Wow that was one beautiful Easter weekend. I’ve been promising my husband, Ervin, that I would whip him up a sugar free pie, for the last month. I chose to use the super easy way and use banana pudding. One problem that has occurred has been acquiring sugar free puddings other than chocolate, vanilla and cheesecake.
I went on line and placed an order with Walmart for my sugar-free banana pudding. On the box there were instructions for pudding not pie. I used common sense and reduced the amount of milk to 1 1/2 cups of milk per box.
One factor I was worried about was whether the pie would be ‘too’ sweet, since I had removed liquid. My husband assured me it was just fine.
Could I have made a pie filling from scratch? Absolutely, but I will be 100% honest and tell you it is not always easy figuring out how much sugar substitute to use. It also holds some cooks back from making a pie for those with special dietary needs. The top of my Easter pie was Whipped Cream, but meringue would work too. Just remember to keep the temperature of the filling and meringue close in degrees. I was able to make this Easter morning and serve it mid-afternoon. If meringue had been implemented I’m not sure it could have been cut that soon.
For the crust I went with a Voortman sugar-free cookie acquired from Dollar General. It was what I call an ice-cream wafer cookie. Voortman also makes a standard sugar style cookie. It will have a small amount of carbohydrates, but no straight sugar. Just like a graham cracker crust, combine the finely crumbled cookies with the melted butter and gently press into a standard 9-inch pie pan. By the way, Voortman also makes a chocolate and strawberry wafer cookie. Making it real easy to pull together a chocolate pie or strawberry pie/dessert.
I rinsed my bananas quickly with white pop, draining immediately. This step I will not do again, it still made the bananas a tad mushy. Next time I will use something like fruit fresh to keep the banana from turning.
Another suggestion would be to use a small mixer on the pudding or a hand held submersible blender, which is the method I chose. This culminated the cream cheese and puddings together without any lumps.
There’s room here to create all kinds of interesting desserts for the sugar-free on your list. Think how special you would make someone feel if you made a pie just for them!
This week I’m creating a new turkey pasta salad for a co-worker’s birthday.
I’ll try to make myself write it down so I have a new recipe for the column.
This pasta salad will not be the norm, it will contain fresh fruits and a creamy dressing. This makes me excited to come home and cook tomorrow night.
Enjoy the glorious weather! Simply yours, The Covered Dish.
www.thecovereddish.com
Sugar-Free Banana Pie
2 1/4 cups crumbled sugar free cookies*
1/4 cup melted butter
2 pkgs. banana sugar-free pudding (.09 oz.)
3 cups milk
4 ounces softened cream cheese
2 large bananas, sliced thin
Whipped Cream or Meringue Top
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place cookies inside a strong plastic bag and crumble with a rolling pin. Keep crumbling until you have 2 full cups, plus maybe a quarter cup. Mix crumbs into butter and coat evenly. Press into 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the oven. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Whisk together the 2 pkgs. of pudding with the milk. Soften the cream cheese and blend together until smooth. Allow to set and firm. Slice 1 banana across the bottom of the pie and cover with half of the filling. Layer in the remaining sliced banana, and cover with the last half of the pudding. Cover making sure none of the bananas are exposed to the air.
For refrigeration I placed 4 toothpicks on top and covered the pie with saran.
Upon serving I dolloped on the whipped cream, which was commercial this time, not homemade.
You’ve still got some fat and a few carbs slipping in, but the heavy sugars have been kept at bay. Enjoy.
