Strawberry Pie

Strawberry Pie

A fresh strawberry pie is super easy to make and you’ll never have to throw away any leftovers!

My husband is a diabetic, so I’m always trying to limit the amount of sugar and carbs we eat. It’s not always easy to come up with a dessert that’s tasty and lower in calories, but a reduced-sugar fresh strawberry pie is one where artificial sweeteners work well.

For the standard strawberry pie recipe, I just substitute Swerve, granular style, instead of sugar.

Swerve is more expensive than other sugar substitutes that I’ve tried, but it doesn’t have that after-taste. No one ever notices when I use it instead of real sugar!

Swerve is available in granular, brown sugar, and a confectioner’s style. I keep all three in my pantry and they all measure as equal amounts to the real thing.

I’ve included my Amazon affiliate link for Swerve Sugar Replacement Granular in case you can’t find it at your grocery store. (An Amazon affiliate link pays me a very small amount if you click on the link and purchase. It doesn’t add anything to the cost of the product you purchase from Amazon. Amazon pays for the advertising.)

Now, this pie isn’t completely sugar-free because I did use a whipped topping. And of course, it still contains some carbs. But you could always leave off the whipped topping or just add a dollop to each pie slice.

Ingredients – The recipe Makes 2 Pies

Step 1

Bake the frozen pie shells until golden brown. There are different ways to keep a pie shell from puffing up in the center, but I usually just use a fork to make a few holes after the pie has baked a little. Don’t do it to start with, the frozen pie shell will crack. You can also go to the trouble of placing some time foil on the shell and weighing it down with something like dried beans. You can even pie actual pie weights!

I don’t have any of these, but they would be handy if you baked pies frequently.

Let the pie crusts cool completely. This is an important step.

Step 2

Wash and hull the strawberries and drain them on paper towels. Pat dry. If the strawberries are very large, you might want to halve them.

Step 3

Mix the sugar substitute and cornstarch together with a whisk and add to the water in a medium saucepan. If you prefer not to use a sugar substitute, a cup of real sugar works. The measurements for Swerve and sugar are the same.

Continue stirring with a whisk over medium heat until the mixture thickens.

In a pinch, if you don’t have any cornstarch, you can substitute flour. The mixture won’t be as transparent as that with cornstarch, but it will thicken up.

If your mixture doesn’t seem to be getting thick enough, add more cornstarch. But don’t just add a spoonful to the pan, you won’t be able to get rid of the lumps. Take some of the liquid out and add a spoonful of cornstarch, stir it well, and then add to the mixture. It may still lump a little, but not as much if you just dumped a spoonful of cornstarch in the mixture.

Once the mixture has thickened, remove it from the heat and add the sugar-free jello. Again, if you prefer you can add regular jello. Let the mixture cool completely.

Step 4

After the pie crusts for your strawberry pie have completely cooled, layer the strawberries in the crusts. The measurement on the strawberries is a guess! I’m pretty sure it was more than a quart for the two pies, but I’m not a recipe blogger, and well…that’s my excuse)))

I had strawberries that we had gotten at a farmer’s market in Alabama and was trying to use them up while they were fresh.

Step 5

Pour the cooled mixture over the strawberries. You may have to just spoon it over the strawberries. It may make a prettier pie if you pour the mixture over the strawberries while it’s warm, but it soaks up in the pie crust and makes it soggy. So I wait.

If it seems you have too much mixture for your strawberry pie (you don’t want it running off the edge), just pour the excess into a pudding dish and add some strawberries or other fruit.

My pie shells were not the deep-dish style. In fact, I think I made this recipe stretch to make two pies if my memory serves me.

Step 6

Top the cooled pie with whipped topping. I usually make my own topping with whipping cream and Swerve Confectioners Sugar, but today I used what I had at hand, a thawed-out whipped topping. My homemade looks better! Refrigerate and serve cold. This pie freezes well too.

This strawberry pie is probably my husband’s favorite pie. I should make it more often but we do try to limit our desserts….hard as it is!

If you have any questions or comments just leave me a note. Love hearing from readers)))

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