Olive Oil Pecan Pie and Olive Oil Crust

With the holidays approaching, we’ve collected several dessert recipes that substitute olive oil for butter. I’ll start with a pecan pie that uses extra virgin olive oil to accentuate the nuttiness of the pecans. You can match it with an olive oil pie crust that’s simple to make – and skips the stick of butter you might ordinarily use.

My colleague Jennifer Samples has developed a beautiful pecan pie using extra virgin olive oil. It’s pictured here.

Jen wanted to avoid using butter or cream in the filling. So she turned to our EVOO and got good results.

“When you use the Arbequina it really brings out the flavor of the pecans,” says Jen.

And if you want to go all the way and bake Jen’s pie in an olive oil pie crust, we’ve got a recipe for you.

It comes courtesy of chef and cookbook author Micki Sannar. She’s written an entire cookbook devoted to olive oil desserts: aptly named Olive Oil Desserts (Mikko Publishing, 2009).

There’s an interesting story behind Sannar’s use of olive oil. “Seven years ago I learned I had high cholesterol. I had to adjust my diet,” she says. “But giving up dessert was not an option.”

So Sannar turned to olive oil: “Since that time I’ve dropped 100 points in my cholesterol.”

Sannar’s recipe makes two pie crusts. You could make two pies – it’s the holidays, remember – or freeze one of the crusts for future use.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch