Almond Joy Pie

Here's a recipe that I "sort of" invented for a gluten free Thanksgiving pie. I had seen the ingredients but not in a pie, and I had no idea of the amounts! :) So #4 and I played and fiddled and tasted until we got it right. We had a great time!! :) And it was very yummy. So several people have asked me for the recipe, and I thought I'd just post it here. If you're gluten free or just want a healthier alternative this Christmas, here ya go. It's all raw except for the maple syrup--which I guess is debatable. I've heard that it is an ingredient in some raw cookbooks, but when I looked it up online most of what I found said it couldn't be raw because it is heated too much in the process of making it. For me, it wasn't a big deal either way because I'm not doing all raw right now anyway. Oh, and you can choose what kind of coconut you want. I just used already sweetened coconut because I didn't want to have to do one more step. But if you want to use unsweetened shredded coconut and sweeten it yourself, that would be great!! Let me know how you sweeten your coconut really well.

filling:
3/4 C coconut oil
3/4 C maple syrup
1 C raw cacoa powder
3 T raw honey
dash salt
shredded coconut

crust:
2 C almonds
1/2 C dates
1/4 C maple syrup

For filling, put all ingredients (except coconut) in a VitaMix or high powered blender and mix until smooth and creamy--about 30 to 45 seconds.

For crust, put all almonds (reserve 8 whole ones) into food processor and process on high until you get a powder. You may need to fish out a few big pieces and put them back in until they are all powdered. Do the same for the dates. Mix almond powder and date powder with maple syrup in a bowl. Press into a pie crust.

Sprinkle a layer of shredded coconut on top of the crust then pour the filling in. Sprinkle a thick layer of coconut on the top of the filling and then place 8 almonds around--one for each piece.