Food makeovers: An apple pie with fewer calories

Editor's note: In this occasional series, the Southeast Missourian shares some easy ways to transform your favorite foods into a lower-calorie version.

Put down the fork and step away from the pie.

That shiny piece of gooey apple pie on so many dessert tables during the holidays can have more than 350 calories and 16 grams of fat per slice, according to Janet Anders, who is a wellness dietitian at Fitness Plus. And she's talking small slices.

Anders and HealthPoint Fitness dietitian Raina Childers weighed in on how to lighten up on the calorie count in each part of the popular pie -- crust, filling and top.

"You may not wish to substitute them all, but every little bit helps," Anders said.

Crust

Most of the calories in apple pie come from the fat in the crust because people refer to that generations-old recipe using lard or shortening. Use a graham cracker crust for a lighter base. Both homemade and store-bought varieties of graham cracker crusts will have fewer calories than traditional version. By default, a lattice crust will add less calories to a pie than a double crust because there's less there.

Filling

The sugar in the apple pie filling ratchets up the calorie count as well. Comstock brand pie filling now contains Splenda instead of sugar for a low-calorie filling. Splenda also makes a brown sugar substitute. If you are slicing your own Granny Smiths for the pie, use Splenda brown sugar and cornstarch or tapioca to thicken the mixture. Splenda still sweetens your filling but without the added calories and carbohydrates.

Topping

Fat-free whipped topping and lower-calorie ice creams can help top off the pie. Or substitute nonfat frozen yogurt. Switching to vanilla nonfat yogurt can shave 30 calories and 5 grams of fat or more. It also has more calcium for a bonus.