Blueberry Lemon Mini Pies
Cherry Almond Overnight Oats
June 17, 2015
Mexican Corn Salad with Sriracha Almonds
June 29, 2015
This month recipe reduxers are giving their favorite pies a healthy makeover. I for one am a huge fan of putting a healthy spin on my favorite recipes, if you didn’t know already by my famous Apple Cranberry Mini Pies! This time I wanted to incorporate a more seasonal fruit in celebration of the official start to summer. Luckily, blueberries were on sale this past week so I stocked up and used most of them to create a healthy blueberry pie.
I am not a huge fan of turning on the oven in the summer, so I wanted to come up with a quick and cool pie recipe. Normally, a pie needs to cook for over 30 minutes. Instead, I baked the cust and filling separetly cutting down the cooking time to only 10 minutes.
To bump up the health factor in the crust, I used almond meal instead of flour and butter, making the crust gluten-free and full of heart heathy fats. The almond meal also gives the crust a more crumbly texture like graham cracker crust, which I love. In the filling, I cut down the added sugar because, let’s be honest, blueberries are sweet enough on their own. To enhance the blueberry flavor and bring in a tart element, I added both lemon juice and lemon zest. The combination is just perfect and refreshing.
These perfectly portioned personal mini-pies are delicious served hot or cold and, according to my husband, would be amazing served with some frozen yogurt or whipped cream. Personally, I am a fan of them all on their own, but you can decide all for yourself!
- CRUST
- 2½ cups almond meal
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- PIE FILLING
- 4 cups of blueberries, divided
- juice of 1 lemon (1/4 cup)
- zest of 1 lemon ( 1 teaspoon)
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cold water
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill muffin tin with paper liners.
- For crust. Add all ingredients to a food processor. Process for 30-60 seconds or until combined. Evenly distribute mixture into each muffin tin. With fingers or the back side of spoon firmly press crust along bottom and side of muffin tin. Bake for 10 minutes then let cool.
- While crust is baking prepare pie filling. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat dissolve sugar and corn starch into water. Once dissolved add in 3 cups of blueberries, salt, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil then cook for another 2 minutes or until sauce thickens. Add in lemon zest and remaining blueberries. Mix to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Once crust and pie filling are slightly cooled evenly fill crusts with pie filling. Enjoy warm or place in refigerator to cool and enjoy later.
