Lemon lovers, are you ready for your new LEMON OBSESSION? This lemon pie! Bursting with bright lemon flavor, this light and creamy low-carb pudding is delicious and simple: NO cooking required! (gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, vegan & paleo!) Jump to Recipe
This recipe is dedicated to Summer, my IG buddy (Hi, Summer!) who gave me the idea to recreate one of her favorite recipes. When she sent me the link to this Luscious Lemon Delight and asked me to make it healthier, I was SO excited to tackle the challenge! I transformed a dessert made with mostly processed foods into a healthy, guilt-free treat using only whole food ingredients-- and NO sugar. I love healthy makeovers 😉
Pie for the Party: Lemon!
Last week, we got to travel to my brother's house in Houston to celebrate all the summer birthdays in my family (including mine! Woot!) I was thrilled to get to bring the birthday "cake" (or birthday PIE!) to share with my fam. (And because I can't eat traditional cakes made due to my ongoing health issues.) But any excuse to make a new dessert, I'm GAME. 🙂
Family-Approved!
Have you ever served a sugar-free dessert to your sugar-eating family? Cue the nerves (for me anyway). Will they know it's sugar-free?? Will they still like it?
But THIS pie was a winner! Devoured in about 2 minutes flat! Yay! I was so happy (and relieved) my family liked it.
I still get nervous when people taste my recipes, ha. Especially since this one is sweetened only with stevia drops (I like this brand!). But I'm proud to report that this pie does NOT have any strange taste that screams "this isn't real sugar." All I taste is the delightfully sweet lemon creaminess.
Gimme Gimme MORE
How to make vibrant gorgeous YELLOW?
Some lemon pies use egg yolks, some use artificial coloring. Neither of those here. I used turmeric! 100% natural and adds a little boost of health benefits, too! Win-win. It's not "required" for the recipe, but it sure does make it pretty 🙂 #ilikepretty
EASY AS PIE
This lemon recipe ranks in my TOP 5 favorite Pretty Pies for SURE. And I still can't get over how simple the recipe is. I love EASY, don't you?
You'll need cashew butter this time, so there's no soaking involved, which makes it quicker.
- Blitz together the crust ingredients and press into a pan.
- For the lemon filling, just whisk & chill!
- Last, don't forget the generous dollops of coconut whipped cream. And a twist of lemon if you wanna make it fancy.
DIY
To save money AND to have a product without any added oils and sugar, you can easily make your own cashew butter. It's simple. Blend 2 cups of raw cashews in a food processor for about 10-15 minutes (scraping down the sides as needed). That's it!
Then LET IT COOL before adding anything to it, and whisk by hand or the mixture can "seize" or curdle or do all kinds of funky stuff.
How to Store
To Store: Keep refrigerated. It should last about a week in the fridge. This pie can also be frozen, but I would freeze it without the whipped cream and garnishes for best results.
More Healthy Pie Makeovers
Cashew butter + lemon + coconut cream. DELISH. I dare you not to lick every drop from your spatula, bowls, whisk, EVERY.SINGLE.THING. Omg, the filling tastes like lemon cake batter! YUM.
If you make it, please tag me on Insta @emily.likes.food, or share your pic on Facebook with the tag #prettypies I'd LOVE to hear what you think =D Your new lemon obsession?
p.s. Do you want to see more recipe makeovers using healthy ingredients? Send them my way so I can re-create something for you!!
Lemon Delight Pie {Low Carb/Paleo/Vegan}
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ¼ cups pecans - or nut of choice
- 1 Tbs coconut oil
- Pinch of Himalayan pink salt
- Splash of water to help blend
- Optional: add 2 medjool dates for sweetness
Lemon Pudding
- 1 cup cashew butter - (I used homemade)
- 1 13..7 oz can Thai Kitchen coconut milk - solid cream only
- 3 ½ Tbs lemon juice
- Zest of 3 lemons (or more) - about 2 Tbs
- 55 drops Sweet Leaf vanilla creme stevia - to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of Himalayan salt - if cashew butter is unsalted
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon turmeric - for color
- ¼ cup coconut milk (optional) - for lighter texture
Coconut Whipped Cream
- 1 can Thai Kitchen coconut milk - solid cream only
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 10 drops Sweet Leaf vanilla creme stevia - to taste
- Garnish lemon twists or wedges - or more zest, chopped pecans, other fruit like berries or kiwi
Instructions
To make the crust:
- Pulse nuts, coconut oil and salt together in a food processor. Add a splash of water to help it blend. (Optional, for sweetness: add in 1-2 medjool dates). Press into a standard size pie plate.
To make the pudding:
- Refrigerate a can of coconut milk overnight. Scoop out the solid coconut cream from a can of coconut milk into a small mixing bowl and whip with a hand mixer until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk cashew butter, lemon juice, zest, stevia, and vanilla until smooth. (*do NOT use a blender or food processor or it can make the texture strange)
- Fold in the coconut whipped cream. Optional: add in ¼ cup full-fat coconut milk for a lighter, fluffier pudding. I liked it better without, but both are good 🙂
- Taste and adjust for sweetness and lemony-ness, adding more stevia or zest, if needed.
- Pour over crust. If you have a spoonful of cream leftover, swirl it around if you're feeling fancy. Then chill pie for 3-4 hours until set.
To make the coconut whipped cream:
- Refrigerate a can of coconut milk overnight.Scoop out the solid cream into a mixing bowl (save the water for a smoothie!) Add vanilla and stevia and whip with a hand mixer for about 30 seconds until fluffy and smooth.
- Decorate pie with whipped cream (I used a small ice cream scoop)
- Garnish with lemon twists/wedges, sliced fruit, extra zest or chopped nuts. Enjoy! 🙂
Notes
Want more Healthy LEMON Desserts?
And if you love lemon, be sure to check out my other lemon recipes!
Therese
Are these American or British cup measurements?
Emily
American
Lizzy
When you're talking about the cans of coconut milk do you just want the solids scooped out and then you don't use the milk or do you want us to use a can of coconut cream (which is all solid)?
Emily
Yes just the solid cream. Or you can buy cans of just the cream by itself 🙂
Daisy
I have the can of solid cream. How much do I use?
\
Emily
It's usually around a 7-8oz can, so the whole thing 🙂 (3/4 - 1 cup)
Daisy
Thanks so much for the swift reply!
Emily
You are welcome!
Ames
This sounds so amazing, I can hardly wait to try it!
Emily
Thanks! Hope you enjoy it! One of my favorites
Courtney
I’m allergic to stevia. Could you use maple syrup or honey? And if so how much? Thank you!
Emily
I don't recommend a liquid sweetener here, since it might make it soupy. I would use powdered coconut sugar (if you don't have powdered, you can blend it in a small blender for 10 seconds to make a powder)
Try 1/4 cup powdered sugar and taste to see if that's sweet enough. You can always add more. If you make it, let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Jacqueline
I love how you include " taste to see if sweet enough" most people think their food is going to come out magical.. no you have to taste taste. I cant wait to try thus recipe..ill let you know how it turned out.
Emily
Thanks! Yes definitely alllways taste as you go one of the best parts of raw desserts. Hope you enjoy!
Julie
Can you give me the nutritional breakdown ie: how many carbs per slice?
Emily
Sure! 8.7 net carbs per slice without garnish.
353 cal
32 fat
total carb 12.3
fiber 3.5
protein 7.6
Toni
Lately, I've been substituting essential lemon or orange oil instead of zest. Saves so much time! Do you think that would work here?
Emily
Yes that should work! I would still use the lemon juice though 🙂
Side note- if you have a microplane zester it takes a fraction of the time to get all the yummy zest! Seriously life changing