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This chocolate-cashew pie is the kind of dessert you can finish before dinner begins and leave in the refrigerator until it is time to serve. Soaked cashews blend with homemade coconut milk, cocoa, raw honey and coconut oil into a thick filling. It goes into a separate press-in chocolate almond crust and sets cold. There is no oven step for the filling.

In a working, homeschooling family, the useful part is not a fancy finish. It is knowing what the mixture should do at each point: the soaked cashews feel plump, the first blend loses its grainy look, the cocoa-oil mixture disappears into the filling, and the chilled surface holds its shape when you cut it. A make-ahead dessert helps when the day already has enough moving parts.

This is an occasional later Full GAPS cocoa dessert, for the point after digestive symptoms have gone. It is not an Introduction Diet pie and it is not an early way to bring cocoa back. Make the no-bake chocolate almond pie crust before you start blending.

What Goes Into The Silky Filling

Two cups of plain cashews provide the body. Soak them in filtered water, then drain them well before measuring them into the blender. The 2020 Gut and Physiology Syndrome guidance favors a short cashew soak of one to three hours and says not to exceed six hours. That window softens the cashews without an unnecessarily long soak. The cashews should be plump and moist, not submerged in a pool of water when they enter the pitcher.

Use 13½ fluid ounces of homemade coconut milk. Measure the liquid; a commercial can is not the ingredient in this version. Making the milk at home lets you use a simple coconut-and-water preparation rather than assuming the can contains only coconut. The milk should be smooth enough to blend with the soaked cashews.

The chocolate flavor comes from 15 tablespoons of pure cocoa powder in all. Six tablespoons go into the cashew blend. Nine tablespoons are whisked into gently warmed coconut oil. Together, that measured mixture replaces a three-ounce baking-chocolate bar. The oil totals 11 tablespoons: the original half cup plus three additional tablespoons paired with the cocoa substitution. No commercial chocolate bar, sweetened chips or cacao nibs are required.

Raw honey supplies the measured half cup of sweetness. Add half a teaspoon mineral salt and two teaspoons homemade GAPS vanilla extract. The vanilla is homemade, without added sugar or non-GAPS ingredients; its measured amount belongs in the filling. That distinction matters because a sweetened bottle of vanilla flavoring is a different product.

Soak And Drain The Cashews

Cover two cups of plain cashews with filtered water. After one to three hours, pour them into a fine-mesh sieve and let the water run off. Do not let them soak past six hours. They should look fuller and feel softer than they did dry, but they should still be recognizable cashews. A drained batch has a little moisture on its surface without a layer of water sitting beneath it.

Plain soaked cashews draining in a fine mesh sieve over a clear bowl — Drain the plump cashews well so extra soaking water does not thin the pie filling.

The draining step protects the measured liquid ratio. The recipe already has a precise amount of homemade coconut milk. If a cup of soaking water follows the nuts into the blender, the filling can look thinner before it chills. Give the sieve a gentle shake and use the cashews once the visible water has finished dripping. You do not need to dry them with a towel.

Make The Cocoa And Coconut Oil Mixture

Put 11 tablespoons coconut oil in a small heat-safe bowl over gently simmering water. Warm only until it is liquid. Take the bowl off the heat and whisk in nine tablespoons pure cocoa powder until no dry pockets remain. It should form a dark pourable mixture rather than a gritty mound. Let it cool toward room temperature while you blend the cashews. It must still pour, but it should not be hot when it meets the filling.

Keep the remaining six tablespoons of cocoa separate for the blender. Splitting the cocoa this way follows the measured substitution while keeping the initial cashew blend easy to smooth. The oil brings the cocoa into the moving mixture in a thin stream. Do not pour a hot oil mixture onto cold cashew cream or set a boiling bowl directly on the counter.

Pure cocoa is the later Full GAPS ingredient here. It is not a cocoa drink mix or a chocolate-flavored powder with sugar or starch. Read the ingredient line, especially if the container is marketed for hot drinks. This pie gets its sweetness from the measured raw honey, not from hidden sweeteners in the cocoa.

Blend Until The Filling Is Smooth

Add the drained cashews, measured homemade coconut milk, two teaspoons homemade vanilla, half a teaspoon mineral salt, half a cup raw honey and six tablespoons cocoa to the full-size blender pitcher. My kitchen uses the Ninja BN801 for blending jobs like this. A large pitcher gives the mixture room to move; the quantity should occupy only part of the pitcher, not tower above its maximum liquid line.

Blend until the mixture looks uniformly chocolate-brown and the cashew particles disappear into the cream. Stop and scrape the inside walls if a pale streak or dry cocoa sticks above the moving mixture. A spoonful should feel smooth rather than sandy. Depending on the blender, you may need to process it in two or three batches and then return the smooth portions to the pitcher before adding the oil mixture.

With the blender running on a low setting, pour the cooled but still liquid cocoa-oil mixture in a thin stream. Let the blades draw it in, then stop and check the sides. Continue only until you no longer see a separate oily ring or unmixed dark streak. The filling should look thick enough to leave broad tracks where a spatula passes, while still moving slowly when you tilt the pitcher.

Thick blended cocoa-cashew pie filling coating the Ninja BN801 pitcher and its blade — The blended filling coats the pitcher wall and the stacked blade. It is smooth, dark and ready to pour into the crust.

The coating on the blender wall is a useful cue. If you can still see large pale cashew pieces, keep blending before filling the crust. If the mixture is smooth but the oil sits visibly on top, give it another short blend. Do not thin it with extra coconut milk simply to make it pour quickly. A thick stream is what will settle into a sliceable chilled layer.

Fill The Crust And Chill

Have one prepared 9½-inch no-bake chocolate almond pie crust ready in its dish. Pour the filling over the continuous pressed base. Work slowly around the plate so it reaches the side wall without forcing crumbs loose. Use a spatula to level the surface. It can keep a few gentle arcs; there is no need to polish it into an unnaturally smooth disk.

Cover the pie and refrigerate it for several hours until firm. Overnight is the easier make-ahead route. The center should no longer wobble like a liquid when the plate is moved, and a light touch should not pull away a stream of filling. The coconut oil helps it set as it chills. Cut only after the pie is cold enough to hold a wedge.

Finished dark cocoa-cashew pie in a glass dish with a pressed chocolate almond crust — The cold pie holds a thick, smooth filling inside the separate no-bake crust.

The pie serves 16 because the filling is rich and the pan is large. Start with narrow wedges and lift each slice from underneath with a thin serving spatula. You should see a distinct dark cashew-cocoa layer over the pressed cocoa-almond base. If the filling smears at the cut rather than holding, return the pie to the refrigerator and let it set longer.

Where This Pie Fits On GAPS

This pie belongs only to later Full GAPS, when digestive symptoms have gone and cocoa has been introduced. It combines cocoa, nuts and honey in one rich dessert. It is not suitable for Introduction Diet stages, and removing cocoa or swapping the nuts without a measured replacement would create a different formula. Keep it as an occasional dessert rather than using the word “GAPS” in the title to suggest it fits every stage.

The filling itself contains no dairy or eggs, and the linked crust is also dairy-free. It is not nut-free: cashews give the filling its body, and prepared almonds make the crust. For a household that has not yet added cocoa, use a different dessert made from foods already in that person’s Full GAPS routine rather than labeling this pie cocoa-free.

Homemade coconut milk and homemade vanilla are deliberate ingredient choices. A canned milk with stabilizers or a sweetened vanilla syrup changes the ingredient list. The linked methods show exactly what goes into each homemade ingredient.

Keep And Serve The Pie

Keep the assembled pie covered in the refrigerator and bring it out when you are ready to cut. The finished pie also freezes well and can be eaten frozen. If you freeze it, cover the dish well and allow a slice to soften enough to cut comfortably before serving. Label the container with the date and use your usual freezer rotation.

Use a clean knife for each slice if you want a tidy edge. A thin serving spatula helps support the pressed crust while lifting. If the base leaves a few crumbs in the plate, that is normal for a no-bake almond shell. The filling should still hold together above it, without a runny pool on the serving plate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is This A Later Full GAPS Dessert?

Cocoa is held for the later part of Full GAPS, after digestive symptoms have disappeared. Cashews, almond flour and honey also make this a rich dessert rather than an Introduction Diet food.

Can I Use A Can Of Coconut Milk?

This version measures 13½ fluid ounces of homemade coconut milk. A commercial can may contain other ingredients, so it is not the measured ingredient here.

What If My Cashews Have Small Gritty Pieces After Blending?

Scrape the pitcher and blend longer before adding the cocoa-oil stream. The nuts should disappear into a smooth cream. If needed, work in two or three batches with the same measured ingredients and combine them before the final blend.

Does Homemade Vanilla Stay In The Recipe?

Yes. Use two teaspoons of homemade GAPS vanilla extract with no added sugar or non-GAPS ingredients. Sweetened commercial flavorings are not the same ingredient.

Can The Filling Go Into Another Crust?

The measured filling is designed for a 9½-inch shell. The linked chocolate almond crust gives its own exact ingredient list and press-in directions. A different crust may change the height and cut of the pie.

Equipment For This Pie

Use a fine-mesh sieve and bowl for the soaked cashews; a small heat-safe bowl over gently simmering water for coconut oil and cocoa; measuring cups and spoons; a full-size blender; a spatula; and a 9½-inch pie dish holding the prepared crust. The Ninja BN801 is the blender I use, but the important job is blending the soaked cashews completely smooth without adding extra liquid.

Work with the actual quantity in the pitcher. This filling should occupy only part of a 72-ounce pitcher, leaving room to circulate while you add the cooled cocoa-oil stream. Keep the blade and pitcher seated securely; stop the machine before scraping its sides.

More No-Bake GAPS Ideas

The chocolate almond crust is the first step for this pie and has its own ingredient card. For another later Full GAPS cocoa treat, try the no-bake sesame chocolate nut bites. The planned WFLI No-Bake Snacks Cookbook will gather more make-ahead ideas; watch the shop for its release.

Silky Chocolate Cashew Pie Recipe