Healthy desserts that are as easy as pie

With fall baking season around the corner, the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine will share secrets for making delectable pies that are nutritious and lower in calories than traditional treats.

The Center will host “Pie from Start to Finish” from 3-6 p.m., Saturday (Sept. 24), as part of its Beyond the Basics fundraising series. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online here.

Chef Leah Fishbein, chef and owner of Cake By the Pound, will guide participants through recipes for delicious, healthy baked goods with dietary restrictions in mind.  Recipes include a gluten-free, vegan chocolate pie, a seasonal fruit pie with a whole-grain crust and a savory galette with seasonal vegetables.

“These recipes are great for anyone – not just those with dietary restrictions.”

Chef Katie Pedroza

“These recipes are great for anyone – not just those with dietary restrictions,” said chef Katie Pedroza, coordinator and instructor of family programming for the Goldring Center.

One of the keys for making desserts more healthful is to replace sugar with naturally sweet ingredients such as fruit, reduce saturated fat and swap white flour with whole-grain options.

“We make the pies more nutritious by incorporating whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables,” Pedroza said. “Two of the pies will contain butter, but one pie is vegan with nuts standing in for the animal fat.”

The Goldring Center offers free healthy cooking classes to the public each month. The Beyond the Basics series is a way for those who have completed the free classes to learn more about specific types of cuisine. The series is also a fundraiser that helps support free community cooking classes, a kids camp and other outreach programs. Other Beyond the Basics classes include whole-grain baking with Bellegarde and Gracious bakeries scheduled for Oct. 15, and a class on fermentation on Nov. 9. Classes for holiday baking are scheduled later this year.

A full schedule of events is online at www.culinarymedicine.org.