Need Pie Crusts without dates/raisins etc.!!

[Up LEAP 100 Billion]

Hi,

Every night last week I had a raw pie (ie apple pie, strawberry pie, blueberry pie, mango pie etc) and they were ALL DELISIOUS! I'm underwight so I thought it would be great for the colories and fat and was the first time I've ever felt really, REALLY full up after each one after a year and a half being cooked and raw vegan. But now I've noticed I've been having loads and loads acne, really small but scattered everywhere on my face! I know that I've had lots of nuts in one day before but had no brackout from that, but never had a cupful of dates all at once... so with that being said I'm almost positive the dates have caused such a horrid breakout! I'm guessing all the sugar has something to do with it.

So with that in mind, does anyone have any alternative desert pie crusts without dates and raisins? Nuts and seeds are fine, but dates and raisins are a no no.

Thanks

[Oceana]

What about using dry cherries or even fresh?
Maybe dried apricots ? (soaked when appropriate) in place with the dates, rasins.

I ha vent tried these but they actually sound pretty good!

[Lay-Lay]

just use your existing recipe and substitute any sweet dried fruit you desire or opt for kava, stevia, or honey (if your not vegan) for sweetness

[Sharon in Colorado]

Dried figs and prunes are another binding agent, or some ripe banana.

Usually acne is when a toxin is coming out of the pores - many times detox. You might want to try an experiment with eating a handful of dates and nothing else and seeing if it happens again. I have to wonder if this was just coincidental.

I also have to wonder if it wasn't the fat in the nuts that was more of the problem, as dates and raisins are pretty much fat-free.

Plus the sugars are in a natural organic form, unless the dates have been heat-treated.

[Rawkinlocs]

My thoughts were always that most pie crusts in SAD recipes aren't sweet anyway...so I stopped using dates and raisins in my crusts and just use a little olive oil, a little cold water, a few pinches of sea salt and maybe a little agave to give just a hint of sweetness. If you think about SAD pie crusts...they are made with flour, lard or shortening, a little salt and cold water added a TBS at a time to make it into a dough. No sweetness unless it's like a graham crust or something like that...but the pastry-type crusts are not sweet...all of the sweetness comes from the filling.

[exurb]

My thoughts were always that most pie crusts in SAD recipes aren't sweet anyway...so I stopped using dates and raisins in my crusts and just use a little olive oil, a little cold water, a few pinches of sea salt and maybe a little agave to give just a hint of sweetness

Thanks Rawkinlocs. What's your base, nuts? oats? etc... with the oil, water salt and agave.

[Rawkinlocs]

Thanks Rawkinlocs. What's your base, nuts? oats? etc... with the oil, water salt and agave.

Most times I use ground oat groats but I'd like to experiment with using sprouted/dehydrated/ground wheat or spelt berries. Sometimes I add in some dried/ground nut milk pulp. It really just depends on what I have on hand and what I feel up to doing. But I'd say that main base is the ground oats with maybe a little bit of nuts added to it or just the oat flour alone with the other ingredients I mentioned. But lately I've been thinking of using mostly nuts (walnuts) and then adding about 1/4 c. of ground oats. I think I'm wanting to try and make crusts using less grain.

[Sharon in Colorado]

You are a genious. I have never thought about that but how obvious. Maybe that is why I don't care for raw pies that much - there is so much sweetness. I am going to start experimenting with oat flour now!

[Rawkinlocs]

You are a genious. I have never thought about that but how obvious. Maybe that is why I don't care for raw pies that much - there is so much sweetness. I am going to start experimenting with oat flour now!

:D Thanks Sharon for FINALLY noticing! :p ;) :D

J/K

[exurb]

I thought we ALL noticed after those e=mc2 cinnamon rolls!!!

Thanks for the reply Rawkinlocs. (I was gonna try it with just the oil, water, salt and agave but you saved me just in time :o ).

[Rawkinlocs]

I thought we ALL noticed after those e=mc2 cinnamon rolls!!!

Thanks for the reply Rawkinlocs. (I was gonna try it with just the oil, water, salt and agave but you saved me just in time :o ).

LOL! :D

Now THAT would have been an...ummm...interesting crust!

[Up LEAP 100 Billion]

Thankyou everyone for your replies!

I often have 100g nuts and day as well as a few tbsp of olive oil and dont have a problem with breakouts so I know fat isn't a problem.. if anything my skin feels better having lots of natural unheated fat. Thats why I'm certain its the dates and raisins. Maybe it's something to do with the sugar, or maybe that the ones I buy have been heated and aren't raw! Either way I'll cut them out and see what happens. I also suspect I have some sort of allergy with oats as I used to have cooked porridge oats every morning for a week and noticed that caused me to brake out. So I can't use them unfortunately in the pie crust :( but maybe raw oats sprouted may be different. Either way I'll experiment with what you guys have said ;)

[Sharon in Colorado]

Ahem - I have already noticed your geniousness with your cinnamon rolls, this is just another notch on the bedpost I mean the dehydrator.

Another thing I don't like about most raw pie crusts is the mushiness, especially when the filling is already mushy, it's nice to have some crunch in the shell, know what I mean.

I got these cool tartlet and quiche mini pans. The larger quiche pans have a removeable bottom so that I can make several at a time and then freeze them for individual pies. They were very affordable from Bed Bath and Beyond. They are non-stick, but I smear a little coconut or grapeseed oil and they pop right out after they've been frozen solid or dehydrated.

[Sheryl]

How about shredded cococnut and macadamias, with a touch of sea salt and agave to sweeten? That's what they use in Raw Food Real World in their key lime pie and it's really really good!!

Or... make a pudding/crumble and put the nuts on top!!

Cheers,
Sheryl

[rawstrawberry]

Another good one is ground flax, coconut/olive oil. You can add some fresh fruit to it as well.

Raw Strawberry

[Sharon in Colorado]

I just made that one for a buddy Sheryl. But didn't have madadamias, so used pistachios instead.

Also didn't want to use all 5 avocadoes in the lime mousse it called for, so I used 1 avocado, 2 cups of young coconut meat (have been stocking it in freezer as I'm drinking the water on my cleanse) and 2 ripe bananas. The stevia gives it an after taste so next time I'll just use extra agave.

Also used a touch of vitamin C crystals to keep it from going brown.

[rawpriestess]

I've used almond pulp with some flax meal a touch of sea salt and some agave' that's good too.

Rawkinlocs has the best ideas on foods and recipes, so I do my best to listen to her, every chance I get, I got this non-sweet pie crust info from her before, so now I use it and it makes a world of difference.