Christmas in Texas 2010 [The Best Chocolate Cream Pie]

Three days after I arrived I had a little get-together / cookie exchange, but it was more of an excuse to bake and see friends. I had an old high school friend come which was wonderful since I had not seen her in a LONG time. She is learning to cook gluten-free so I decided to make a gluten-free and vegan cookie recipe I had been eyeing from Spunky Coconut’s website called Scandanavian Thumbprint Cookies. Mom did not have the tapioca flour it called for so I risked using quinoa flour instead. A few days later I made them again like the original recipe and there really was not much difference. They tasted DANG good. I used up all my mom’s strawberry rhubarb preserves she had in her fridge. I have to say that this cookie recipe was pretty popular! Besides my 3 friends that came over, some neighborhood friends stopped by and I could not help watching these non-vegans enjoying this cookie. Score!


The next few days proved busier than ever. My mom needed a lot of help around the house and I had to catch up on some work too. We planned the menu for Christmas Eve dinner and I set to preparing the meal starting the 23rd.


Since I was the only vegan in the family, my mom still wanted to make meat, so she made a meatloaf type meal filled with veggies and hard-boiled eggs, typically made in Mexico.


I pretty much then made all the salads and desserts. Desserts! Yes, my favorite!


I made my Papa Rusa (Russian Potato Salad) and the Green Beans with the Dried-Cherry Vinagrette.


I then prepared the desserts on the 24th and had them ready. We decided to have dinner early since Ryan was in charge of choosing a new church for us to worship on Christmas Eve.





My sister was in charge of decorating the dinner table. She obviously has a great gift for this. I am glad she got to do this. Every year it is a different combination of colors and decorations.


After we came back from our Christmas Eve service at First Presbyterian, we opened gifts and ate dessert. I served a small slice of each dessert so that we could enjoy.





I made an Gingerbread Caramel Pineapple Upside Down Cake using the Pear recipe I made back in October. This seriously had to be Ryan’s favorite. He remembers the pear dessert and he said he preferred with with pineapples! Just substitute the pears for 6 big slices of pineapple when preparing the dessert.





This Chocolate Cream Pie was a last minute decision. My mom had been asking me to make a pie but since I was short on time I had to figure out a quicker recipe. My mom had purchased 2 gluten-free pie crusts from Whole Foods and she really wanted something special. While I thought, I baked the pie crust in the oven. I then ran across a marvelous recipe from Elana’s Pantry.


This was BY FAR the BEST pie recipe I have ever made. It was VERY easy too. Everyone kept on asking if it was vegan and how it tasted gourmet, etc etc. Ryan was even surprised I had prepared it that very morning. It is a decadent dessert but it was worth it. One slice never killed anyone!


Here is my adaption of the recipe. I used a pre-made gluten-free pie crust but feel free to make Elana’s gluten-free recipe from the same recipe.

Chocolate Cream Pie

Adapted from Elana’s Pantry

Print recipe

serves 12

1 pre-made gluten-free pie crust (from Whole Foods) or pie crust recipe


Chocolate Cream Filling
2 cups So Delicious Original Coconut Milk
pinch celtic sea salt
¼ cup arrowroot powder
½ cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate chips 73% cacao (Whole Foods brand or Ghiradelli)


Bring coconut milk and salt to a boil in a medium pot.

Sift arrowroot powder into the pot, whisk vigorously by hand or with a hand blender for 2 minutes.

Whisk in maple syrup and vanilla.

Remove from heat and let stand for 1 minute.

Add chocolate, stirring vigorously until completely melted.

Chill in refrigerator for ½ hour until cool.

Place in cooled pie crust and serve.

What was your MOST favorite recipe during Christmas?