Recipe Connection: Walnut-Oat Pie Crust

I recently came across a whole grain Walnut Oat Pie Crust in the store, sold as healthy substitute for graham cracker pie crusts, and I was thrilled with how rich and delicious it tasted. The fact that it is also a gluten-free crust is a huge bonus.

I’m a huge “from scratch” person, and if I see a recipe that calls for something bought pre-fab, I usually figure out if I can do it cheaper and more nutritiously at home.

Graham cracker crusts for pies was one of those easy-to-do at home (for a lot less $) things that I always made from scratch, using my Betty Crocker cookbook recipe, but now that I’ve figured out how to make this walnut oat pie crust at home this recipe will replace the graham cracker crust recipe I’ve made for so many years.

Between the whole grain oats, omega-3 packed walnuts (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!), and real butter, this crust practically qualifies as a super food. Nice! Plus you get to avoid the trans fat that is almost always in graham crackers (recently replaced by the likely equally evil interesterified fat).

Healthy Walnuts in a Gluten-Free Pie Crust

Walnuts are on my list of Super Foods, and for good reason:  just an ounce (about a handful) of walnuts have as much omega-3 fat as 3.5 ounces of salmon. (Source: WebMD)  That’s a power-packed handful of nuts! They are also a great source of antioxidants (cancer-fighters). See World’s Healthiest Foods (Link no longer available) for much more information.

You can get walnuts for a great price at Costco. They’re on my real food shopping list almost every time I go.

Walnut-Oat Pie Crust Recipe

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• Author: From King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking Cookbook

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 1/3 cups old-fashioned or quick oats (not instant)
• 1 cup diced walnuts (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!)
• 6 Tbs melted unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase)

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spread oats in a shallow layer in an ungreased round cake pan.
3. Spread nuts in a shallow layer in another ungreased cake pan.
4. Bake the nuts until they smell toasty and are beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.
5. Bake the oats until they’re starting to brown, 15-18 minutes.
6. Watch both carefully; they go from brown to burned quickly.
7. Remove them from the oven and transfer to a food processor.
8. Add the butter, sugar and salt.
9. Process until the oats and nuts are finely ground and the mixture is cohesive.
10. Remove the mixture from the food processor and press it into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch regular (not deep-dish) pie pan that’s at least 1 ¼ inches deep.
11. Bake the crust until it’s just barely beginning to brown, 14 minutes. Remove it from the oven and set it on a rack to cool.

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Now you can fill the crust with any pie that calls for a storebought graham cracker crust. I use this gluten-free pie crust for my Healthy Pumpkin Pie recipe, but you could use it for any cheesecake, pudding style pie, etc.

GLUTEN-FREE CAN BE CONFUSING BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HARD!

I’m thrilled to share a FREE gluten-free cheat sheet mini eBook to help get you started! This is perfect if you’ve just been told you need a GF diet, if you have a friend or family member eating GF and you’d like to cook for them, or if you’re just curious what it’s all about!

Get The GF Cheat sheet

How to Store Walnuts

Do keep walnuts in your freezer.

Because of all those great fats, they tend to go rancid faster than other nuts. You can stock up when they’re on sale (Christmastime is a good time to watch for super sales!), and can even chop a whole pound in your blender/food processor and store them in the freezer, ready to be put into quick breads, cookies and muffins.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

• Green Smoothies with Kale
• Summer Fruit Dips
• Banana Flax Muffins
• Homemade Granola and Granola bars