In this healthy ice cream pie recipe, crumbled gingersnaps make an easy and tasty crust for the blackberry and lemon filling made with nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt.
This is an old icebox pie recipe that does not require the heat of baking and could be stored in the “icebox” until it is time to serve it. There are infinite variations and fillings that make this simple recipe a special dessert. My recipe below includes how I made my crust in a muffin pan and incorporated fresh picked blackberries. However, I would recommend using mini pie pans with a lid. It is just easier to pat the crust into the pan and when it is time to serve it would be a very nice presentation.
Four-ingredient pie crust for a whipped cream folded in or any ice cream filling. Also, the spicy flavor of gingersnap cookies is a nice complement for fall and winter desserts too like pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin, sweet potato, or apple pies. Follow the basic proportions of cookie crumbs to sugar and melted butter. You may need to add more butter if the crust doesn’t form a ball easily in your hand.
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Pie Crust Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookies, crumbled
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
Steps to Make Gingersnap Pie Crust
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Preheat the oven to 350 F.
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Use a food processor to make the cookie crumbs. Combine the cookie crumbs, brown sugar, ground ginger, and melted butter in a medium bowl until you can pick up some of the mixture and press it into a ball that holds together.
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Press the crumb mixture into a greased muffin pan or 4-inch pie pan. This recipe makes six (6) mini pie crusts. Bake at 350 F for ten (10) minutes, until the crust is set. Remove the pie crust from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack before filling with pie filling.
- No Bake Method: Instead of baking the pie crust to set it, freeze it for 30 minutes or so before filling it and be sure to chill your pie thoroughly after folding the pie filling. The crust may crumble a bit when you cut or spoon, but it is so good that no one will care.
The Pie Crust Is Ready
Ingredients for Pie Filling
¾ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup sugar
1 cup nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt
3 cups blackberries, divided
2 teaspoons lemon zest
Directions To Make A Blackberry-Lemon Ice Cream Pie Filling
Step 1
Whip cream in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until starting to thicken. Add sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. With a spatula gently fold in yogurt.
Step 2
Clean out the bowl of the food processor and puree two (2) cups blackberries. Pour the puree through a sieve into the yogurt-cream mixture, pressing on the solids to strain out as much of the puree as possible. Add lemon zest and gently fold the flavorings into the yogurt-cream mixture.
Step 3
Spread the flavored yogurt-cream mixture into the cooled crust. Top with the remaining 1 cup blackberries. Freeze until very firm, at least five (5) hours. To serve, you should be able to pop out the pie from the muffin pan with a butterknife. Before using a fork or spoon to eat let the pie stand at room temperature until it softens slightly, about 5 minutes. To avoid uneven melting between each pie use mini muffin tins and serve directly. Also, you can eat the pie like an ice cream bar once you immediately remove them from them the pan.
Before The Freezer
After The Freezer
Presentation Tips
I wanted to share why I am recommending to go with individual pie pans instead of using a muffin pan. As it began to defrost, it starts to melt like ice cream. The above photo was the third pie that I popped out of the muffin pan and it started to break apart. If you are concerned about presentation and/or whether one pie is not as solid as the first one. Then consider using individual muffin pans. ENJOY!
Photo Cover Credit: Adrienne Balkum | Mini Blackberry-Lemon Ice Cream Pie