Vegan Maple Pecan Pie Smoothie

Rob and I were in Ojai, California this week and we were baking! No – not the “put a pie in the oven” kind of baking; rather, the “it’s too hot for humans” kind of baking – where you are sweating in embarrassing places you didn’t know could weep for themselves. OK, so perhaps I am overstating the heat just a tad, and I shouldn’t be complaining after escaping the “slap you in the face” oppressive heat of Arizona. But when you have been standing under the hot sun in a field knee deep in bushes for two hours waiting for the light to change, it brings out the little princess “where is my assistant with the umbrella?” side of any girl!

Rob had some great photo ideas for the recipe blog and so we seized the moment, grabbed an empty blender carriage and went out on the road in search of remote locations. It might have been hot outside, but the photos are really cool, and we are thrilled with the results. I will share the happy snaps later. But today it is all about celebrating our post photo shoot triumphs.

We came back to the hotel and were in desperate need of refreshments! Or more accurately….treats! Rob started craving a piece of mum’s blender pecan pie. For those of you not familiar with this bite of piggy heaven, let me acquaint you. But be warned -- this pie brings out the nutty side in even the most contained pig! Flash back to Rob’s infamous homage to “George Costanza with the chocolate éclair”, when under the guise of doing the dishes after one of our piggy parties, he was sprung surreptitiously shovelling left over pecan pie from the plates of our dinner guests! Today, seeing as we could not zap ourselves into our kitchen; (and quite frankly, had no inclination to bake any more), we decided to do the next best thing, and turned to our trusty blender (our Vitamix) for inspiration.

Much like my apple pie smoothie and pumpkin pie smoothie, this scrumptious vegan, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free smoothie really does taste like a delectable “maple pecan pie in a glass”. Those of you with nut allergies, my profound apologies. There is just no nutty equivalent! In the spirit of replicating our perfect bite of snout-worthy pecan pie (or more accurately, pie worthy of stealing off other people’s plate), we only used 2 tablespoons of maple syrup to keep the sugar content down. I found this was just enough to bring out the natural sweetness in the bananas and take the edge off the pecans. But feel free to sweeten the deal. The pecan milk adds that hint of a nutty pastry flavour, and the cinnamon and vanilla perfect the blend.

This vegan dairy free smoothie does every creamy bite of mum’s pecan pie justice, and hits the “B spot” for those of us not inclined to bake. This pecan smoothie is absolutely scrumptious. It is like a refreshing Summer chilled dessert in a glass. After all, who wants to bake in this heat? This is rich! But, I don’t think I will be needing to eat humble pie. I am going to proclaim that this is one of the best Vitamix recipes and blender recipes out there! YUMMO!