13 Feb Vegan Berry Love Pies w/ Red Velvet Crust (raw, gf, low-fat)
Love is in the air, Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of this holiday, I made a special pink and red treat for you all: Vegan Berry Pie w/ Red Velvet Crust.
This recipe is low in fat, nut-free, no-bake, raw, and easy peasy orange squeezy to put together. Feel free to decorate your love pies however you (or your love) would like, but above are ideas on how you could serve these. Details on how I decorated these can be found down below.
This stuff is my jam! Haha but really, this jam is perfect for a pie filling, and is also a great addition to have in your kitchen. With the leftovers from this recipe, you can use it on toast, over banana ice cream, atop oatmeal, or even better, paired with peanut butter and bananas.
It’s made of 4 ingredients–strawberries, raspberries, dates and chia seeds–with the optional addition of vanilla powder. Don’t have berries? That’s okay! Sub in another fruit in the same amounts, just have fun with this you can’t mess up <3
People say that Valentine’s Day is one of those days that you either hate or love, but that’s because of all the stigma that is placed upon it regarding romance and the search for your one true love. But in order to experience that genuine love, we first must love ourselves. Change your mind set and use this day to instead reflect on the love you have for yourself!
“To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” –Robert Morely
An important lesson I have learned growing into adulthood is that I need to love myself. Think about it like this: self-love is not selfish, it is self-responsible. If you do not love yourself, how do you expect others to love you? If you do not respect yourself, how to expect to receive respect?
With that being said, one of the greatest sentiments of self-love [in my opinion] is striving for health! Care for your body, as you only have one to live in for the rest of your life. Give yourself the best forms of fuel, foods with the highest amounts of nutrients, fruit and vegetables that are organic, fresh and ripe. Today, do something to show yourself that you love you. If I could offer up a suggestion, I say make these pies, that is definitely the best thing you could do for yourself… 🙂
The first is a traditional lattice crust.
After chilling the crust in the freezer and allow it to become less sticky and more easily handled with your hands, roll out a thin layer, and cut into 8-9 even strips. Lay it upon your pie using this as reference if needed.
Make sure you smooth out the ends and remove any extra.
Second is an easy shaped crust using a cookie cutter. In spirit of the holiday, I made a heart, but feel free to use any shape that you’d like.
Or, just pop on toppings of your choice. Ideas for toppings:
- Fresh fruit — berries, kiwi, bananas, etc.
- Dried fruit
- Coconut shreds
- Crushed nuts or seeds
Make sure you tag me on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan or tweet @sweetsimpleveg and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of my recipes! I love to see your photos!
PrintVegan Berry Love Pies w/ Red Velvet Crust (raw, gf, low-fat)
- Prep Time: 10 hours
- Total Time: 10 hours
- Yield: 3
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Raw Vegan, Gluten-free
Ingredients
- Cupcake or muffin pan
Berry Jam Filling
- 15 medium strawberries
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 6 medjool dates, pitted
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- Optional: Dash of vanilla powder
Crust
- 3/4 cup gluten-free oats
- 1/2 cup organic dried mulberries
- 12 medjool dates, pitted
- 4 dried black figs, stems removed
- 2 tbsp organic carob or cacao powder
- 1 tsp Activz organic beet juice powder
- 1.5 tsp Activz organic strawberry powder
- 3 tbsp raw almond milk
Optional add ins and topping ideas:
- Orange juice (2 tsp into jam)
- Fresh or dried fruit
- Crushed nuts
- Coconut flakes
- Whole berries
Instructions
Berry Jam FIlling
- Blend all of the ingredients together, except for the chia seeds, until smooth. Pour into a jar or sealable container and stir in th3 chia seeds.
- Cover and place into a refrigerator overnight (or at least 2 hours).
Crust
- Place the dates and figs into the food processor and run until a thick paste is formed.Remove and set aside.
- Place the remaining ingredients (except for the almond milk) into the food processor, and run until rough flour is formed.
- Add the date fig paste back in, almond with the almond milk, and run until mixed. A ball should form.
- Place the mixture into a bowl, and try to spread it out along the sides of it to be sure a lot of its surface area i chilled. Place into the freezer for 15 mins.
- Line your muffin/cupcake pan with parchment paper, as seen here, but use strips about double the size.
- Take about 2 tbs of the crust and press it against the sides and bottom of the cupcake pan to form a crust. This will yield 3 crusts, as you will need to reserve some for the topping.
- Place back into the freezer for 15 mins.
- Remove from the freezer and fill with the jam. Place it back into the freezer while you prepare your crust topping.
Crust Topping
- Remove the pies from the pan and top.
- Lattice: After chilling the crust in the freezer and allow it to become less sticky and more easily handled with your hands, roll out a thin layer, and cut into 8-9 even strips. Lay it upon your pie using this as reference if needed. Make sure you smooth out the ends and remove any extra.
- Shape: In spirit of the holiday, I used a heart, but feel free to use any shape that you’d like.
- Other: Any other topping you choose! I picked fresh strawberries.
Notes
Extra crust? Roll into balls, and eat it as a truffle!
Holly E
Posted at 08:26h, 14 FebruaryI love these! They look so cute and delicious!
Agnes @ AggieRuns
Posted at 19:13h, 14 FebruaryThese look delicious 🙂 Perfect for valentines day!
shaunie
Posted at 20:33h, 14 FebruarySo amazing! Love the ingredients and the presentation.
Christine
Posted at 04:30h, 15 FebruaryOh my goodness! This blogpost is wonderful in so many ways! The recipe, the ideas of true love, your own responsibility for your body, veganism .. all in one blogpost. I love you for that!
First of all: “Valentine’s Day” as a day give your loved ones a treat is a nice idea. I’m just annoyed that ‘love’ got a commercial meaning. I hate it. That’s why I don’t like the holiday itself. There are 364 other days to love your people. Like EVERYDAY. If people would use Valentine’s Day to only love themselves before they throw out there money for material, expensive and meaningless gifts, that would be great!
Second: As soon as berries are seasonal in Germany again, I will defenetly try them out. I want to try it with fresh berries and not frozen ones from the supermarket. 🙂 Let’s see if they are really as “easy peasy orange squeezy” to make as you say 😛 I’m looking forward to try them out.
xo Chrissi
Muhammad
Posted at 10:55h, 13 FebruaryI just tried the sandwich but as the base i used the nut ceheze recipe below to hold it all together and lemme tell u YUM! the recipe for the nut ceheze is below (works better if u soak the nuts overnight, and i used a macadamia/cashew mix) then added the bok, tomatoes, pine nutz, and onion! Im gonna make one more so i can make sure i did it right! LOL