Simply Easy Cheesy Pie

This gluten-free low-carb cheese pie is a great example how you can get a scrumptious result with just a few ingredients.

Serve this cheese pie with some salad or marinated vegetables to get a satisfying and healthy meal.

 

 

 

Simply Easy Cheesy Pie 10 oz = 285 g shredded strong Swiss cheese 1/2 cup = 120 ml organic coconut flour 5 extra large organic eggs 3/4 cup = 180 ml organic heavy cream 1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt   Directions Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Grease a 10 inch (25 cm) pie pan generously with soft butter. In a medium bowl, combine 4 oz (115 g) of the cheese and all the coconut flour. Mix well. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, to the cheese and flour mixture and mix well after each addition. Knead the dough until smooth. Place the dough in the pie pan. With your fingertips, press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. Prick the dough with a fork to prevent it from blistering while it bakes. Prebake the pie crust for 15 minutes. While the pie crust is in the oven, it’s time to make the cheese filling. In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients (6 oz = 170 g cheese, 2 eggs, the heavy cream and the salt) and mix until well mixed. After taking the prebaked pie crust from the oven, add the filling and bake the pie for 30–40 minutes, until all the cheese has melted. Serve hot or warm.

 

 

Nutrition information	Protein	Fat	Net carbs	kcal
In total:	138 g	192.8 g	19.7 g	2366 kcal
Per slice if 4 slices in total:	34.5 g	48.2 g	4.9 g	592 kcal
Per slice if 6 slices in total:	23.0 g	32.1 g	3.3 g	394 kcal
Per slice if 8 slices in total:	17.3 g	24.1 g	2.5 g	296 kcal

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for making the Simply Easy Cheesy Pie

When making the crust dough, it’s important to add the eggs one at a time. If you add all the eggs at once, there might be some nasty lumps of coconut flour in the dough. Smooth result is guaranteed by adding eggs one at a time and mixing well after each addition.

It’s best to mix the crust dough by hand. Just grab some dough, squeeze it so that it flows out between your fingers and repeat this until the dough is smooth. For sure this method has some sophisticated term which I didn’t find, but at least I tried to be descriptive…

Although the cheese is salty, at least my taste buds cry out for more salt. The pie is simply more scrumptious and tastier, if you use enough salt.

In the photos you can see the pie pan I used. It’s shamelessly cheap Ikea pan. Also the quality is cheap. The pan gets scratches almost just by thinking it. This pie, however, is easy to remove from that pan — as long as you don’t use anything sharp for cutting and removing the pie… Generous buttering also guarantees that you can remove the pie from the pan without problems.

The pie is at its best when eaten hot or warm. If you have some leftover pie, a brilliant way to keep the pie fresh, moist and juicy is to add a dash or two of cream to a skillet, add the pie slices and slowly heat the slices and cream until warm.

 

 

 

My experiments with the Simply Easy Cheesy Pie

A few years ago, I got familiar with using coconut flour in low-carb baking. Based on recipes by Elana Amsterdam and Bruce Fife, I baked loads of goods, mostly muffins. Instead of agave syrup or sugar I used erythritol and stevia. The muffins baked with coconut flour had incredibly soft and moist texture.

At its best, coconut flour is fine and smooth-textured, almost pure white in color and almost odorless, just with a hint of sweet coconut aroma. However, different brands tend to differ from each other.

I started creating my own adaptations and made my own explorations. I started dough experiments from the scratch and wanted to see what happens with different ingredients and with different ratios — and how you can simplify the recipes to the max.

One of my experiments was a pizza crust with only two ingredients: coconut flour and eggs. Well, it was okay, but a bit too hard and dry.

After my pizza experiments I turned to pie experiments. Again, I tried a pie crust using only ingredients, coconut flour and eggs. My idea of adding some shredded cheese to the dough was the key to this Simply Easy Cheesy Pie. The cheese makes the crust really juicy and tasty.

In my first experiments I had slightly too much coconut flour and slightly too little shredded cheese. Then I reduced the amount of the coconut flour a bit too much and the dough was too soft. Well, the ready crust was really soft and moist as well. A bit too moist.

My third experiment was entirely satisfactory. Adding a heaping tablespoon more coconut flour did the trick and the crust was soft and moist, but not too runny.

The last thing to adjust was the oven temperature. At first I used 300 °F (150 °C), but the cheese didn’t melt properly and the color of the pie was pale. I’m so used to lower oven temperatures when baking with erythritol, but this recipe doesn’t call for erythritol, so I could raise the temperature of the oven without worrying. 350 °F (175 °C) was just the right temperature for baking the pie. I also tried 400 °F (200 °C), but the top got too brown before the cheese melted.

 

 

 

Tips for variation

I like this pie seasoned just with a hint of unrefined sea salt. However, you can add your favorite veggies or meat to the pie. Finely chopped green, yellow and red bell peppers give fresh flavor and vibrant color. For even heartier pie, add some chopped ham, salami or sausage. The pie is also a great place to use your leftover veggies or meat from the fridge.

Or, spice the pie with your favorite spices. Chili, ground white pepper, ground black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder… just a few examples of spices which go well with this cheese pie. Fresh herbs — like parsley or basil — make the pie even more delectable.

Hope you enjoy this pie!