I love making fresh strawberry pies in the spring and early summer! Using fresh berries allows you to really taste the great flavor of the berries themselves. Plus, this pie is kept in the refrigerator so a nice cold slice of pie on a warm evening is just perfect!

I always use fresh local strawberries for this recipe. Using the jumbo store bought berries with no taste does you no favors. So head out to your local farmers market or produce stand and get some good quality berries. In addition to paying less for better berries, you will be supporting a local farmer – win win!

Shortcuts! There are several shortcuts you can take when making this recipe. The first is to use a prepared pie crust. Yes I know how to make homemade pie crusts and yes they do taste better but sometimes, in fact most times, I don’t have time to make a crust from scratch. Bedsides, if my great grandmother said its OK to use a store-bought pie crust every now and then, then it must be alright! I do prefer the Pillsbury pie crusts in the refrigerated section. I don’t like frozen crusts (they seem too dry) and sometimes the store-brand crusts just taste like shortening. I think the Pillsbury crusts come as close as you can to homemade. Another shortcut you can take is to use a prepared strawberry glaze – you know the kind in the tubs or bags in the produce section. Sometimes, if they are on sale or  if the store is out of strawberry Jello or if I just want to be lazy, then I will go for this option. But if you are feeling a little more adventurous and have some extra time on your hands, try making this easy glaze!

Helpful Hints! One trick I’ve learned to ensure a flat pie crust is to line the crust with parchment paper and fill the dish with dried black beans. The weight of the beans keeps the crust flat and the black color absorbs the heat. After about 10 minutes in the oven, pull the pie dish out, lift up the parchment paper, pour the beans into a dish to cool, and put the crust back in the oven for two minutes  to crisp up the center of the crust. You can store the cooled beans in a zip-lock bag and re-use them again and again for this purpose.  Another helpful hint is to use a whisk when making the glaze. The whisk really helps to thoroughly combine the ingredients and keeps the glaze from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. No one wants a lumpy glaze!

Lighten-Up! If you want to lighten up this recipe, you can substitute granulated low-calorie sweetener like Splenda for the sugar and use sugar-free strawberry Jello. You also can buy fat free Redi-Whip, which I prefer because its actually real cream and only 5 calories!

So here’s the recipe!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 pie crust
• 4-5 cups of fresh strawberries, rinsed and quartered or sliced
• 2/3 cups of sugar (or 3/4 cups if you have a real sweet tooth or if your berries aren’t super sweet)
• 2 tablespoons of corn starch
• 1 cup of water
• 1 3-oz package of strawberry flavored Jello
• whipped cream, for topping

Directions:

In a 9 inch pie dish, bake your pie crust according to package or recipe directions, typically at 450 degrees for 8-12 minutes, until golden brown. Make sure to use a fork and poke a few holes around the crust to avoid air bubbles.  When the crust is nice and golden brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

While the crust is cooling, prepare the glaze by combining sugar, corn starch, and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and while stirring constantly, boil for 2-3 minutes or until thick. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Jello and mix thoroughly.  Once the Jello is well combined, pour the glaze into a glass or metal bowl and refrigerate until mostly cool.

While the glaze is cooling, wash and cut up your strawberries. You can slice them or quarter them. I prefer the berries to be cut as opposed to whole but if you have cute little berries, feel free to skip this step and just lay the berries flat top down on the pie crust for a pretty effect.

Once the glaze has cooled down a bit, add the strawberries to the glaze and toss to evenly coat. Pour the berries and glaze in the cooled pie crust and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Garnish with whipped cream and enjoy!

Much Love,

M