Silk Crunch Cherry Pie, low fat plant-based version

Cherry Pie with oatmeal topping

I have been listening to Katie Herzig singing, "Hey Na Na" a lot lately--it cracks me up.  Very Cherry Pie-ish.
I used to have a cookbook with a recipe for "French Silk Peach Crunch Pie" that was basically peaches swimming in custard with a crumb topping.  Delicious but fattening and now that we don't consume milk products, not that appealing anymore.
I wanted to capture that same fruit and cream texture though, in a plant-based diet version with fresh pie cherries from our local farmer's market.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F then turn down to 350 degrees when you put your pie in the oven.
Bake your pie for 40-50 minutes, or until center is set.

Ingredients:

Start with the lowest fat pie shell you can find or make.  "Wholesome Organic Whole Wheat" is good but has 8 grams of fat per slice--so use sparingly.  Like birthdays, holidays, or not at all.

Filling:

2 1/2 cups pie cherries, pitted
1 box Mori-Nu Soft Silken Tofu
2/3 cup date sugar
1/4 cup rice milk
1/3 cup corn starch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Mix everything together except cherries in a blender then stir in the cherries before pouring into an unbaked pie shell.  Top with crunchy topping:

Topping:

1/4 cup oats
1 Tablespoon date sugar
1 Teaspoon vanilla powder
a pinch of cinnamon
1/4 cup crushed graham crackers

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until set, cool on wire rack. (In case you didn't see the same message at the beginning because you were in such a hurry to make pie.)

If you would like to make a plain cherry pie without the tofu filling:


Alternative filling:


3 cups pie cherries, pitted
2/3 cups date sugar
pinch salt
1/3 cup cornstarch

Stir together, pour into unbaked pie shell and top with crunchy topping.  Bake 40 minutes.
Yummy served with non-dairy low fat ice cream.  You really should be sitting on a swing out on the porch when you eat this if you can.
:)