by Karen Frazier

If you’re on a low-carb or gluten-free diet, you can still enjoy sweets from time to time. This peanut butter fudge pie is easy to make, low in carbs, and it has a chocolatey nut crust, so it’s gluten-free and dairy-free, as well. To make it paleo (but not low-carb), you can replace the sweetener in the crust and the filling with pure maple syrup or honey to taste. I don’t like things to be super sweet, so I recommend doing the add a little sweetener and taste until you get to your desired level of sweetness, or the pie might not be sweet enough for you as written.

• 1  1/2 cups pecans
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup granulated Truvia (in the green plastic jar) or Swerve sweetener
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3 (14-ounce) cans coconut milk (full-fat), refrigerated overnight until the liquid separates from the cream (discard the liquid), or 2 cups coconut cream, divided
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
• 15 to 20 drops of liquid stevia or liquid sucralose (or to taste – you may want more)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a pie plate with coconut oil.
3. In a food processor, pulse the pecans, cocoa powder, and Truvia or Swerve until well chopped, about 15 one-second pulses.
4. Add the melted coconut oil and continue processing for 30 seconds.
5. Press into the prepared pie plate. Bake the crust in the oven until browned and fragrant, 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
6. In a small saucepan (or in the microwave), melt the chocolate and peanut butter, stirring to combine.
7. In a large bowl, combine two of the cans of the coconut cream (just the thick part with the water poured off – about one and a half cups) with one teaspoon of the vanilla and the liquid stevia or sucralose.
8. Add the melted chocolate and peanut butter. Beat until well combined.
9. Pour into the cooled crust. Refrigerate until the filling hardens.
10. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining one can of coconut cream (or a half cup of the cream without the liquid), the remaining teaspoon of vanilla, and stevia or sucralose drops to taste. Beat with an electric beater on high until fluffy, three to four minutes. Spread on the chilled pie. Return to the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

photo credit: “Squared” Coconut Pie via photopin (license)