Bites are also decadent, but they’re a lot more wholesome and nourishing than you might think!

Instead of the refined sugar and corn starch that’s typically used to make pecan pie, these Healthy Pecan Pie Bites are naturally sweetened with dates. They also contain some protein, healthy fats, and fiber making these bite sized truffles a healthy dessert option or energizing midday snack.

They’re delicious on their own but the real magic happens when these pecan date balls are chilled and then dipped into melted vegan chocolate! Imagine a thin chocolate shell surrounding a sumptuous salted caramel center than tastes remarkably like pecan pie!

It’s crazy delicious but very easy to make, so make a big batch to enjoy as a snack throughout the week or to add a healthy (gluten-free) option to your holiday dessert table.

…I normally say “Happy cooking!” here but this isn’t cooking…more like assembling so instead I’ll say …um…

Happy Assembling! 😂👩🏻‍🍳

Healthy Pecan Pie Bites

By: Nicole Vranjican

Naturally sweetened truffles that taste like the inside of pecan pie!

Prep: 10

Chill Time: 30

Total: 40

Servings: 16 truffles

Pin Recipe Rate Recipe Print Recipe

Ingredients

10 large pitted Medjool dates, about 2/3 of a packed cup
3/4 cup pecan halves, roasted, unsalted
1/4 cup pecan butter, unsalted* see notes for other options
2 tsp refined coconut oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Optional Chocolate Coating

10oz vegan chocolate chips, I recommend Enjoy Life Semi Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips
1 tbsp refined coconut oil
vegan sprinkles, chopped pecans, or Madlon sea salt for garnishing

Instructions

Soak

In a large bowl, pour boiling hot water over the dates to soften them. Set aside until cool, then drain the water completely.

Prep

In the meantime, add the pecans to a food processor or high powered belnder and pulse several times until a fine meal is formed. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed.

Assemble

Then add the drained dates, pecan butter, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt to the food processor and mix until a thick paste forms.
Tip: Chill for 10-15 minutes to make it easier to roll the dough into balls.

Shape

With clean, damp hands roll a spoonful of dough into balls and place on a lined cookie sheet or plate. Continue with the remaining dough. This should yeild roughly 16 truffles depending on how large you like them. Bigger or smaller is fine.

Chill

Chill for at least 30 minutes (overnight is great too) and serve as is or melt 10oz of vegan chocolate chips with 1 tbsp of refined coconut oil. Dip the chilled truffles into the chocolate, then sprinkle with flakey salt or chopped pecans if desired, and place on a lined cookie sheet and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days. Enjoy!

Notes

NOTE: These are not very sweet and pecan pie is very sweet, so taste some of the mixture and see if you’d like to add some maple syrup to make it a little sweeter.

You can use raw pecans if that’s what you have on hand but I recommend toasting them lightly to bring out the nutty flavor. This will make the truffles taste more like a pecan pie that’s been baking in the oven.

If you don’t have pecan butter, almond butter or cashew butter will work too! It will taste a little different…maybe not as much like pecan pie but it should still taste delicious anyway. Use what you have 🙂 Enjoy!

1 Comment

Vannessa M says:

November 29, 2020 at 2:47 am

So delicious and so simple! I just toasted my pecans and used
Almond butter since that what I had, but it honestly didn’t take away from the pecan flavor you want to be shining through. Truly these are now going to be on my snacks to make rotation.