Strawberry and Pepita Pie

There's always time for strawberry pie, but even more so when you know that with every mouthful you're supporting healthy skin and hair, yes?

The hero of this skin-loving pie is the pumpkin seed, AKA the pepita. It's easy to forget these little seeds, particularly if you err towards nut addiction (as I do), but I tell you - it's worth finding them a visible spot in your pantry. Here's some of the reason why your body loves them:

• Rich in Vitamin E, an antioxidant and improves skin tone
• Vitamin A supports cell regeneration 
• Zinc & selenium support collagen production and help fight against environmental pollution
• Essential fatty acids help maintain moisture level in our skin
• Vitamin A, B, K, sulfur, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients for our scalp and hair health

Convinced? Of course you are. Ready to eat some pie? 

Feel free to replace the strawberries here with raspberries, and of course use frozen berries if they're out of season where you are. 

Recipe Notes:
This recipe is best served warm, either as dessert, or for breakfast - yes, for breakfast! For breakfast I'd suggest serving it with coconut or greek yoghurt.
It's less a cake and more a moist pie, it's quite dense and filling - so save an appetite if it's for dessert!
To up the skin-loving ante of this pie, consider adding in 2 heaped teaspoons of raspberry flavoured marine collagen or unflavoured marine collagen.

Ingredients
3 tbs coconut oil, melted
3 large free-range eggs, whisked
3 tbs honey (or maple syrup)
¾ cup pepitas (ground in a blender until you have fine grains. You could also use almond meal)
3 tbs GF self-raising flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
330ml coconut milk (tinned, beware not to use a 400ml can or it'll be too runny)
1 pinch salt
250g strawberries, hulled and halved

Heat oven to 180*. Use a little coconut oil to grease a 22cm glass pie dish.

In a bowl whisk together the ground pepitas, remaining coconut oil, eggs, honey, GF flour, coconut and coconut milk. Pour the mix into the pie dish.

Arrange the strawberries on top.

Bake for 40 mins or until golden brown on top and a skewer comes out clean from the middle of the pie.

Stand for 10 mins. Serve warm with full-fat Greek yoghurt or thick cream and a drizzle of honey. Enjoy!

If you'd like some more dessert or afternoon tea inspiration, check out this lovely gluten free array!