Coconut oil gets very hard when cold. For this recipe, It must be pliable enough to cut into the flour along with the pecans. If your oil is hard, put it in a glass jar and place in some warm water or microwave oven briefly before adding to flour mixture. If you have graduated into the next level of healthy food preparation, replace half of the flour here with sprouted grain flour.
1-1/2 cups refrigerated whole wheat pastry flour 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons coconut sugar 1/2 cup cold pecans, ground into paste 3 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil, soft and pliable, not refrigerated, broken into bits 4-5 tablespoons ice cold water (or more if necessary to bind dough)
Combine flour, cinnamon, and coconut sugar in a bowl. Toss bits of pecan paste, and coconut oil bits with the flour mixture. (You can also use a food processor) Using clean hands press the fats into the flour with fingertips. When evenly distributed, add enough ice water, little by little to form soft dough. Gently form dough into a round disk and flatten and press into a 9-inch pie pan working dough up the sides. For crumb crust: Transfer mixture to prepared pan and press into bottom of pan
If your pie recipe calls for pre-baking the crust, prick crust with a fork before baking. Pre-bake the crust for 10-15 minutes.
Note about the Crumb Crust: For this, all you need to do with the crumbs is press them into your pan. No need to form into a disk. This works well for any type of pan whether round, square or rectangular.
Gluten-Free Pecan Crumb Crust (This is the crust recipe for the pumpkin pie bars) 1-1/2 gluten-free flour mix 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup cold pecans, ground into paste 2 tablespoons sucanat or coconut sugar 3 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil, soft and pliable, not refrigerated 7-8 tablespoons cold water Combine flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Toss bits of pecan paste, and coconut oil bits with the flour mixture. Using clean hands press the fats into the flour with fingertips. When evenly distributed, add enough ice water, little by little to form soft dough. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and press into bottom of pan If your pie recipe calls for pre-baking the crust, prick crust with a fork before baking. Pre-bake the crust for 10-15 minutes.