Strawberry Shortbread Pie

I have never been a big fan of pie crust. It never has enough flavor to warrant all the calories for me. However, I do love salty, sweet shortbread. So when making this strawberry pie I decided to top it with crumbled up shortbread cookie dough and let me just tell you…it is so good! You have to try it too. You will never want to go back to boring old pie crust.

The flax seeds in this recipe are optional. I like that it give the pie a little healthy boost, but my picky kids (3 & 6) haven't learned to like them...yet.

Makes: 4 servings

Preparation time: 20m
Cooking time: 20m
Total time: 1h

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chopped strawberries (or apples, or whatever berries you can find)
  • 1 cup apple sauce
  • 6 ounces flour
  • 4 ounces butter (softened)
  • 2 ounces granulated sugar (or xylitol or monkfruit sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt (or similar flaky salt)
  • 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (optional)

Equipment: four (8 ounce) ramekins, 2 medium-sized bowls

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
  2. In one bowl toss the chopped strawberries with the applesauce and flaxseeds. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl use your fingers to combine the flour, butter, sugar and salt until it forms a dough (this is the shortbread crumble). It works best if you squeeze the dough in your hands to mix it.
  4. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet then divide the strawberry mixture between them. They should be 1/2 to 3/4 full.
  5. Top with the shortbread crumble. Use your fingers to crumble the dough on top of the strawberry mixture.
  6. Bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes until the strawberry mixture starts to bubble up and the shortbread topping starts to turn golden. Make sure to remove the ramekins from the oven before the shortbread burns.
  7. Let cool 10 minutes before eating.