Cholcolate Chip Cookie Pie - Dairy Free and Whole Grain

From Zennie:

"I make a horribly unhealthy chocolate pie that everyone loves but I am not supposed to eat 90% of what is in it. I have tried to play with it to make it semi healthy but I fail. Think one of you ladies can give it a shot? If it is white or packaged I am not supposed to eat it or limit it greatly.

The pie itself is:

1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
stick of butter
dash vanilla
two eggs

mix that up and pour it into a pie shell filled with chocolate chips and nuts. If you use less then 3/4 cup of each the pie loses its zing.  We love this but I am actively trying to eat healthier so if you can give it a whack I would appreciate it.

If you look at recipe it is basically just a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I somehow messed up years ago and started baking it in pie form instead."

The above is a request from a poster in a forum I visit.  This is my response.  I had fun taking this recipe and editing the ingredients to whole grain and dairy free.

A chocolate chip cookie recipe gone right, I'd say.  I can imagine how rich this is using the butter and eggs.  At first I thought of a non dairy cheezecake, but I'll do that next time.  I made this as close to what I think you described.  Hope you like it, we sure do.  I omitted the dairy by replacing the butter with coconut oil and used the Bob's Red Mill egg replacer. I used whole grain brown rice flour for the crust and whole spelt flour for the filling. I used 3/4 cup of Sucanat instead of the ½ cup white and ½ brown sugar.  I used wheat sweetened chocolate chips.  They are sweetened with barley malt instead of refined sugars.

I think this is the pie she described.

The crust

Dry Ingredients

2 C Spelt flour or other whole grain flour (I used brown rice flour for this one)
¼ cup Sucanat
1 Tbl Arrowroot powder
1 tsp Baking powder
¼ tsp Cardamom powder
¼ Sea salt, or to taste

Wet Ingredients

1/3 C Safflower oil
2 Tbl Raw agave
2 Tbl Apple juice, fresh (Just put an apple in the blender for fresh juice)
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Place dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and mix well.  Place wet ingredients in the blender and blend well.  Add wet to dry, mixing well with hands, crumbling the ingredients together.  Press into the bottom of a pie pan, or spring pan. Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes.

The filling

½ cup whole spelt flour
¾ cup sucanat
½ cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
Egg replacer for the equivalent of 2 eggs

Then I roasted 3/4 cup coarse chopped pecans and put them in the bottom of the baked crust.  I added 3/4 cup wheat sweetened chocolate chips. Then I put the filling ingredients in the blender and poured the mixture on the pecans and chocolate chips.  I baked it at 350º for about 35 minutes.  I got a big chewy chocolate chip cookie in a pie pan.

I made it a bit healthier and it may not be what you're looking for, but we sure like it. Thanks for the idea.  I am going to try this same base, the crust, nuts, and chocolate chips with a non dairy cheezecake filling.  I bet that would be really nice too.

Garden Zucchini Pie

Garden Zucchini Pie

Barb and I use to laugh at how we would harvest our fresh, healthy vegetables, steam them ever so gently, and then cover them in butter and cheese.  We knew we weren't eating exactly healthy, but we were going in the right direction anyway.  This is a variation of a recipe I've made for years.  One of my favorites, it's a variation of vegetable quiche.  I used to use milk and sometimes cream, and much more cheese than I do now.  I've slimmed it down by reducing the eggs and cheese and using non dairy milk.  This time I made my own soy milk so I know what is in that, soy beans, filtered water, and a dash of sea salt.  I try not to use eggs too much, but when I do, I use local eggs from free range chickens.

The Crust

3 cups grated potatoes, about five medium
1 beaten eggwhite
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Squeeze potatoes to remove excess water.  In a large mixing bowl combine the egg white, onion, and parmesan cheese.  Stir in potatoes and press into a 9 inch pie plate.  Pat mixture in the bottom and up the sides of the dish.  I like to think of it as building a bird's nest for my pie.  Bake uncovered in a  400° oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.  Cool on  a wire rack.

Filling

2-3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced (3-4 cups)
     I used a mixture of zucchini, starburst, and crookneck squash
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
This time I added a diced serrano pepper for a  little extra zip.

3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (cheddar or Swiss cheese works well too)
1/2 cup non dairy milk
2 tsp fresh oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Arrange vegetables in cooled potato crust.

In small mixing bowl combine the eggs, cheese, non dairy milk, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Pour on top of zucchini mixture in the crust.  Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Before Baking

After Baking

I had some nice broccoli from the garden and made one with broccoli too.  I left out the serrano pepper on this one just in case my husband didn't like the spicy taste of the zucchini pie.  He didn't say anything and ate three pieces, so it must have been fine.

Broccoli Pie Before Baking

Broccoli Pie out of the oven

Dairy Free Blueberry Creme Pie

This is one of Dr. Andrew Weil's recipes from Eating Well for Optimum Health.  This was one of the first books I read when I decided to go head first into cooking for health as well as enjoyment.  I have had it a long time.  I can tell because I have weight watcher's points written in the book near recipes.  I haven't kept track of what I eat like that or counted calories for many years.  I just eat a plant based diet as much as I can and I don't have to count calories or points.

This is a very light dessert, with added protein and less sugar than your average blueberry creme pie. It's made with tofu masquerading as cream cheese and since fresh  blueberries are abundant right now, it's time for pie.  I had great fun watching my husband and granddaughter trying to get just the right picture without eating it.  The model got so small by the end of the second serving at lunch the next day, there was only one small piece left. I did make some changes, as I usually do, reducing the processed sugar where I can.

  Dairy Free Blueberry Cream Pie

1 pound silken tofu

1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste

      I used a few drops liquid Stevia

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

     I used the seeds from half a vanilla bean

freshly grated zest of 1 fresh lemon

1 baked Easy Pie Crust, (follow link to recipe)

1 pound fresh or frozen blueberries

1/4 cup light brown sugar 

     I used a little less than 1/4 cup raw agave

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

11/2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

     Agar can be used in place of the arrowroot powder

2 tablespoons water

1. Drain the tofu well and process in a food processor until smooth.  Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest, and blend well.

2.  Pour the tofu mixture into the pie crust and chill in refrigerator.

3.  Place the blueberries in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until they begin to boil.  Boil gently for about ten minutes.

4.  Add the brown sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon, and cook for another 2 minutes.

5.  Mix the arrowroot well with the water, and pour mixture into the simmering blueberries while stirring.  Cook, stirring, until the mixture becomes clear and thick.  Continue to cook for 1 minute.

6.  When blueberry mixture is cool, spoon it over the tofu mixture, and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Strawberry Rhubarb Glaze Pie

What did I do with my strawberries this week?   Many of them did get frozen, but we eat as much as we can while they are in season and fresh.  We'll have strawberries in most of our breakfast smoothies this week.  Then there are the strawberry goodies.  This semi-raw pie is very simple.

I made a strawberry rhubarb glaze with about two cups chopped rhubarb, two cups sliced strawberries, the juice of an orange, and about 1/4 cup raw agave.  I just let them simmer on a medium low heat until they are tender and saucy, about 3-5 minutes at most.  Remove from the heat and add to the fruit sauce 1/4 tablespoon powdered Agar dissolved in a 1/4 cup of boiling water.   I added about a teaspoon of chopped orange zest to the mixture after it was removed from the heat.

For the crust I used one cup raw almonds, seven med jool dates, and a dash of salt.   Soak the almonds in water for an hour or so and pulse them with the dates in the food processor until the mixture can be shaped into a ball.  Sprinkle about 2-3 tablespoons of raw coconut shreds at the bottom of a glass pie pan.   Press the almond and date mixture in the pie pan to form a crust on the bottom and up the sides.

Then I just layered sliced fresh strawberries in the crust and poured the strawberry rhubarb sauce over the strawberries.  I kind of mixed them a little to get the sauce distributed.  This will chill in the refrigerator for about an hour to set.  I garnished it with orange zest and a couple cantaloupe flowers from my garden.

I think I will serve it with some cashew lavender creme sauce.  I'll try to remember to post a picture of a slice when I cut it later.

Dairy Free - Lemon, Pinneapple, and Mango Creme Pie

I have been thinking about lemon meringue pie, I used to love it. It is one of my favorite flavors. I had planned on making one yesterday and started looking for alternatives for a healthier version. Lemon Meringue Pie really is just sugar, corn starch, and lemon juice. The Meringue is egg whites and sugar. I really don't want to eat egg whites or that much sugar. Even one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks I have asked for 1½ cups of sugar for the filling and 1/2 cup + 1 tsp cornstarch. I need to change that and get the same or similar flavors. I used a little honey and agave, but then there is the volume to make up so I added more fruit. Before you know it, I had a tropical fruit pie. This is also a raw food, there wasn't any cooking except to dissolve the agar powder.

Crust

I made the crust with 1½ cups raw almonds soaked for an hour or more and 6 medjool dates and about a tablespoon of agave. Blend almonds, dates, and agave together in food processor until there is a mold-able texture. Sprinkle coconut shreds or flakes on the bottom of a pie plate and mold into a crust in the pie pan.

Filling

1 cup raw cashews soaked for an hour or more
3/4 cup coconut milk, more or less depending on texture
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice and zest from two lemons
A small pineapple chopped, chop about 1 cup into bite size and set aside
2 mangos, 1 for the blender, 1 diced into bite size pieces and set aside with pineapple
2 TB Local Honey, or to taste
1 TB Agar powder dissolved in 1 cup boiling water, cooled slightly

Put all the ingredients above in the blender except the chunks of pineapple and mango and the dissolved Agar powder. Puree until smooth and then add to chunks of fruit in large bowl, stir in dissolved Agar. Pour into pie crust. The pie filling will set in a very short time in the refrigerator.

Tofu Whipped Topping
"The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook," page 101

1 cup soft tofu
1/4 cup oil (I used sunflower oil)
2 TB honey, preferably local
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla  (I used fresh vanilla bean, scrape insides)
dash of salt

Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping sides of blender. Whip a little just before serving if needed.

This pie is very similar to our daily smoothie, blended fruit. The addition of the raw cashews and almonds add fiber and protein. This is a meal, not just dessert. We had it for breakfast this morning.