A Healthier Pie Crust

The DH has created a healthier "press-in" pie crust that I wanted to share with you. I'm anticipating a few of you will be cooking pumpkin pies over the next few days. Cooking with the DH is an experience in artistic expression. He's a very good cook; a very intuitive cook. I'm a not-so-great cook (at least that's a convenient excuse) and I'm very literal when it comes to recipes. Learning to make something that the DH has created is a bit of a challenge for me. :-) The DH patiently attempted to quantify his amounts, but these are still a bit shaky.

Here's the health scoop on this pie crust. It's made with whole wheat as its base and includes oats and flaxseed meal (heart-healthy), plus whole flax seeds (for visual appeal), sunflowers (for taste and texture) and cornmeal (for texture - can replace with whole wheat). The DH also uses olive oil instead of lard, Crisco or butter.

Don't expect your Grandma's flaky crust. Think of this as a crunchy granola base. The sunflowers add a really nice nuttiness. I actually prefer this variety over its white-flour cousin, but this variety may not be for everyone.

Below is a photo that shows the crust. We used a spring form pan for the pie so that we could remove the outer edge and feature the pretty textures in the crust. The pie looks slanted, but it's my shooting alignment that's the problem.















The DH's Healthy Pie Crust

1 + 1/8 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 + cup sunflower seeds (the plus denotes an area where the DH added a little more because he just "felt like it needed it")

1/16 cup flax seeds (whole)

1/4+ cup oats

1/4 cup flax seed meal

1/4 cup corn meal

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup milk (or soy milk or water) - may need a little extra

Mix dry ingredients well, then add oil and milk. Mix together with a fork until it's the consistency of cookie dough. May need to add a little extra milk. Form into 2 balls. Press into pie pan. If using spring form, make a wall around the edge (see photo). Add your pie filling and bake per pie instructions.

Notes:

1 - The crust could easily be made Vegan by replacing the milk with soy milk or water. (The DH uses water sometimes and I can't tell the difference.)

2 - If you are using a springform pan, fit a piece of parchment paper (lightly greased) to the bottom before pressing in the pie. This will help you remove the pie from the bottom of the pan.