Lemon Meringue Pie with a Nut-free + Grain-free Pie Crust

May 18, 2014 by Leanne Vogel November 2, 2018

Healthier lemon meringue pie with a grain-free + nut-free crust, filled with a tart lemon curd filling and topped with billows of meringue.

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 small organic granny smith apple, roughly chopped (yield approx. ¾ cup)
• 1 tablespoons + 1 teaspoons organic coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons coconut nectar
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon roughly ground flax seed or milled flax seed
• ¼ cup organic sunflower seeds, ground finely

Lemon Curd Filling

• 1 cup cane sugar
• ¼ cup tapioca starch/flour
• 1 cup water
• 6 large free range egg yolks
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin coconut oil

Meringue

• 4 large free range egg whites, at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/3 cup cane sugar
• 3 tablespoons organic icing sugar, sifted

Instructions

1. To make the crust: Preheat oven to 225F and lightly oil a 9-inch pie pan with a dab of coconut oil. Set aside. Add apple, oil, nectar and extract to the bowl of your food processor. Process until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and process until mixed through. Transfer mixture to the pan and mold into the pan, pressing up the edges. Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes. When finished, remove from the oven and allow piecrust to cool complete.
2. To make the lemon curd filling: Once piecrust has cooled, begin preparing lemon curd. Add the sugar and starch in a medium-sized saucepan. Whisk in water and Energy28. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking will it cooks until the mixture is glossy. Pour a cup of the hot mix in with the egg yolks and stir well. Transfer this mixture to the saucepan. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat, whisk in coconut oil. Then, pour into the cooled pie shell. Cover to keep hot while you prepare the meringue.
3. To prepare the meringue: add egg whites and cream of tartar to the bowl of your high-powered stand mixer. Whip on medium speed until foamy, then increase speed to high while you gradually add in the sugar and powdered sugar. Continue to whip until medium peaks form.
4. Remove the wrapping from the hot lemon filling, then dollop half of the meringue onto the top of the pie. Spread the meringue so that it completely covers the lemon filling and connects with the outside crust, then use a bamboo skewer or paring knife to swirl the meringue just a touch (this will secure it to the lemon curd). Dollop the remaining meringue onto the pie and use the back of your spatula to lift up the meringue to create peaks.
5. Bake the pie for about 20 minutes at 325 F, until the meringue is nicely browned. Cool the meringue completely to room temperature before chilling for at least 4 hours.

Notes

Paleo – to make this recipe paleo, opt for using coconut sugar instead of cane sugar. The reason I used cane sugar for this recipe was to keep the lemon curd a bright yellow color. Using coconut sugar will affect the color of the curd, but not the taste.
Energy28 – if you do not have Energy28, feel free to replace with equal amount of water.

Nutrition Information Per Serving