If someone would have told me I could have something as delicious as this grasshopper pie while still being dairy-free and gluten-free, I would have gone dairy-free a long time ago! Dairy-free grasshopper pie is definitely one of my new favorite pies. I love the creamy, smooth texture and the crunchy cookies. It almost reminds me of eating cookie dough ice cream!
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You may be looking at this pie and wondering, “That’s a pioneer recipe?”. Well… not exactly, but I think it can qualify as a modern pioneer recipe. The reason being, it’s a lot healthier than it looks!
Since I kind of have a fetish for making pies, and since grasshopper pie was next on my ‘new pies to make’ list, I knew I had to come up with a healthier version of the traditional grasshopper. Now, traditionally, a grasshopper pie would be full of dairy, food coloring, artificial flavors, and lots of sugar. That’s not the case with this grasshopper pie!
This dairy-free grasshopper pie has all the looks and tastes of a traditional grasshopper pie, without the unhealthy ingredients! Honestly, I think even dairy-lovers would fall for this pie once they tried it!
Dairy-free grasshopper pie is not only dairy-free, but it is also….
So, I think this pie qualifies as a modern pioneer dessert!
One tricky part about making ‘healthier’ pies is figuring out what to do for the crust. I came up with a great, grain-free pastry crust that I use for my pudding pies and a flakey, grain-free pie crust that I use for heartier pies, like fruit pies and quiche. However, the no-bake cream cheese pies always presented a challenge. A lot of times a graham crust or a cookie crust is used, so I knew I had to come up with a grain-free cookie crust to use.
For grasshopper pies, they typically have a chocolate cookie crust. I came up with several options for a gluten-free or grain-free chocolate cookie crust.
Option #1. Use this grain-free double chocolate cookie recipe and make yourself a chocolate cookie crumb pie crust. Or, just pat the cookie dough right into a pie plate and bake it to use as a crust.
Option #2. Convert my grain-free pastry crust into a chocolate crust. I used this option and simply substituted in 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and a 1/4 cup of tapioca flour for the original tapioca flour that the recipe called for.
Option #3. If you’re not looking to be grain-free, go ahead and get some gluten-free Pamela’s chocolate graham crackers and make a chocolate graham pie crust.
Any of the options above would pair perfectly with this grasshopper pie. In order to keep the sugars low in my grasshopper pie, I did not add any additional sugar in the chocolate pastry crust I made.
A personal homestead goal for me is to raise my own dairy animal. Whether is be a goat or a cow, or both, I would love to have access to fresh, raw dairy. Let me clear some confusion real quick. Yes, Anna and I are dairy-free, to a certain extent. No, we are not allergic to dairy. It more or less has to do with keeping the inflammation low in our bodies. We simply have an intolerance to processed dairy products.
Some types of dairy we can handle just fine. We have found that we do just fine with grass-fed, organic butter. Give us a glass of cow’s milk or a bowl of traditional ice cream, and our inflammation symptoms come back. However, we have also found that consuming raw dairy does not seem to have the same affect as processed dairy. That’s why I want to get my own dairy animal!
In the meantime, I am so thankful that both Anna and I can have coconut. Coconut has been our cow substitute for quite a few years now! We use coconut milk in a lot of our recipes and love having it with homemade granola. Don’t even get me started on coconut milk ice cream! Some dairy-free products are so good, I don’t think I ever want to go back to the dairy versions!
Back to the grasshopper pie! I used dairy-free, coconut-based ingredients in this grasshopper pie. I know there are many different dairy-free substitutes to choose from now, so if you don’t want to use a coconut-based ingredient, just substitute it out for another dairy-free alternative. Tree nuts and oats are becoming a popular dairy-free substitute as well.
When I first started cutting dairy from my diet, there were very limited dairy-free options. Now it seems like for every dairy product, there is a dairy-free substitute! I’m so thankful for the brands that I have found who make dairy-free and gluten-free substitutes. Another issue that I sometimes run into while being dairy-free is the fact that my family is also tree nut free. So that rules out any almond or cashew dairy substitutes.
Thankfully, there are brands who make gluten-free, dairy-free, and tree nut free substitutes that I enjoy and can buy locally! All the dairy-free ingredients in this grasshopper pie are gluten-free and tree nut free. I can also find all the ingredients at my local grocery stores! However, if you are looking at those ingredients and wondering, “Where do I find that!?”, let me give you some pointers:
If you’re feeling really like a modern pioneer, I suggest trying to make your own, homemade versions of the products mentioned above. I’m pretty sure CocoWhip could easily be made using coconut cream. Cream cheese can be made with nuts. Grain-free oreos would be easy using this chocolate cookie recipe and homemade frosting! You can even make your own chocolate chips and use spirulina powder as a natural green food coloring!
If you do end up trying this challenge, let me know by commenting below! I know I definitely want to try the challenge and make this grasshopper pie again!
So, normally I would have a ‘Recipe Tips’ section for you so that you can have some pointers before trying this new recipe. However, since this grasshopper pie is so easy to make, I don’t think you’re going to need too much help! A few last minute tips I might give you would be make sure your pie crust is completely cool, having the cream cheese at room temperature is really helpful, and letting the CocoWhip unthaw makes it easier to incorporate.
That’s all the tips I could come up with, so go ahead and give this delicious pie a try!
Dairy-free grasshopper pie is the perfect allergy-friendly, summer dessert! It’s no-bake, has simple ingredients, and is super easy to whip up! I bet you can find most of the ingredients locally or shop for them on Thrive Market to save money. Grasshopper pie is also gluten-free, tree nut free, egg free, and refined sugar free, so you can enjoy a slice of this refreshing pie while still sticking to your dietary restrictions. Modern pioneer desserts are the best if you ask me!
I would also encourage you to join our modern pioneer community this summer! We would love to share with you what we are doing to create for ourselves a more self-sufficient and sustainable lifestyle as well as give you our Modern Pioneer Starter Package!
by Alexa
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