I made a fairly successful, low-carb, crustless buttermilk pie a while back. It turned out more like a custard, and the flour substitute that I used rose to the top, forming something like an upside-down pie. It tasted yummy, though, so who cares how it looks?!  😉

Since that experiment, I started thinking about how to modify a pie crust so that I could make a “real” pie to take to holiday potlucks, etc. I’m happy to report that tonight’s experiment was another success! I’ll share the crust recipe with you first, then explain the changes I made to the pie filling:

Low-carb crust:

1 c. Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb Baking Mix
1/2 c. flaxseed meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. shortening
4-5 Tbsp. water

Sift dry ingredients (I stirred with a fork). Cut in shortening until size of small peas. Sprinkle water 1 Tbsp at a time until mixture is moist. Form into a ball. Flatten on floured surface (I used another couple of Tbsp of Bob’s mix) & roll. Rolling didn’t work too well for me, so I just transferred it to a pie plate and pressed evenly to shape.

Bake at 425 for 5 minutes; set aside.

Pie filling:

My original buttermilk pie recipe only calls for 3 Tbsp of flour, but I was distracted tonight (I have five boys who kept peppering me with questions while I was trying to bake; cut me some slack! :p ), and I accidentally measured out the same as the crust. I didn’t realize it till after I had added the Splenda (which was all I had on hand!), so I had to figure out what to do. I measured out 1/2 c. of the Bob’s mix/flaxseed meal/Splenda and set aside the rest to make a batch of low-carb muffins in the morning. I also completely forgot to add the baking powder, but I think Bob’s Baking Mix compensated, because it didn’t seem to matter. So, with that caveat for my Oops, here’s what I ended up using (approximately):

2 Tbsp. Splenda

1/4 c. Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb Baking Mix

2 Tbsp. flaxseed meal

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 eggs

1/4 c. butter (softened)

1 c. buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients; whisk in eggs, vanilla, buttermilk and softened butter. Pour into partially baked pie crust (see above). Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I’m not kidding y’all … the crust was dense enough but flaky and very flavorful. The pie fluffed up like a “real” pie, and even though I didn’t use as much Splenda/sugar as the original recipe, I found it pleasantly sweet. (I ate two slices tonight, if that’s any indication!)  :p