Michelle Cooks: Sugar Free Lemon Lover’s Pie

When you want a bite of lemon meringue pie without all of the sugary guilt, you can bake it at home with .

Sugar free lemon lover’s pie

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ cup Truvia Baking Blend
• 1 cup Splenda plus 3 tablespoons
• 1 tablespoon of finely grated lemon zest
• ¾ cup lemon juice. You will need 4 fresh lemons. Grate the zest before squeezing the juice.
• 1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell. Line with parchment or foil, fill with dried beans & bake.
• 6 egg whites
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk the egg yolks and salt into a medium-size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, blend 1 and ¾ cups cold water, cornstarch, ¼ cup Truvia and 1 cup Splenda. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with rubber scraper. It will begin to get clear in places and suddenly very thick. Blend in the lemon zest and lemon juice, reduce the heat to low and beat until smooth and glossy while continuing to cook for 90 seconds. Remove from heat.

Begin whisking the egg yolks and slowly add some of the hot lemon mixture, stopping at about half, whisking constantly. You are doing this to warm the egg yolks before adding them to the hot mixture. If you poured the egg yolks into the hot lemon filling, they would instantly scramble!

Return the warmed egg yolk mixture to the saucepan, place back on low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until very thick for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the hot lemon filling into the baked pie shell and set aside.

In a large bowl, use an electric hand mixer to whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until smooth, soft peaks form. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of Splenda sweetener and vanilla. Resume beating the meringue until thick and glossy.

Top the warm pie with the meringue by placing large spoonfuls around edges of pie first to seal to the crust, then fill in center and smooth top of pie, leaving it slightly higher in center. Make decorative soft peaks with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until meringue is slightly golden. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Chill for at least 2 hours before slicing.