{Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free} Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie

What? Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie? This whole idea blew my mind. A meringue without eggs? It's absolutely legit. I made one tonight.  My egg intolerant son and I just entered a whole new world of "marshmellow-like" bliss.  The poor guy has never had a lemon meringue pie before tonight. Let's just say it went down well. Really well. Thank you to Brittany from I LOVE Vegan on Nature's Path's website!  I used a gluten free crust. 

Prep Time: 45 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour

Serves 

8 servings

Lemon meringue pie, veganized! Aquafaba, the protein-rich liquid in a can of chickpeas, is the secret to swapping out egg whites in this classic sweet-tart lemon pie!

Ingredients 

Crust:

• 1 1/3 cups finely ground Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla cereal (about 3 cups before processing)
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1 tbsp non-dairy milk
• 1 tbsp ground flax

Filling:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/4 tsp (or less) ground turmeric
• Pinch salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• Zest + juice of 2 lemons
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/3 cup non-dairy milk

Aquafaba Meringue:

• 1/2 cup aquafaba (about 1/2 of the liquid drained from a 540ml can of no-salt-added chickpeas)
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup berry sugar (any extra-fine white sugar will do)

Directions 

Crust:

1. In a food processor, process cereal until very fine in texture. If the cereal isn’t fine enough the crust will be crumbly.
2. Stir the cereal, coconut sugar, and ground flax seed together before adding the melted coconut oil and non-dairy milk. Stir well and press firmly into an 8" pie plate.
3. Chill the crust in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, corn starch, turmeric, and salt.
2. Turn heat on to medium and whisk in the water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer, whisking gently as the mixture thickens up.
3. Once the mixture has bubbled and thickened, whisk in the coconut oil followed by the non-dairy milk. Continue whisking for another minute and remove from the heat.
4. Pour into the chilled pie crust and set aside to cool at room temperature.

Aquafaba Meringue:

Tip: A stand mixer with a wire whisk attachment works best for whipping up aquafaba meringue. A hand blender will work just fine it will take longer to reach the soft and firm peaks stages.

1. Combine the aquafaba and cream of tartar and beat on high until soft peaks form. Depending on the quality of your aquafaba, this can take just a few minutes or up to 10 minutes.
2. Add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Rub a small amount of the meringue between your fingers, if the mixture feels gritty continue beating until the sugar dissolves.
   Tip: You can’t overbeat aquafaba the same way you can overbeat egg whites. If in doubt, beat the aquafaba a little longer.
3. Spoon the meringue over the slightly cooled filling. Make sure to spread the meringue all the way to the crust. Use a knife to swirl the meringue into pretty spirals and peaks.
4. Bake at 350F for 8-15 minutes. Keep a very close eye on this pie, the meringues peaks can go from golden-brown to black in just a couple of minutes.
5. Cool pie to room temperature before refrigerating with a VERY loose cover (anything that touches the meringue will stick to it.)
6. Slice into 8 pieces and serve. Enjoy!