I started making a vegan lemon pie years ago, while visiting my parents for the winter holidays. In November, their citrus trees start producing more fruit than my parents can use, so by December they’re giving fruit away by the bagful. And since my father has a big sweet-tooth (which E. and I have inherited), he’s always looking for ways to transform those lemons, oranges, and other citrus into sugary desserts.
One year, he wanted a lemon pie, and my parents, being the gracious hosts that they are, suggested that I make it for him. I guess it doesn’t sound so gracious when I put it that way, but what they really wanted was a vegan pie that all of us could enjoy. So I found a recipe for vegan lemon pie filling in the classic Farm Vegetarian Cookbook, and the rest is history.
But it’s a history that keeps evolving. The family citrus grove seems to produce more calamondins than any other fruit (calamondins are the little smaller-than-ping-pong-ball fruits that I wrote about here and which you can see here), so a few years ago, in an effort to do something with them, I started using them instead of lemons in the pie recipe. They’re a little less tart than lemons, so the pie has less of a bite, but they do have the advantage of having a very thin rind, so the peel can just be chopped up instead of zested. The only drawback is their size: I had to juice 18 of the tiny things just to get the juice for this one pie!
I developed a new crust for the pie this year, based on an oatmeal cookie recipe, and I really believe that this is the best fat-free pie crust that I’ve ever had. Similar to a graham cracker crust, it holds up well when sliced and has a nice crumb. Now, having said that, I’m going to warn you that it’s still a fat-free crust, so to people expecting a fat-free crust it will taste great, but to the general public it may taste a little strange. If you’re going to be making this pie for other people, you might want to consider using a traditional pastry or graham cracker crust, but if you’re limiting your fat or gluten intake, this is the crust for you!
Fat-Free Oatmeal Cookie Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quick oats use gluten-free oats, if necessary
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour may use whole wheat flour or a mixture of unbleached and whole wheat
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons natural sugar
- 1/4 cup apple sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly oil a 9-inch glass pie pan. (Recipe hasn't been tested in other baking pans or without oiling the pan; omit oil at your own risk.)
- Put the oats into a food processor or blender and process until finely ground. Add the remaining dry ingredients and blend well. Transfer to a bowl and add the apple sauce. Stir well until completely combined.
- Put the mixture into the pie pan, and starting at the center, flatten and press it with moistened fingers until it evenly covers the bottom and extends up the sides of the pan as far as possible.
- Put it in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, until it it is crisp but not overdone. Set aside to cool before filling.
Nutritional info is approximate.
Calamondin or Lemon Pie Filling
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon agar agar powder or 1 more tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup soymilk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup calamondin or lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped calamondin rind
Instructions
- Combine sugar, cornstarch, agar, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in the soymilk and water until completely combined. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. (Please do not leave it even for a minute or you may have lumps and burned pieces in your pie filling!)
- When it reaches a boil, turn the heat to low and continue to cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and slowly stir in the calamondin juice and chopped rind. When well-mixed, pour into the pie crust. (If you have any extra, pour it into small bowls for a crust-free dessert.) Chill until set. May be served with vegan whipped topping, if you have any.
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Tom
I made the lemon pie version but I can't have a lot of sugar, so I subbed one cup maple syrup for the sugar. I only used 1/4 cup water due to the added moisture of the syrup. It's delicious, very light and very lemony, sweet but tart. The oatmeal crust is fantastic, I don't see how anyone, vegan or not, could object.
amby
I made this using grapefruit and oranges and it was good. It was a little to sweet for me though. Next time i will use half the sugar. Good recipe. I love the crust.
Jelli Bean
Made this pie, loved this pie (lemon version). I made a little oil-applesauce sub in the cookie crust, because we didn't have the applesauce. We loved it!
Kim
Susan, this crust looks awesome. I have been wanting a good fat free crust for a while. One thing: I can't do sugar, have you ever tried making this crust sugar free? I'll probably throw in a little stevia to sweeten instead. I saw the conversion suggestions for agave, but since I wont be subbing the sugar with a comparable volume of another sweetener, do you think I need to add a little more flour or oats to make up for that missing volume? Thanks!
-Kim // affairsofliving.blogspot.com
SusanV
Kim, you might try a combination of flour and cornstarch (about 1 teaspoon) instead of the brown sugar. Please let me know how it comes out!
Sheila
Tried a half batch of the crust tonight using brown rice flour and it was yummy!! Had trouble getting it pressed into my rectangle pan so it was a little to thick for a good "crust". It was however, perfect for a thin bar cookie!! I'll try making it thinner tomorrow for a crust and maybe a little thicker for a bar cookie in the future. Thanks for a great recipe!!!
Esther
Another delicious lemon pie filling recipe! ( From Guilt Free Gourmet- Vicki Griffin)
Mix in blender till very smooth-
– 20 0z. can pineapple with juice ( crushed or chunk)
-1/2c. water
– 1 med. peeled orange- no seeds
-6 T cornstarch
-6-7 T agave or sweetener of choice
– 1/2t. lemon extract
– 4-6 T. fresh lemon juice
Thicken in saucepan over med. heat
wrench
i made this pie crust tonight. or i tried. i followed the recipe exactly but it was really wet and came out almost cake like. it rose. wtf. im about to do some major improv
Sasha
I have got loads of lemons left over from blueberry muffin baking and they are all going to get used up in the scrimptious looking pie. Thank you!
Anastasia
what is “natural sugar”? what else can be used instead?
SusanV
By “natural sugar,” I mean sugar that hasn’t been processed through bone char to remove the color. It could be turbinado or demerara sugars or the vegan, granulated sugar made by companies like Florida Crystals. If you want, you can just use plain old sugar. 🙂
tammay
Susan, this looks awesome! I was trying to find a fat free vegan pie crust and I love lemon pies! Just one question – rather than use oatmeal and grind it up in a blender, is it possible to use oat bran, since the consistency is quite fine? If so, how much do you think should we use?
Tam
SusanV
Since I haven’t made it with oat bran, I would probably just use the same amount as the oats. If the mixture seems too runny, you could always add more. Good luck!
Ana
Thanks a lot for this wonderful pie. It’s not only easy but delicious as well. All my family is impressed with my new acquired cooking skills.
Anne Schneider
according to my calculations on caloriecounter.com about 160 calories per serving (12 servings). Is that accurate?
natalie
Is apple butter a substitute for applesauce?
SusanV
Apple butter will give a strong cinnamon and spice flavor to the crust, so if that doesn’t bother you, you can use it.
Laloofah
Susan,
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m making this pie crust for a pumpkin pie to take to a vegan Thanksgiving neighborhood get together tomorrow and am wondering if you think I can substitute sucanat for the packed brown sugar? I have plenty of sucanat, but no brown sugar and town’s a half hour drive and it’s -15º out. (Not that I’m trying to influence your answer! 😉 If you think brown sugar is what it needs than brown sugar is what I’ll use. Teach me not to plan ahead better!)
Thank you!
SusanV
Do you have any agave nectar, maple syrup, or other liquid sugar. If you do, then I would use the sucanat and add a tablespoon or two of the liquid sweetener, just to give it some stickiness. Try it first with the sucanat, and if it feels more crumbly than sticky, add the liquid. Good luck, and let me know how it comes out!
Laloofah
Susan, thank you so much! I do have agave nectar as well as maple syrup, so I’m going to try your trick with the agave nectar and see how that goes, and I will definitely let you know! I really appreciate your help – and your prompt response!
Dixter
Eliminating the link to the lemon pie filling the day before Thanksgiving and replacing it with a buy link to Amazon was not kind! Now what do I do? I planned to make this for Thanksgiving.
SusanV
Um, I don’t know what you’re talking about it, but I’ll check into it.
SusanV
The link to the lemon pie is still there. It’s http://fatfreevegan.com/blog/2010/03/05/lemon-pie-filling/ . I hope you see this in time to make it for Thanksgiving.
Dixter
Thanks Susan. I’m probably just in a first plant based Thanksgiving panic.
The crust just went into the oven.
SusanV
Great! Hope you enjoy it! And happy first plant-based Thanksgiving! 🙂
Sharon
I had the same result as Wrench. It was too goopy to go up the sides and then it rose like a cake. Disaster! What did I do wrong? I thought I followed the recipe exactly.
I have just enough time and flour to try again.
SusanV
Sharon, I’m sorry about your bad results and hesitate to tell you to try again. But, if you do, I would use more oats and flour to make it less goopy and then prick it with a fork all over before baking.
Or if you want to play it safe, use a store-bought graham cracker crust. I would hate for you to waste more time and ingredients.
Laloofah
Susan, I just hoovered up a piece of my pumpkin pie and that crust is superb! I ended up only having to add 1/2 TBSP of agave nectar to get the crust batter moist and sticky enough to spread in my 9″ glass pie dish. I was a little concerned about having to bake it all for an hour, but the crust didn’t burn at all. And I honestly don’t think you need that caveat about it being a fat-free crust that the general public might find strange! I agree with your first commenter Tom’s last remark.
So today was my “dress rehearsal” (any excuse for extra pumpkin pie, lol) and tomorrow I’ll be baking this in a 10″ pie dish. I noticed that I spread the batter quite a bit further up the sides of my pie plate than is shown in your photo, and probably as a result it turned out a little thinner than I’d like for this rich and substantial pie (I needed every millimeter of that crust height to hold my filling, though!) So tomorrow I plan to make a little extra batter (maybe 1.5 times the measurements) and spread a bit thicker crust. But that’s the only change I plan to make. The sucanat and agave trick worked great! Thanks again!
I’m wondering if there is any chance that Wrench and Sharon might have mistakenly used baking powder instead of soda. How mystifying their crust was goopy and rose like that!
April at Kitchen Blender Reviews
I am so glad you have a fat free pie crust! I just bought a graham cracker crust to make your pumpkin cheese cake, but I believe I will try this pie crust for your egg nog cheese cake. I knew there had to be a pie crust with out butter or crisco!!!
I have been making your impossible pumpkin pies that do not call for crust until I found one…I just had to keep searching your sight.
Oh, are kumquats similar to the Calamondins you mentioned above? The kumquats grow really well here in the south…sounds similar…I may try that in this recipe.
Ellen
I make a calamondin pie that is similar to this one. Instead of juicing the fruit and them chopping the rind, I just remove the seeds and then then put the whole fruit into the food processor for a moment and make a sort of slurry out of it. Saves a lot of time and is so much easier.
michelle
where are the nutrition facts for this recipe? can they be posted? thanks!
Kathleen @ Kat's Health Corner
Your crust looks amazing! YUM YUM YUM!!!
-Kathleen @ katshealthcorner.wordpress.com
Karen
I really want to try this recipe! I need to eat gluten free and my husband LOVES pie, the unhealthier the better, so I’m desperate to find a recipe he’ll like that I can and want to eat. My question is if this crust is one that you can press in and fill, then bake (like blueberry or apple), or if you have to pre-bake it, then fill it, then finish baking. Would the crust burn? Most of my pies weren’t fill and chill, so’s to speak.
Thanks!
Diana
I won first place in a contest with this crust and a variation of the lemon pie! The only change I made to the crust was to use whole wheat pastry flour in place of the sorghum. For the lemon pie filling, the only changes were rice milk instead of soy and the addition of grated ginger root (about 1 Tbs). I also placed a layer of fresh blueberries on the crust before pouring the filling over, so I called it lemon ginger surprise pie. Many people were surprised that it was practically fat free.
Thanks for the great recipes. This is one of the first places I point new vegans and is definitely one of the first places I check for recipes for myself. I love your commitment to healthy, delicious vegan food.
Con Conz
does that small amount of apple sauce actually work? i just tried it, and it was still bone dry. Is your apple sauce thin? coz mine looks kinda chunky
SusanV
The apple sauce I use is pretty thin and smooth, so that may be the problem.
Con Conz
Hmmm mine was mostly chunks! I geuss English apple sauce is different? I might try blending it next time, or adding a shed load of agave nectar.
shawn vise
Can’t wait to try! I have a 5 foot tree growing lots of fruit! Thanks for shareing!!!
Jenn
I have used your oatmeal cookie crust for my pumpkin-apple pie. It turned out delicious. I did grease the plate before I put the crust down. The crust stayed in tact when I s;iced, and even the kids thought it was tasty. Thanks for providing a healthy option.
Jessica
I’m really eager to make this but wondering about some of the subs I’m considering as this is my first go: I’m using regular old fashioned rolled oats, rice flour, and could I sub almond meal + stevia for the 1/4c brown sugar + 2tbsp natural sugar? If so, what would the quantities have to look like?
You advised one poster to add flour + cornstarch instead of the brown sugar…did you mean 1/4c flour + 1tsp cornstarch?
Thank you!
SusanV
I’m afraid to offer an opinion because I would just be guessing. The almond meal-stevia combo might work, but I don’t know how much stevia to suggest because all brands of stevia are different. You could just add it to taste. (I would use 1/4 of the almond meal.) And yes, those are the proportions of flour and cornstarch I would suggest. Good luck!
Anna
First of all, thank you for posting this! I am so excited to try this out. I have a question though. I really hate soymilk and any other milk substitute, so do you think substituting the soymilk with orange juice or lemon juice would still work?
Susan Voisin
That should work, though it won’t be as creamy. How do you feel about coconut milk?