Mix flax seeds with warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes to thicken.
Mix coconut oil with maple syrup
Add thickened flax seeds to the coconut oil and maple syrup mixture.
Mix almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to break up any large lumps of almond flour.
Fold with the wet ingredients to combine.
It will be a very wet dough.
Press it to the bottom and up the sides of a tart pan or a pie plate, I used mini 5” tart pans, you can use a larger 8” tart or pie plate.
Brush your pans with some melted coconut oil to make it easier to remove the crust after baked.
I used a bit of almond flour to help me press the dough down and not have it stick to my hands so much.
Place crust in the freezer while you pre-heat the oven.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Poke the bottom of the crust a bit to release air trapped in the crust, as it bakes.
For smaller tarts such as mine, you can bake for about 15 minutes total. Rotating in between.
If you are baking a whole 8” or 9” tart
Since the pie will have to cook for longer than the smaller tarts, for being larger, you should do the following steps to ensure the sides of the tart won’t burn, as the bottom stays uncooked
Start by baking the crust for 5-7 minutes until the edges are just set. Remove from the oven and shield the sides of the crust with some foil or pie shields to protect it from getting burned, because they will start to brown quickly. It also helps if you bake your pie on a lower rack in your oven.
Bake the crust for another 12-18 minutes, until the bottom of the pie crust looks slightly browned.
Remove from the oven and let it cool before adding the filling.
While the crust cools down, make the filling.
Hazelnut Filling
Start by soaking hazelnuts overnight, or in hot water for at least 6 hours.
Drain, squeeze them gently to remove excess water.
Melt chocolate and set aside.
Place hazelnuts, dates, nut butter, coconut cream, vanilla extract, salt, and melted chocolate in the bowl of a food processor.
Process for a few minutes, scraping in between, until a smooth mixture is formed. Hold yourself from eating the whole thing with a spoon.
Vegan Caramel Sauce
Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Keep whisking mixture until smooth. Take it off the heat and let it cool down for just a few seconds. Then pour mixture. It will start to set pretty quickly, so you have to pour right after you turn the heat off. Otherwise, it will have more of a spreadable consistency.
Caramelized Hazelnuts
Mix nuts, coconut oil, and maple syrup in a small saucepan. Place it over medium heat, and stir constantly until it starts to come to a boil. Let mixture cook down while you constantly stir. Nuts will start to toast and caramelize. Add one or two more tablespoons of maple syrup if your mixture is too dry, and not caramelized enough.
To assemble
Once your tart crust is cool, you may add the filling to it. Spread it around and smooth it with a spatula. Place it in the refrigerator for a few hours to firm up.
Make caramel right before you are going to pour it over your chilled tarts. Once tarts are chilled, pour a little bit of caramel over them.
Top with the caramelized nuts.
Storage
Tarts will keep well in the fridge for up to 4 days, well covered.
Notes
*I recommend measuring the dates by weight, because you might be using smaller or bigger dates than I am and that might impact the recipe. Going by weight assures the measurement is correct.*Make sure the coconut cream you are using is the full fat coconut cream, not milk. They are two different things. The coconut cream will be way thicker and it’s what we need for this recipe. I include links above in my post to my favorite coconut cream brand.*Remove the crusts from the tart pan while the crusts are still at room temperature. If you brush your tart pans with coconut oil, the coconut oil will solidify in the fridge, and make it harder to remove the tarts from the sides of the pan, if you are planning on unmolding them.