First take your apricots and put them in a bowl. Pour 3/4 cup of unsweetened non-dairy milk over the apricots (save 1/4 cup of milk). Let them sit for a couple of hours, till the apricots soak up a lot of the milk. The apricots should be fully hydrated with the milk.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the toasted quinoa flakes in the bowl with the cardamom spice and coconut oil. Mix with a fork till it becomes crumbly.
Add a tablespoon of chickpea flour, mix then add one teaspoon of water. It should come together where you can make a ball with the crust dough.
Press the crust mixture in the little pans (I used 4 1/2 inch spring form pans) or you can use a muffin pan and get about 6 pies. Place the pans in the freezer for a few minutes to set. Also for the coconut oil to solidify in the mixture.
Then pop the crusts in the 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Take out and let cool.
After your apricots soak for two hours, they should be plump and should have absorbed a lot of the milk. Pour the apricots with the milk into a blender. Add the sea salt, lemon juice, vanilla and the 1/4 cup of remaining milk. Blend.
If it’s too thick just add a little bit of water till it blends easily, I had to add 1/4 cup of water.
Please don’t add more than a 1/4 cup of water, the mixture will be too thin.
The mixture should be very thick but easy to blend. Once blended, scoop the pudding mixture into the pre-baked pie crusts, this is where I decided to sprinkle the calendula on top the pies. You can leave this step out if you want.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Every oven is different. And I baked my pies in a toaster oven. The way to tell if the pies are done is to touch the middle. It should be set and firm with the outer edges creased.
These pies have to be completely cool before eating. They would taste great with a little nondairy yogurt on top or non dairy whipped cream but I didn’t have any at the time.
It’s also recommended, if you can wait (I couldn’t ) till the following day to eat. When you put the pies in the refrigerator overnight the flavors come together perfectly. And they make a wonderful breakfast for the next day!
Any leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.
