Healthy Mini Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

Popular for its zesty and fresh citrus taste, traditional lemon meringue pie is often a favourite at get-togethers. Unfortunately, though, it isn’t the healthiest dessert to choose from because of its high refined sugar content, use of white flour (which is typically bleached and processed), as well as potentially high levels of saturated fat. 

Keeping this in mind, we’ve decided to share this recipe for a healthier version of this delicious sweet! These mini lemon meringue pies are the perfect healthy alternative to the traditional version of this dessert and a great way to cut back on sugar. Jump to: 

• Recipe

• Ingredients

• Method

• Why is this lemon meringue pie recipe better for you?

This mini lemon meringue pie recipe makes 8 mini pies, which means you’re less likely to overindulge by serving yourself a whopping slice of pie. Even better is that it is made using more nutritious ingredients, which we’ll explain in a bit more detail later on! It is gluten-free and vegetarian-friendly, which means it is suitable if you are serving to anyone with these dietary preferences.

Put your oven mitts on and get baking because this mini lemon meringue pies recipe is quickly going to become your favourite to make whenever it’s your turn to prepare a dessert to share!

Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

Prep time: 15 mins    

Cook time: 25 mins    

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 4

Dietary Preferences: Gluten-free, Vegetarian

Ingredients:

Crumble

• 150g almond meal

• 30g coconut flour

• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup

• pinch of ground cinnamon

• pinch of sea salt

Lemon Curd

• 4 tbsp pure maple syrup

• 30g arrowroot

• 125ml water

• pinch of sea salt

• 5 large egg yolks

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 4 medium lemons, juiced

• 2 tsp lemon zest

Meringue

• 3 egg whites, at room temperature

• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup

• ¼ tsp cream of tartar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F) and line a baking tray with baking paper. 

2. To make the crumble, place all of the crumble ingredients into a food processor and pulse to a crumb-like consistency. Spread the crumble mixture on the prepared baking tray in an even layer. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring halfway through. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool. 

3. To make the lemon curd, whisk the maple syrup, arrowroot, water and salt together in a small saucepan. Heat the saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture starts to thicken. Add the egg yolks one by one, stirring constantly. 

4. Bring the mixture to a simmer and add the coconut oil, lemon juice and zest, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture thickens and a smooth curd has formed. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. 

5. To make the meringue, place the egg whites, maple syrup and cream of tartar in a large bowl and mix to combine. Use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Do not over-mix. 

6. To serve the lemon meringue pie, layer the crumble and curd in four small jars or glass shooters and top with the meringue. Place the lemon meringue pies under a heated grill or use a kitchen blowtorch to lightly toast the tops of the meringue. Enjoy!

Why is this lemon meringue pie recipe better for you?

One of the easiest ways to stay on track with your goals is to make changes to traditional recipes that you love and to include healthier ingredient swaps in the recipe. This lemon meringue pie is a great example of how you can adapt your favourite dessert recipe to make it healthier and suitable for your nutritional preferences.

Some of the swaps that have been made in this particular recipe include:

• Using almond meal and coconut flour instead of traditional white flour, which tends to be more processed and, as a result, is stripped of many of its nutrients.


• It uses pure maple syrup as a sweetener, instead of refined sugar. 


By choosing to include a small amount of pure maple syrup (the kind free from artificial flavours and sweeteners) into the overall recipe, you can decrease your sugar intake significantly, in comparison to a traditionally made lemon meringue pie.

Pure maple syrup also contains small amounts of nutrients and antioxidants, in comparison to plain refined sugar. That means you are more likely to get additional benefits from this type of natural sweetener than you would with a highly processed type of refined sugar.

Get ready for this to be the zest pie you’ve made! 

If you’d like to try another healthier version of an old-favourite dessert, make sure you check out our pumpkin pie recipe too.

We’d love to see your zesty lemon meringue pie creations. Be sure to tag @sweat on Instagram, or share your images in the comments!

Are there any other healthier desserts that you’d like to see us make? Let us know in the comments!