Sticky Pecan and Hazelnut Tart

This Sticky Pecan and Hazelnut Tart is a rich and delicious dessert that balances the nutty flavors of roasted pecans and hazelnuts with a warmly spiced filling. Perfect for special occasions or as a treat, it’s a crowd-pleaser that pairs wonderfully with cream or coconut cream.

This amazingly delicious dessert is thanks to Alexx Stuart from Low Tox Lifes ebook ‘Celebrate – Your Comprehensive Guide to Low Tox Entertaining.’ It’s a standout recipe and I’m so thrilled that Alexx has been generous enough to allow me to share it with you today. My hubby and kids are even more thankful to Alexx, they devoured it, loved it and have requested more!

Health Benefits

This tart incorporates nutrient-dense nuts like pecans and hazelnuts, which are high in heart-healthy fats, antioxidants, and essential minerals such as magnesium and zinc. Using alternative flours like tapioca, almond, and buckwheat makes it suitable for those avoiding gluten, while the coconut oil offers a plant-based option for dairy-free diets.

Ingredients

The tart has a nutty filling made with coconut cream, rice malt syrup (or other natural sweeteners), and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. The gluten-free pastry combines tapioca, almond, coconut, and buckwheat flours for a light, delicious base.

How to make this sticky pecan and hazelnut tart

Begin by preparing the pastry. Combine the flours in a food processor, then pulse with chilled butter until crumbly. Gradually mix in a whisked egg, vanilla, cinnamon, and sweetener until the dough forms clumps. Chill the dough for 30 minutes before pressing it into a greased and floured tart tin. Blind bake the pastry, weighted with beans or rice, to achieve a crisp base.

Roast the nuts while the pastry rests, ensuring a rich depth of flavour. For the filling, gently warm the syrup, butter, coconut cream, and spices until combined. Slowly whisk the mixture into beaten egg yolks to create a smooth custard. Arrange the hazelnuts and pecans in the pre-baked pastry shell, layering the custard filling to coat the nuts evenly. Bake the tart until golden and caramelised.

Serving suggestions and how to store

Serve the tart warm or at room temperature with a dollop of double cream or coconut cream. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge to maintain freshness.

Vary this sticky pecan and hazelnut tart to suit your needs

To make this tart dairy-free, opt for coconut oil or ghee instead of butter and pair with coconut cream for serving. For a fructose-friendly version, use rice malt syrup as the sweetener and skip the optional coconut sugar topping. The versatile pastry dough can also double as a shortbread biscuit base, baked and enjoyed with a cup of tea.

For more delicious, healthy dessert recipes, click HERE.

Sticky Pecan and Hazelnut Tart

Prep 45 minutes minutes

Cook 45 minutes minutes

Total 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

This gluten free, fructose free, casein and lactose free beauty is an adaptation of that classic, uber sweet sticky pecan tart that we’ve all surely enjoyed in the past? Being gluten free isn’t an affliction and there’s no way we’re missing out on the smell of pastry in an oven or the caramelisation of nuts bubbling away in a tart like this. No siree!

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Ingredients

• 170 g pecan nuts (1 cup)
• 120 g hazelnuts (1½ cups)
• 6 whole egg yolks
• 120 g coconut oil -or ghee or butter if not intolerant
• 100 g coconut cream
• 170 g rice malt syrup (1 cup) or honey or maple syrup
• Pinch ground cloves
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the Pastry

• 120 g tapioca flour (1¼ cup)
• 30 g almond meal (⅓ cup)
• 20 g coconut flour (2 heaped tsp)
• 45g g buckwheat flour (½ cup) plus a little more for dusting your hands when pressing out the pastry into the tart shell
• 140g butter (chilled), sliced into cubes (ghee is the best dairy-free)
• 1 egg/s whole egg whisked with the vanilla in it
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 vanilla -or 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp rice malt syrup - fructose free OR maple syrup OR honey

Method

For the Pastry

• Pop all your flours in your food processor or thermomix and pulse to combine and aerate.
• Add your super chilled butter and blitz until crumble and combined.
• Whisk your egg, vanilla, cinnamon and syrup together.
• Add about ⅔ of this mixture slowly over 3-4 seconds into the processor. Has it gone to clumps? You’re done. Has it not? Add a tiny bit more.
• Save the leftovers of this mixture for a batch of French toast!
• Spatula out onto unbleached parchment paper and shape into a ball and pop in fridge for 30 minutes to make it more workable.
• Preheat oven to 180℃ / 350℉ fan forced OR 200℃ / 400℉ non fan forced oven.
• While the pastry is resting, pop all the nuts onto a baking tray and roast for 8 minutes in the oven (watch they don’t burn!). If you’re using activated nuts, no need to do this step, but if they’re plain, raw nuts, this is crucial. Take out and let cool as you work on other things.
• Now, line your quiche / tart tin with coconut oil or butter and then dust with buckwheat flour and shake o excess. This will help you when it comes to dislodging the tart later on!
• Plop your pastry blob into the tin and dust your hands with buckwheat to avoid sticking and start working the pastry to all the corners evenly to about ½ cm thick all round. Any excess – make a couple of short bread cookies out of it while you’re blind baking the base!
• Now, place parchment on top and weigh it down with raw beans, rice grains or pastry weights and blind bake in the oven for 10 minutes with the weights in, and a further 5 minutes without – this will mean your base isn’t soggy for the finished product later.
• Now, take the pastry shell out when you’ve just noticed a little bit of light golden action around the edges – This will mean you won’t have burnt ones later.

For the Filling

• Warm the syrup / honey, butter / ghee / coconut oil, cream and spices until all well combined.
• Whisk egg yolks and pour very slowly your liquid mix (step 1) into the yolks, while continuing to whisk to avoid the yolk cooking. 
• Place the hazelnuts into the pastry shell, naked (pop them in a tea towel and shake until most of the skins fall away).
• Then pour your liquid over the top, leaving back 100ml liquid to go over the pecans afterwards.
• Now, layer your pecans over the top in whatever pretty pattern you fancy.
• Now drizzle the rest of the mixture over the pecans (keep a little back if it’s going to overflow. We don’t want that, and everyone’s quiche / tart tins are going to vary a little here)
• OPTIONAL: Sprinkle a little coconut sugar over the top of your tart. Not necessary, but will create a nice crust over the top. So.. why wouldn’t you?
• Now bake everything together in the oven for 30 minutes until well caramelised and pastry is a deep golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and cool.
• Then, to dislodge safely without ruining the corner bits of the tart slide the knife to the corners of the underside of the base (if you have a removable base) and apply a little pressure up, and do that to all 4 corners before pressing from the centre.
• Serve with double cream or coconut cream. Heaven.

Store

• In an airtight container or covered in the fridge.

Variations

Make biscuits

This pastry doubles as a delicious shortbread biscuit – just roll little balls once chilled and press down onto parchment paper with a fork to flatten and bake for 15-20 minutes on 200C / 400F or until golden. Delicious with a cup of tea!

Dairy-free

Choose the dairy-free options.

Fructose friendly

Choose rice malt as your sweetener and omit the coconut sugar. 

 

I'd love to hear how you enjoy this decadent dessert. Post a comment below or even better rate this recipe!

Course: Dessert

Author: Georgia Harding

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