There’s nothing more all-American than apple pie, but at well over 400 calories in a slice (and that’s without the vanilla ice cream!), I decided to give this classic dessert a healthy makeover … while keeping all the great, time-honored flavors.
The filling for this Apple Pie Deconstructed relies on the natural sweetness of apples, blueberries, and strawberries and calls for just half a tablespoon of brown sugar. There’s nothing gooey or gloppy about this filling. And the crust is a lot lighter too. With just 1 tablespoon of butter, it’s more crumble than crust.
My apple pie version has under 200 calories, which is not bad for a dessert!
Just in time for summer and July 4th, this month’s Recipe Redux cooking challenge features healthy makeovers of sweet and savory pies. I’ve never been much of an apple pie lover (I tend to gravitate to fruit crumbles and crisps instead), so I took creative license with traditional apple pie by deconstructing it.
As for the a la mode part of this recipe, I opted for Greek yogurt instead of vanilla ice cream. It’s still rich and satisfying, but just a whole lot healthier.
Click above to watch me cook up this festive dessert on YouTube.
Served in tea cups or little bowls and topped with vanilla or plain Greek yogurt, your kids will adore my better-for-you “pie.”
- Serves: 4
- Serving size: ½ cup
- Calories: 180
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 29g
- Sodium: 75mg
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 1g
- ½ tablespoon butter
- 2 large apples, unpeeled, cut into ½ inch pieces
- Zest of half a lemon (1 teaspoon)
- Juice of half a lemon (2 tablespoons)
- ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- 6 strawberries trimmed, cut into ¾-inch pieces
- ½ cup blueberries
- ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- A few pinches of dried ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 Graham cracker rectangles, broken into small pieces (½ cup)
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
- ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- A few pinches ground cinnamon
- Plain or vanilla Greek yogurt, optional
- For the filling, heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes.
- While the apples are cooking, place the lemon zest, juice, and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk until well combined. Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the lemon juice mixture, strawberries, blueberries, brown sugar, spices, and salt until well combined. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.
- For the filling, melt the butter in a medium bowl. Add the Graham crackers, pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon and stir until everything is well coated with the butter.
- Serve the cooked fruit in individual bowls or tea cups, top with the crumbled Graham crackers, and then top with the yogurt as desired.
I would much rather eat apple pie like this! Im not too crazy for crust so this is perfect 🙂
Great recipe idea! I too love the Greek Yogurt a la mode simple swap :)!
Plus, you still get the delish taste from the crumble.. yum!
This is my type of apple “pie”. I also gravitate towards crisps/crumbles – the topping is my favorite part! I also made crisp but didn’t link up with recipe redux as I thought it wouldn’t pass for pie – guess I was wrong!!
You should link up. I’m heading over now to check it out 🙂
Your healthier version of this classic pie looks great and I love that you added in seasonal fruits to make a summertime version. Must try!!!
Thanks Diane! It sure is delicious 🙂
What a great idea! It looks amazing and I’m sure it tastes even better!
I love that you added dried ginger to the apple mixture. A little goes a long way… but the flavor combo is one of my favorites!
This looks incredible! I love the berry combination!
This is definitely my kind of dessert! Can’t wait to whip it up 🙂
Liz, why wait for dessert? This looks like a great breakfast!
Agreed! Great idea Judy 🙂
Apple pie is my favorite type of dessert pie ever. <3 This looks awesome–I'd much rather eat it like this! 😀
Absolutely gorgeous, can’t wait to try it!