Say "I Love You" This Valentine's Day With a Fresh Strawberry Pie

Today I want to share one of my absolute favorite pies with you guys.  Looking at my recipes page you might think that we eat a lot of pie around our home.  Oddly enough, we don't eat it very often. Pies are just so pretty I find myself wanting to photograph them more than cakes or cookies.  This pie is no exception.  It is a real beauty, full of fresh, whole strawberries topped with a shiny, sweet glaze.  And don't even get me started talking about the oatmeal pecan pie crust!! It is so yummy I could eat it on it's own.  {But please don't make me because the combined flavor of the finished pie is DIVINE!}

Every year, in early spring, I start watching the grocery ads for strawberries to go on sale super cheap.  When that happens, I pounce and buy a ton to make several batches of jam and Fresh Strawberry Pie.  It might give Christmas a run for its money as favorite time of the year in our home.  Sometimes I add a cream cheese layer to the pie that was not part of the original recipe.  I like it that way best, but the pie is awesome without it, too.  You decide which way you prefer!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Oatmeal Crust:

1/2 C. butter
3/4 C. flour
1 C. rolled oats
1/2 C. chopped nuts
1/4 C. sugar
Preheat oven to 400*. Melt butter and stir in next four ingredients. Mix well and pat into a 9" pie pan. Bake 12 min. or until golden brown. Cool.

Optional Cream Cheese Layer

8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 C. powdered sugar
1 C. cool whip
Mix and spread in bottom of cooled crust.

Strawberry Filling:

4 to 5 C. whole strawberries, cleaned
1 C. water
1 C. sugar
4 Tbsp. corn starch
1 small package sugar free strawberry jello

Place cleaned and dried strawberries in cooled pie crust. {If you do the cream cheese layer you will probably need fewer berries.}  Stack until nice and full. Combine sugar and cornstarch in saucepan and mix. Add water and cook until thickened and slightly clear. Add jello powder into thickened mixture until dissolved. While warm, slowly drizzle the filling over strawberries until berries are covered. Refrigerate until set. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

It's a perfectly beautiful Valentine's Day treat to make for your honey.

Enjoy, friends!

Amy g.