Paleo Blueberry Crumble Hand Pies

If there is one thing you should consider putting in your mouth this summer, it would be these paleo hand pies. Hands down one of the best fruity paleo/ SCD-friendly desserts I’ve had in a long time!

An Easy, Handheld Blueberry Pie Recipe

I absolutely adore pie in the summer. Blueberry or strawberry rhubarb pie, to be specific.

The only con of bringing a pie to a picnic or family gathering is the mess of slicing it, needing to carry around a plate, and washing extra dishes. So I’m pretty sure whoever invented hand pies is a genius!

These mini handheld pies are so quick & easy to make. In just 30 minutes, perfectly portioned blueberry pies are ready to go! Gooey blueberry filling, buttery crumb topping on a sweet golden-brown almond flour crust: everything I want and need in a summertime dessert. PLUS you don’t have to worry about hunting down your favorite ceramic pie tin at the end of the day.

A Secretly Healthier Paleo Pie!

Honestly, pies are one of the best desserts to put a paleo twist on.

Here’s why:

1. Almond flour lends itself super well to a flakey, buttery pie crust. It’s much more difficult to try and make desserts that are supposed to be “fluffy” (like cakes, breads, muffins, etc.) out of nuts, you know? Pies don’t rely as much on a solid gluten network so paleo approved nut flours work very well!

Other nut flours I occasionally like to use in pie crusts include pecan flour, walnut flour, and cashew flour. However, almond flour seems to be the most widely available.

2. Fruit is paleo! Let’s get a round of applause for natural sugar up in here! Because of the fruit, traditional refined sugar isn’t even missed in this recipe- definitely a sneaky secret that really only pie can keep. It’s so much more difficult to replace granulated sugar in cookies, cake, or brownies with a natural, paleo-approved sweetener.

3. Swapping out butter for coconut oil not only enhances the blueberry flavor, but it also gives the crust the same golden-brown buttery texture that can hold up to the blueberry filling. I would argue that this secretly healthier dairy-free option is even better than traditional handheld pies!

How to Make These Paleo Pies SCD-Friendly:

This recipe is almost completely compliant with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), which I have been closely following for the past year to help manage my severe ulcerative colitis symptoms. Since my symptoms have been “in remission”, I’ve been able to add in a few minimally processed foods back in.

Link: “How I Started Adding Non-SCD Foods Back into My Diet”

LInk: “SCD Legal/Illegal List” – Breaking the Vicious Cycle

Most foods I have been able to start eating again (unsweetened chocolate, tapioca flour, monk fruit, maple syrup) fall within the Paleo Diet label, so I’ll roll with it! I hate to have to throw a label on recipes since I eat a weird hybrid of SCD & Paleo foods. But whatever it is, my motto for the past year has been focusing on minimally processed, whole foods!

With that said, if you still need to follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet closely if you’re in an autoimmune flare, simply swap out following ingredients:

• Replace the tablespoon of tapioca flour in the blueberry filling with a tablespoon of coconut flour.
• Replace the monk fruit in the crust with 1 tbsp. honey.

Although coconut flour isn’t as good of a thickening agent as tapioca flour, it will still help thicken the filling enough to give to blueberry filling some structure.

It’s also important to note that monk fruit still hasn’t been extensively studied in terms of how it plays in to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet since it is a newer sugar alternative in the market. Because of this, I would only use it with caution if you’re in a flare. Adding it in small amounts once your IBD flare is in remission is probably the best way to ease in to using it.

How to Make Paleo Blueberry Crumble Pies

Step 1: Combine the almond flour, monk fruit, salt, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Stir well.

Step 2: Add in the egg and softened coconut oil & mix well. Cover and place in the refrigerator while making the blueberry filling.

Step 3: Combine the blueberries (fresh or frozen) with lemon juice & honey in a small stovetop sauce pan. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Mix the tapioca flour and water in a separate small bowl and add to the blueberry mixture. Stir well and remove from heat.

Step 4: Divide the dough into 16 even sections, setting one aside for the crumb topping. Roll out each section of dough into a circle on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 7 minutes.

Add the blueberry filling to the center of each circle, and crumble the leftover crust mixture over the top of each pie. Bake for another 5 minutes.

Step 5: (Optional) Drizzle with melted coconut butter and dried lemon zest. Serve warm or refrigerate leftover hand pies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

What You’ll Need:

Print