My son is 15! And while I hate the idea of sugar filled birthdays, I DO still want to treat my kids to some yummy scrumptiousness on their special days. My oldest healed from a nut issue when he was younger, but we're still ultra-sensitive to make sure his exposure is limited, and he for sure doesn't eat nuts. Plus, I like to feed my family grain and sugar free whenever possible. In many grain free crusts the crust is made from nuts or nut flours, so coming up with pies and desserts is sometimes a trick for this boy! He loves Banana Cream Pie, so what I settled on was making my own version of a graham cracker crust that is gluten and sugar free. It's a bit of a compromise in the fact that it uses corn flakes, but the end result is fantastic. The dough holds firm, not crumbly, and the crunchiness gives the illusion of biting through sugar, so you almost feel guilty with your indulgence. The cool thing is that afterward, you don't have that sick over-sugared belly thing going on.
Here's the GF Graham Cracker Crust I came up with, and the recipe for the full Banana Cream Pie follows.
GF Graham Cracker Crust
1/4 cup dates
1 1/2 cups corn flakes, (find a good source not laden with refined sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash salt
1/4 cup flax meal
Pulverize all together in a food processor and add 4 Tablespoons butter or coconut oil (cold).
Press the crust into a pan (I used a 9x9, does not need to be greased) and bake at 350° for approximately 10 minutes. Let this cool. Can be used for a multitude of fillings for pies.
If you're really excited about this dough, you can use it to spread thinner on a cookie sheet, cut into squares and make your own graham crackers!
GF Banana Cream Birthday Pie
One crust, above, cooled
Spread sliced bananas on top of the crust
I used 1 package of Organic Nature's Hand instant vanilla pudding mix with 2 cups of coconut milk. Pour into cooled crust on top of bananas.
Add 1 container of coconut milk cool whip (you can also use TruWhip. It at least is high fructose corn syrup free) on top.
Refrigerate until ready to serve, ideally 1-2 hours so the pudding can firm up.
