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Our Best Healthy Pie Recipes

Our Best Healthy Pie Recipes

January 18, 2017

Credit: Photo: Andrew Purcell

Some slices of pie can chalk up more than 700 calories and 25 grams of fat, but everyone enjoys splurging in a slice every once in a while. Our pie recipes are every bit as flavorful as full-fat, high-calorie varieties, but we've found creative, delicious ways to cut grams of fat and calories without losing a single ounce of flavor.

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Double-Crusted Apple Pie

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Double-Crusted Apple Pie

Creamy, fruity, or laced with chocolate, a sweet pie is guaranteed to elicit raves from family and friends.

First up: With crust above and below, this classic apple pie offers ample flaky crispness as a counterpoint to the soft, moist, tart-sweet filling.

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Chai Carrot Pie

Credit: Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez

View Recipe: Chai Carrot Pie

Staple spice-rack spices create all the depth of classic chai tea in this luscious, carrot-packed, whole-grain dessert. It's a cross between a play on pumpkin pie and carrot cake: The texture and flavor are reminiscent of the former, and the layers—cream cheese mixture on the bottom, spiced carrot filling on top—are inspired by the latter. To get a big head start, you can make and freeze the crust up to a week ahead. A combination of butter and shortening in the crust is ideal—butter for its rich flavor, and shortening to create a flaky texture. We recommend Earth Balance shortening (found with the other shortenings in large supermarkets or health-focused stores) because, unlike most other shortenings, it contains no trans fats.

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Spring Strawberry Pie

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Spring Strawberry Pie

Their season doesn't officially start until April, but you should be able to find fresh strawberries at the supermarket just about any time of year. Use them in this timeless graham-cracker-crusted treat, made more sophisticated with a splash of balsamic vinegar and a hazelnut streusel topping.

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Chocolate Cream Pie

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Oxmoor House

View Recipe: Chocolate Cream Pie

This pie's luscious, chocolaty filling is sure to win you some brownie points with anyone who's lucky enough to get a slice. Pressing the chocolate mixture through a fine mesh sieve removes any lumps of cornstarch and egg and creates a smooth, creamy filling.

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Malt Shop Ice Cream Pie

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Malt Shop Ice Cream Pie

Strawberry and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream, all held in a crust made of crushed sugar cones. It's childhood memories in convenient pie form. And tasty to boot.

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White Chocolate-Raspberry Pie

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Oxmoor House

View Recipe: White Chocolate-Raspberry Pie

Talk about a match made in heaven! A sweet arrowroot cookie crust serves as the base for the perfect pairing of a creamy, dreamy white chocolate filling and fresh raspberries.

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Chocolate-Walnut Meringue Pie

Credit: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Chocolate-Walnut Meringue Pie

This is a pie that's dressed up for the prom. Inside, it's an old-fashioned, dense, sweet chocolate pie, but it's encased in a refined walnut crust and topped with elegant toasted meringue.

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Miso Caramel-Apple Pie

Credit: Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez

View Recipe: Miso Caramel-Apple Pie

You've no doubt heard of—and enjoyed—salted caramel. Miso caramel takes that concept one step further, offering the irresistible salty-sweet flavor combo along with a richness that's unparalleled. You may just love this caramel so much that you want to make a big batch for yourself or to give as holiday gifts; we won't blame you. And even though this pie is rather decadent, it still comes in with 12g less sugar than a popular online version of caramel apple pie. Ever been disappointed by an apple pie where the fruit was still just a little crunchy, not tender as you'd hoped for? This recipe makes sure you end up with buttery-soft fruit by first covering the raw apple slices with boiling water to soften them before they even go in the crust.

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Double-Cherry Pies

Credit: Howard L. Puckett

View Recipe: Double-Cherry Pies

The concentrated sweetness of dried cherries and the tart bite of frozen cherries combine to give these pocket pies a double whammy of delicious. A drizzle of melted white chocolate on top to finish them off doesn't hurt, either.

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Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie

Credit: Photo: Raymond Hom

View Recipe: Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie

We love the combo of deep, rich chocolate and the tingly pinch of cinnamon and red pepper. We also enjoy the ease and forgiving nature of a graham cracker crust, which is less fussy than pastry. If you can't find espresso granules with the coffee, look in the Latin-foods section (that's where we sometimes find them).

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Peanut Butter Pie

Credit: Photo: Lee Harrelson

View Recipe: Peanut Butter Pie

The reader who submitted this for the Reader Recipe column compared its flavor to a chocolate peanut butter candy bar. We agree, and also think this uncomplicated pie is such a snap to prepare that it's perfect for any occasion, from a birthday to an I-just-feel-like-pie day.

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Apple Hand Pies

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Apple Hand Pies

Skip the fork. Enjoy these charming handheld treats as a convenient snack or dessert. No cutter? That's OK. Use the small cap (washed and dried) from a condiment bottle, such as hot sauce.

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Mississippi Mud Pie

Credit: Photo: John Kernick

View Recipe: Mississippi Mud Pie

It may not be the prettiest pie, but many folks speculate this cross between a chocolate-bottomed pie and a chocolate cake was named for its textural similarity to the rich, gooey mud found all along America's greatest river.

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Lighter Key Lime Pie

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Key Lime Pie

There's an addictive quality to Key lime pie's finely tuned balance of the sweet and the tart, the creamy and the crunchy, all crowned with fluffy cream. It seems so airy, but it's 500 calories of airy. Time for a makeover, indeed.

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Café au Lait Chiffon Pie

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Café au Lait Chiffon Pie

Boiling coffee down to a concentrated syrup, then mixing it with milk in an airy chiffon filling makes this chocolate-graham-cracker-crusted pie a dessert that's sure to give you a buzz.

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Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

Credit: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

Is there anything better than peanut butter and chocolate? Didn't think so.

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Pear-Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Streusel

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Pear-Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Streusel

This pie's strength lies in the amalgamation of many different textures and flavors. Crisp pear and tart cranberries are held in an ooey-gooey brown-sugar filling, topped with a crunchy, nutty streusel. Using a premade crust means there's almost no work involved. Assembly takes maybe five minutes―throw it in the oven, and you're done.

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Oatmeal Pecan Pie

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Oatmeal Pecan Pie

Pecans make it nutty, oats make it hearty, and together they make this pie a classic whenever you want something sweet and delightful.

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Roasted Pumpkin Pie

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

View Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Pie

By roasting the pumpkin whole, you avoid cutting it open and scooping out the seeds and membrane. If you'd like, serve pie with a dollop of lightly sweetened 2% reduced-fat yogurt.

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Key Lime Pie

Credit: Photo: John Kernick

View Recipe: Key Lime Pie

The origin of the Key Lime Pie is obscure and disputed, but not the likely reason it came to be: Little refrigeration in the hot, remote Florida Keys meant a pie made from canned, sweetened condensed milk (invented in the middle of the 19th century) was a sensible thing. Add the juice of tart little local limes to balance the ferocious sweetness of the milk, and you have a wonderful pie. The graham cracker crust probably came later, but it sure is convenient. Even in its namesake area, there is no single recipe for Key Lime Pie. In Key West restaurants and homes, different crusts, meringues, and filling techniques abound.

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Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie

Velvety vanilla ice cream, rich marshmallow crème, and cool mint join with chocolate to create a sublime frozen dessert. If you take about five minutes to assemble it in the morning, you can enjoy this pie for dessert any night of the week.

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Lemon Cream Pie

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Oxmoor House

View Recipe: Lemon Cream Pie

Fluffy, topping, silky filling, and crisp crust: This cream pie is truly dreamy.

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Chocolate Fudge Pie

Credit: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Chocolate Fudge Pie

This gooey, chocolaty treat is made from ingredients you may have in the pantry or refrigerator right now, so if all these mouthwatering pies have made you hungry, you can get baking immediately.

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Double-Crust Apple Pie

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

View Recipe: Double-Crust Apple Pie

A double crust seals in the apples' natural juices as the pie bakes for full-on apple flavor. Tossing the apples with apple juice keeps them from browning as you peel and slice them, and it adds a boost of apple flavor.

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Classic Pecan Pie

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Classic Pecan Pie

To pack lots of pecans in the filling, we kept the fat in this easy piecrust to a minimum, resulting in a biscuitlike crust.

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Double-Banana Cream Pie

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Oxmoor House

View Recipe: Double-Banana Cream Pie

Thick vanilla custard is layered with ripe bananas in a sweet arrowroot-cookie crust. You'll hear "mmm" with each bite.

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Classic Pumpkin Pie

Credit: Photo: Nigel Cox

View Recipe: Classic Pumpkin Pie

Refrigerated pie dough and a simple, 7-ingredient filling make this pie refreshingly easy to prepare. A tablespoon of amaretto beat into the whipped cream adds nutty-sweet notes to the creamy topping.

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Maple-Walnut Cranberry Pie

Credit: Photo: Chris Court

View Recipe: Maple-Walnut Cranberry Pie

While the buttery, maple-scented filling is inspired by classic pecan pie, we swap in toasted walnuts and add chopped fresh cranberries for a beautiful pop of color and tart flavor contrast that cuts the sweetness.

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Lemon Meringue Pie

Credit: Photo: John Autry

View Recipe: Lemon Meringue Pie

This pie is so good that you'll want to eat it right away, and that's a good idea—the delicate meringue will start to collapse after about a day.

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Variation 2: Maple-Bourbon Pecan Pie

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Oxmoor House

View Recipe: Maple-Bourbon Pecan Pie

Using refrigerated pie crust adds a little more fat to the bottom line, but we tweak the remaining ingredients so that a slice delivers less than half the fat and calories of traditional pecan pie.

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Apple Pie

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Apple Pie

A slurry of flour and water is the base of our double crust. That helps keep it tender and enables you to use less shortening or butter. This pie is just 293 calories per slice.

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Gingery Cranberry-Pear Pie with Oatmeal Streusel

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Gingery Cranberry-Pear Pie with Oatmeal Streusel

Combine the best of fall and winter flavors in this must-try pie recipe. The oatmeal streusel topping shines as a crunchy companion to the tart-sweet filling.

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Fresh Cherry Pie

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Fresh Cherry Pie

This not-too-sweet cherry pie is delicious on its own, and even better served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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Ginger Pumpkin Pie With Toasted Coconut

Credit: Photo: Charles Masters

View Recipe: Ginger Pumpkin Pie With Toasted Coconut

Ginger and coconut add warm, flavorful accents to this fall classic. If you'd like a dollop of something creamy, top with fat-free whipped topping.

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Sky-High Chocolate Pie

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Sky-High Chocolate Pie

Fat-free milk thickened with cornstarch for the filling and meringue instead of whipped cream on top makes this a lighter, just as tasty choice than a traditional chocolate pie.

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Our Best Healthy Pie Recipes

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Double-Crusted Apple Pie

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Chai Carrot Pie

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Spring Strawberry Pie

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Chocolate Cream Pie

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Malt Shop Ice Cream Pie

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White Chocolate-Raspberry Pie

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Chocolate-Walnut Meringue Pie

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Miso Caramel-Apple Pie

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Double-Cherry Pies

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Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie

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Peanut Butter Pie

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Apple Hand Pies

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Mississippi Mud Pie

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Lighter Key Lime Pie

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Café au Lait Chiffon Pie

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Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

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Pear-Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Streusel

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Oatmeal Pecan Pie

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Roasted Pumpkin Pie

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Key Lime Pie

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Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie

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Lemon Cream Pie

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Chocolate Fudge Pie

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Double-Crust Apple Pie

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Classic Pecan Pie

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Double-Banana Cream Pie

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