This recipe post is coming to you from a very sleepy but determined grad student…lately, my life has consisted of 12-hour long days working on final project stuff at school. I’ve still got a long way to go until it’s all over! Anyway, I’m sorry for my absence of content this month–I’ve missed blogging so much.
I want to let you guys know I just published my first Buzzfeed Community post–a curated list of visually stunning crowd-pleasers for your upcoming potlucks this weekend! I urge you to check it out and show the world that vegan food is wonderful and delicious. 🙂
To me, chai spices represent the quintessential flavors of autumn. These tarts feature fragrant pear slices baked with warm chai spices, in a flaky golden crust. A drizzle of maple sweetness and toasty crushed pumpkin seeds complete the experience. I’ve had this flavor combo in mind for a while and I’m so glad I finally have a moment to share it with you.
Last weekend, my friend and former co-worker Richard came over to catch up and we basically had a creative workshop! Richard actually taught me a lot of basics when I first started getting into DSLR photography. Hanging out with other creatives makes me so happy, especially when we can encourage and learn from each other.
Richard’s a multimedia specialist (check out his work here) and I love all kinds of visual media, so we plan to have more collabs in the future–stay tuned! We spent our day geeking out about photography, sharing our creative aspirations, and playing with food. We made a cozy winter soup (recipe coming soon) and these adorable pastries.
I used a store-bought puff pastry crust for these (the Pepperidge Farm one is vegan) but you can also make puff pastry from scratch—I really want to try this recipe!
Chai Spiced Pear Tarts With Crushed Pumpkin Seeds
makes 1 – 2 dozen servings
(depending on your sweet tooth & appetite)
- puff pastry sheets (store bought or DIY if you’re feeling up to it!)
- chai spice mix
- 2 ripe pears
- cashew milk (or your favorite plant milk–soy, coconut, almond, etc.), for brushing the pastry edges
- maple syrup
- toasted pumpkin seeds, crushed (optional, but highly recommended)
- If using the Pepperidge Farms puff pastry sheets, let them thaw and break each crust into thirds along the fold line, so you end up with six rectangle pieces of dough. Lay them out on a baking sheet.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Slice your pears–my slices were about 1/8″ thick.
- Brush the surface of the dough with soy milk. Sprinkle with chai spices. Use a fork to poke holes all over the dough, except for the outer rim.
- Lay the pear slices across the center of the dough (leaving room for a crust to form at the edges of the dough). Let the pear slices overlap for a pretty effect. depending on how long your slices are, you may need to cut some of them in half for them to fit.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the pears are tender.
- Once the pastries are baked, take them out of the oven and transfer them to your serving plate. Drizzle with maple syrup and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds, if using. Sprinkle more chai spices on top. Slice to your liking and serve warm, with a dollop of vegan ice cream if you so desire!
These tarts would pair especially well à la mode style with my 4 ingredient chai latte nice cream! Enjoy!
I hope your Thanksgiving weekend is full of good company and delicious food! If you’re looking for some potluck ideas for this weekend, check out my round up of vegan crowd-pleasers on Buzzfeed!
plantcrush 
I’ve been gawking over this since you posted it on Instagram!! Love how easy it looks— definitely going to add it to my Christmas recipe list. And that round up… oh my goodness every dish looks INCREDIBLE. I think we should do a REAL potluck with all those dishes present 😉
Ahhh thanks soo much, Liz! 🙂 Let me know how you like it! For Christmas, you could sprinkle it with both pumpkin seeds and some dried cranberries for a festive look!
And I’m so glad you love the round up!! It was so fun to do and I’m so glad I could showcase so many talented bloggers in one place 🙂 I agree, we should do a real potluck, haha!