I used to enjoy hosting parties because I found great joy in coming up with a menu and cooking. Now a thoughtful host must consider having non-gluten, sugar-free, and maybe even nut-free dishes for the ever-growing group with allergies.
Here is a dessert that will help the diabetic feel “normal.” My husband, Jim, calls it “normal” when he has a dessert that tastes sweet without a bitter or minty aftertaste. Sometimes, that happens when you use all-natural sweeteners. I didn’t think it could be done when I first started low carb, sugar-free baking but as with any skill-set, practice makes – if not perfect – at least more “normal” results.
To make great pies, we are going to start with an easy, low-carb coconut flour pie crust. You can use this for both savory recipes like a classic lamb shepherd’s pie or sweet like this lemon pie.
Low-carb Coconut Flour Pie Crust
Adapted from Sugar-free Mom’s website
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I use light EVOO as to offset the taste of heavier oil)
1 tsp vanilla extract–do not add for savory pies (with the cost of vanilla I omit totally)
¼ cup Swerve Sweeter— (do not add for savory pies)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut flour (do not substitute)
½ cup cold butter cut into cubes, I shave a stick of butter using a grater
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Mix the eggs, extra virgin olive oil, and vanilla in a food processor or standing mixer. In another bowl, mix the rest of dry ingredients. Mix the wet and the dry ingredients. Add the cubed or shaved butter. Process the ingredients by pulsing (if using a food processor) until it’s all crumbles.
If using a mixer, take the mixing bowl onto the counter and add butter. If using a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the dough until crumble stage.
Spray a pie pan with non-stick spray or butter the pan. I use my stainless-steel pie plates to ensure even heating.
Pour crumbles onto the pie plate and press the dough onto bottom and build up onto the sides of the pie plate. The trick when working with non-flour crusts is to keep them thin. It tends to be more crumbly than regular pie dough, so a thinner crust prevents the crust from over-powering the creamy filling.
Cover the edges with foil and perforate bottom and side of crust with a fork.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Watch this crust closely as coconut flour is trickier than regular pie crusts.
The neatest thing about this pie crust is 1/12th of the pie crust is only 2 grams net carbs. This means I can have 1/6th of the pie and still its only 4 grams net carbs in the crust. Hooray!
Sugar-Free Lemon Pie
Ingredients:
4 eggs
½ cup Swerve sweetener or 1 cup sugar substitute (this is where you can get a bitter or minty aftertaste, so I would stick to the recommended form of sweetener. Swerve is expensive but works well).
½ cup sour cream
¼ sea salt
½ to ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Note: the original recipe calls for ¾ cup lemon juice, but it will be incredibly tart.
1 tsp. lemon liquid Stevia, omit if not using Swerve, this makes it sweeter and helps blend the flavors.
Topping Ingredients:
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons water
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
½ teaspoon vanilla liquid stevia or vanilla (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream, Swerve, and salt. Slowly whisk in lemon juice and lemon stevia.
Pour filling into pre-baked pie crust.
Place pie onto a baking sheet and cover edges of crust with foil.
Bake until barely set, about 30 to 35 minutes. The center of the pie should still jiggle.
Cool the pie completely before adding whipped topping.
Topping:
Place water into a small saucepan and sprinkle over the gelatin. This is calling blooming the gelatin it’s like proofing yeast.
Heat over low heat, continually stirring until the gelatin is dissolved. Set aside. Please do not forgo this step as the whipped cream needs that addition to stabilize or stay whipped.
Pour heavy cream into a standing mixer. Add vanilla or vanilla Stevia. Whip cream until peaks form. You can place your mixing bowl and whip attachment along with the cream into the freezer for a few minutes to super cool them.
Slowly pour in the gelatin mixture. Spread this deliciousness over the cooled pie. This is most challenging part of the recipe, chill for at least one hour. Top with lemon zest to get extra fancy.
NET CARBS: 4.8g for one 12th of the pie! My piece will be 9.6g but I am living a healthier lifestyle at last.
Be blessed! Have fun!
