Grandma’s Strawberry Pie – GF!
I adapted my grandma’s fresh strawberry pie recipe to use gluten free flour, and it’s great, quick, and easy (make the crust right in the pie pan). You can also use it to make fresh peach pie – yummm to both! My son Nathan requests it for his birthday “cake”, and it is a healthier dessert. (However, I work to only have fresh fruit for dessert on most days, and then just occasionally have dark chocolate or this pie. Most sweets have NO nutritional value, and are just empty calories and waist enlargers!)
I will start with the main recipe, and then below is the GF flour recipe. This light flour mix is mainly for desserts and pastries (like crepe’s) because it is too refined. You can make a batch and keep it in a tight container in your pantry or in your freezer. I had tried some premade GF flours or plain brown or white rice flours in this pie crust, but they were not as good.
Pie Crust for 8 inch Pie – Mix in pie pan with fork. Press into crust. Use your fingers to indent top of crust. Fork a couple side and bottom areas (so when baking doesn’t shrink from edge of pan). Bake at 425 for 14-18 minutes until you see it’s done (lightly browned in some areas). Cool.
1 ½ c flour (my GF mix or if you don’t have to be GF then regular wheat flour)
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
½ cup canola oil
2 Tbs any type milk
Homemade Filling – but I use the pre-bought regular gel (to cut calories and sugar I just use 1/3 package for each pie)
1 c sugar
3 Tbs corn starch
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp white Karo
1 c water
Cook over stove until thick or desired consistency (constantly stirring), then immediately add 2 Tbs strawberry jello (or if making fresh peach pie use peach jello). Let filling cool before pouring over fruit.
Cut strawberries or peaches (about 1 ½ quarts, rinsed – dried – cut in half for strawberries, or sliced with some Fresh Fruit for peaches). Mix the filling through the strawberries and put into the cooled crust. Keep in refrigerator until you are ready to enjoy. You can serve with some ice cream (like vanilla coconut ice cream for those with dairy allergies) or whipped cream. (August is a great time for fresh peach pie here in Indiana.) Enjoy!!!
