Happy Independence Day! I hope you have a wonderful day off today filled with great food, family, friends and being grateful for the freedom we have. I’ve been working on my fresh fruit pies for several years now, and I think fresh strawberry pie to be the perfect dish to pass at a fourth of July picnic! I tweaked my traditional fresh strawberry pie this year to be as low-carb as possible and eliminating gluten and dairy from the crust. The result is a guilt-free pie that tastes like biting into fresh strawberries. I hope you enjoy this Paleo fresh strawberry pie!
While I don’t have a sweet tooth like I did before the Autoimmune Protocol, I still love dessert. Who doesn’t?? I make fresh fruit pies like this one every summer with each fruit that we pick throughout the season. Before going gluten-free, I would make a graham cracker crust and use a box of jello to hold the fruit together. Those days are long gone, so I needed to revamp our summertime favorite pie.
This year I challenged myself to make a gluten-free, dairy-free fresh strawberry pie with the fewest carbs possible. This means no added sugar in the crust and using stevia to sweeten the strawberry filling. While strawberries are a good fruit for diabetics and fairly low glycemic, they are still a fruit which means sugar. I’m so proud to share that this Paleo Strawberry Pie only has 12 carbs per serving! For a dessert, I call that a major win!
Instead of a graham cracker crust, I blended up pecans into a coarse meal then mixed it with coconut oil, coconut flour, salt, cinnamon, and a flax seed egg. Then I baked the crust as usual at 350° for 10 minutes until smelling toasty and slightly browned. No gluten, no dairy, no problem!
My fresh fruit pies are usually heaped with fruit, and unfortunately, this one was a tad flat. If you’d like a more heaped pie, add 1-2 cups of fruit. I used about 6 cups, but I think 8 would have been better.
For the filling, I used unflavored gelatin sweetened with stevia and fresh strawberries. That’s it, just 3 ingredients! Gelatin is good for healing the gut, so there’s no reason to feel guilty for eating gelatin…unless it’s filled with sugar! Since I used stevia to sweeten the gelatin, the major source of carbs for this dessert is only the strawberries themselves.
When the pie crust has cooled completely and the prepared gelatin is a thick water consistency, stir the strawberries into the gelatin, gently, coating all the strawberries. Then use a spoon to gently scoop the coated strawberries into the pie crust. Arrange as necessary then pour the remainder of the gelatin over the berries, focus on filling any holes in the berries.
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Don’t cut in sooner! The gelatin will not be set! Ask me how I know…the first fresh pie of each summer is usually consumed before it has set. It’s more like a fresh berry crumble. It’s just so hard to wait! If you give the gelatin time to set, the slices of pie will hold together perfectly!
Let me explain the flavor of this Paleo fresh strawberry pie so you won’t be surprised when you try it. It tastes like fresh strawberries with a crunch of cinnamon pecans. It does NOT taste like sugary strawberries nor candied pecans! While this is preferable to me, I like to let the natural flavors shine, I realize this is not the goal of most people making fresh strawberry pie. This is a light, very fresh summery dessert that you can enjoy while on the Paleo diet. I hope you enjoy it!
Paleo Fresh Strawberry Pie
Paleo and low-carb (only 12 carbs per serving!), this gluten-free, dairy-free dessert is the perfect addition to your summer get togethers!
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
- 1-1/2 Tbsp water
- 1-1/2 cups chopped, raw pecans
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil melted
- 1 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pie Filling
- 2-1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin 1 packet
- 3/4 tsp powdered stevia
- 6-8 cups fresh strawberries hulled and halved
- 1-3/4 cups water divided
Instructions
Prepare Gelatin
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Mix stevia and unflavored gelatin in a small mixing bowl. Shake gelatin and stevia mixture over 1 cup of cold water and allow a few minutes to bloom.
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Meanwhile bring 3/4 cup of water to a boil. Pour boiling water over bloomed gelatin water and mix thoroughly.
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Place gelatin in the refrigerator until the consistency of thick water, about 1 hour.
Pie Crust
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In a small bowl, mix 1 Tbsp of ground flax seed with 1.5 Tbsp of water, allow to sit and thicken (about 5 minutes) while the rest of the crust is prepared.
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Preheat oven to 350°.
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If starting from whole pecans, then use a blender or food processor to chop raw pecans into a coarse meal. 1.5 cups of chopped pecans are needed for the pie crust. Pour pecans into a mixing bowl.
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Add coconut oil, coconut flour, salt, cinnamon, and flax seed egg. Mix well then press into a glass pie plate.
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Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until the crust smells nutty and slightly browned. Allow to cool completely.
Pie Filling
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Place halved strawberries in a large mixing bowl. Pour the chilled, thickened gelatin over the strawberries. Gently stir to coat.
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Using a spoon, gently spoon the coated strawberries into the cooled crust. Arrange the strawberries as desired. Then pour any remaining gelatin over the strawberries.
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Cool in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or until completely set. Slice and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
12g carb per 1/8th slice of pie.
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