Friday, April 30, 2010

Gluten-FREE Apple Crumb Pie

I was just going to post this recipe, simple and delicious as it is.  But I wanted to add a little bit on waxed paper, as I recommend utilizing it for the crust of this scrumptious pie.  I highly recommend switching over to an all natural waxed paper.  You can look up various brands online to learn more.  All natural waxed paper is made 100% petroleum-free.  They also use an unbleached paper, meaning that paper went thru much less chemical contact before it reached your food.  They get the waxy finish from all natural soybean wax.  And it's safe for our planet, too, as it is non-toxic and biodegradable, which is wonderful.  We use our waxed paper in place of plastic baggies for packing our lunches and storing foods in the fridge.  So that's my note.  Give it a try.  Now on to today's dessert recipe...

Gluten-FREE Apple Crumb Pie
adapted from Cooking With Coconut Flour (an amazing cookbook everyone should own)

Crust:
1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted twice
1/2 cup almond meal (chop raw almonds in food processor until the consistency of flour)
2 free-range eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp raw honey (optional)
1/4 cup organic unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp sea salt

Filling:
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/3 cup xylitol
1/4 tsp liquid stevia
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp almond extract

Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup chopped raw almonds
1/4 cup raw brown sugar (OMIT IF ADVANCED PLAN)
2 Tbsp organic butter, melted

1.)  CRUST   Sift the coconut flour twice and set it aside.  Beat the eggs slightly, then thoroughly mix all the remaining crust ingredients into the eggs.  Add the coconut flour last and mix it in well to form the dough.   Kneed the dough with your hands for about 1 minute.

2.)  Roll the pie dough out between 2 sheets of waxed paper to ensure minimal breakage.  Coconut flour is very tricky to work with, so I highly recommend this step.  If needed, tape the waxed paper down to secure your work surface.  Roll the dough into a ball then place between the waxed paper sheets.  Press down with your hands until about 6 inches in diameter.  Use your rolling pin to flatten to about 1/8 inch thickness.

3.)  Moving the dough to the pie shell is the trickiest part.  I recommend slipping a thin, flat object such as a pizza paddle, cookie sheet or piece of cardboard under the bottom layer of waxed paper.  Untape the waxed paper, discard the top sheet, and carefully lift the cookie sheet and dough off the counter and into the fridge for a couple minutes to firm up.  Remove.  Using both hands, gently but quickly flip the dough over and on top of your pie pan.  Shape the dough into the pan, removing the waxed paper.  You did it!!  It will be so worth the extra sifting, taping and shaping to taste this yummy, nutty gluten-free flour!

4.)  TOPPING    In a medium bowl, mix all the topping ingredients together with a fork.  Set aside.

5.)  FILLING   In a large saucepan over Medium heat, cook apples in 1/2 c water with lid on until slightly softened (around 10 mins).  Add agave nectar, stevia, cinnamon, nutmeg and sea salt.  Mix arrowroot with 1/4 cup of cold water and stir into mixture to thicken.  Cook thru until apples are tender.  Remove from heat and stir in almond extract.  Fill pie crust with mixture.

6.)  Spread topping over the pie and bake at 375 degrees F for about 18 minutes.  I recommend using a pie crust ring or trimming the pie shell with aluminum foil to prevent the pie crust edges from burning (remove at last 5 minutes of cooking).  Watch that the nut topping does not burn, too.  If it starts to get dark, tent the pie with aluminum foil to disperse heat on the almonds.

3 comments:

  1. raw brown sugar? Any substitutes?

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  2. I'm excited to try this recipe but just had a question about why you use both stevia and xylitol. Why not just use one or the other? And will xylitol only work? My family doesn't like the aftertaste of stevia. Thanks!

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  3. Hi Paul and Patty! On a daily basis, you want to eat as little amount of xylitol as possible. It is a highly processed sugar alcohol, something that is hard for our bodies to digest. The reason it is allowed on the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans is because it is almost a Zero carb. But, you don't want to eat a lot of it because it can set your gut out of balance. The reason I needed to add some to the pie filling is the volume. It needed a little volume aside from the stevia. You can use all xylitol, that is up to you. You can also add a few more Tbsp of honey. Apple sauce may be even another option that would work well.

    The stevia brand I use is Stevita. It is the highest quality and purest stevia I have ever found. They use 95%+ pure steviosides, while all other brands sold commercially use anywhere from 40-85%. There is no bitter aftertaste with Stevita. The only time it gets a little sharp tasting is if you use too much in a recipe. Here is the Spoonable Stevia that I use so much: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012IURLG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0012IURLG&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwhealingcui-20

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