It's my FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR!!! It's pi day!!! Pie is my favorite food.... no kidding. My favorite food ever. I love all kinds... blueberry, apple, key lime, chess, pecan, raspberry, chocolate, lemon, but most especially BLACKBERRY. So in honor of this most amazing holiday... I made a blackberry lemon zest pie!!

Here's the catch.... it's actually pretty healthy! (well, maybe not healthy... but it's at least not terrible for you!) It's gluten-free.... organic... and it has a bit less sugar than other "healthy" pie recipes! So you can feel a little less guilty indulging!! I even served it with dairy-free almond milk vanilla ice cream!! yummmmm....

This is the first time I've ever made a gluten-free pie crust from scratch, so I was a little anxious about how it would turn out... I used a regular pie recipe I have (why I didn't specifically use a gluten-free recipe I have no idea... so silly) but I adjusted it to fit my gluten-free flour. It helps when the dough is chilled in the fridge, but I got a little impatient and just went for it... it definitely turned out a bit more "rustic" than I had hoped... I love a perfectly pinched edge... but it tasted so good I didn't even care!

I will also mention, because it makes QUITE the difference... I used an 8" cast iron skillet.. so it's a bit smaller than a typical pie tin... but if you skip hand making the crust and just go with a packaged kind, you should be fine!

Anyway... below is the recipe and I hope you enjoy making my favorite dessert... with a healthy little twist!

crust:

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (I used glutino brand)

2 tblsp organic brown sugar

1/2 tsp organic cinnamon

1/2 cup + 1/2 tblsp warm water

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt

6 tblsp grass fed butter

1 1/2 tbsp organic coconut oil

filling:

3 - 6oz containers of organic blackberries

1/4 cup organic sugar

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

1/2 tbsp organic agave syrup

1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt

3 tbsp arrowroot powder

2 tbsp grass fed butter softened

lemon zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

First you want to get your dough made and chilling in the fridge while you work on the filling...

to make crust:

1. combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl

2. fold in butter, coconut oil and warm water... mixing with a fork until dough ball forms...

(it's beneficial if you know a bit what to look for in a pie crust... it needs to be soft enough that it won't break apart easily, but firm enough that it holds its shape against the edge of the pan)

3. leave the dough in the fridge while you work on the filling!

to make filling:

1. wash berries (duh!)

2. melt butter in saucepan (I used my wok...) add berries and heat over medium temperature

3. once the berries get a little soft mash them with a large wooden spoon against the side of the pan

4. stir in both sugars, salt, agave syrup, and lemon zest... bring to a simmer

5. slowly stir in arrowroot until the mixture thickens... turn temp to low and return to making crust

Rub coconut oil inside the pie pan.

Roll crust out to about 1/4" thick and place into the pie pan (if your dough isn't chilled enough, which mine was not, you can place a lump in the bottom of the pan and mash along the bottoms and side to about 1/4" thick) using a fork, poke holes all around the bottom of the crust.

Use the excess dough to make a lattice... or like me, you can cut it into little flower shapes or stars or letters or get creative!!

Pour in filling and place topping crust... brush on a little melted butter (or a bit of egg white for a nice glaze, I wish I had but this time I skipped it) and sprinkle on a bit of sugar!

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes depending on thickness of crust (or bake to directions of packaged dough!) until the crust is nice and brown and the filling is hot and bubbly!

Let pie cool before cutting to help keep the filling from running too much and serve with your favorite ice cream!!

HAPPY PI DAY EVERYONE!!!!