[Gluten-Free, Vegan, Dairy-Free]
One does not simply allow Independence Day to pass without indulging in some apple pie. The classic dessert is as American as firing off Roman candles, grilling with family, and making a trip to the nearest body of water. After much debate and recipe comparison, we decided to take Dreena Burton and 86 Lemons’ apple pie recipe for a trial run. A round of applause is in order. Complete with flaky crust, caramel-y apples, and a better-than-Yankee-candle aroma, this apple pie will fool even the most staunch traditionalists. “It’s gluten-free?! How?! AND it’s vegan?! You’re lying.”
INGREDIENTS for crust
1 ½ c. almond meal
¾ c. brown rice flour
½ c. tapioca flour
¼ c. arrowroot flour
¼ c. coconut palm sugar
2 tsp. xanthan gum
½ tsp. sea salt
¾ c. & 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
7 ½ to 8 Tbsp. ice cold coconut milk
INGREDIENTS for filling
6 medium apples [mixture of Fuji and Golden Delicious for sweet/tart combo]
2 tsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
3 Tbsp. tapioca flour
¼ c. coconut palm sugar/sucanat mix [can use all coconut palm sugar if desired]
1 ¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
⅛ tsp. sea salt
Food process almond meal, rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, sugar, salt, and xanthan gum together. Add coconut oil and pulse to combine. Then add milk one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms.
Line two baking sheets or two flat surfaces with parchment [a cutting board or pizza stone will work]. Lightly oil your pie pan with coconut oil or olive oil.
Divide the dough mixture in half to make two dough balls. Place one ball on each of the parchment-covered baking sheets and flatten them into disc shapes. Allow them to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Wash and peel 6 apples - we used 3 Fujis and 3 Golden Delicious and it turned out to be a delicious combination of tart and sweet. Core the apples and cut them into thin slices.
Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice and maple syrup. Add tapioca flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and salt and mix together. Once combined, dump the apples into the bowl and toss to coat every last slice. The mixture might look a bit dry at first, but just set it aside for a few minutes. The sugar will cause the apples to get juicier. Stir occasionally until adding to the pie.
Remove the first dough ball and place another piece of parchment over top of it. Use a rolling pin to evenly roll the dough into a large circle, about 2 ½” larger than the pie pan.
Once you’ve formed a circle-ish shape, carefully transfer the dough into the pie pan. Allow it to sink down on its own and then gently use your fingers to push it into the edges and clean up around the top. Place the crust into the freezer for 30 minutes.
After the crust has been chilled, empty the apples into the crust with slightly more apples near the center and less around the edges.
Repeat the rolling process with the second dough ball until it is a flat circle. Then use a knife or pizza cutter to create long strips of dough. Gently lay each strip over the pie to create the classic criss-cross pattern.
As a final touch, lightly brush the crust with coconut milk and sprinkle it with cane sugar.
Place your beautiful creation on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350° and bake for another 30 minutes.
Remove and allow it to cool for about an hour!
As delicious as this pie tastes straight out of the oven [after cooling some, of course] it somehow tastes even better the second day. The flavors seem to really sink in and mix together. The apples soak up all of the juicy goodness that escapes during baking. It’s an all-around home run.
Bring this bad boy to the picnic or cookout and watch it disappear. For added measure, bring a container of coconut milk ice cream to the party. Everyone else might not be on board but that just means more for you, right?
Happy Fourth, everyone!
Americana Apple Pie
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
Gluten-Free, Vegan, Dairy-Free
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS FOR CRUST
- 1 ½ c. almond meal
- ¾ c. brown rice flour
- ½ c. tapioca flour
- ¼ c. arrowroot flour
- ¼ c. coconut palm sugar
- 2 tsp. xanthan gum
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- ¾ c. & 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 7 ½ to 8 Tbsp. ice cold coconut milk
INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING
- 6 medium apples [mixture of Fuji and Golden Delicious for sweet/tart combo]
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp. tapioca flour
- ¼ c. coconut palm sugar/sucanat mix [can use all coconut palm sugar if desired]
- 1 ¼ tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp. sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Food process almond meal, rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, sugar, salt, and xanthan gum together. Add coconut oil and pulse to combine. Then add milk one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms.
- 2. Line two baking sheets or two flat surfaces with parchment [a cutting board or pizza stone will work]. Lightly oil your pie pan with coconut oil or olive oil.
- 3. Divide the dough mixture in half to make two dough balls. Place one ball on each of the parchment-covered baking sheets and flatten them into disc shapes. Allow them to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- 4. Wash and peel 6 apples – we used 3 Fujis and 3 Golden Delicious and it turned out to be a delicious combination of tart and sweet. Core the apples and cut them into thin slices.
- 5. Preheat the oven to 400º. In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice and maple syrup. Add tapioca flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and salt and mix together. Once combined, dump the apples into the bowl and toss to coat every last slice. The mixture might look a bit dry at first, but just set it aside for a few minutes. The sugar will cause the apples to get juicier. Stir occasionally until adding to the pie.
- 6. Remove the first dough ball and place another piece of parchment over top of it. Use a rolling pin to evenly roll the dough into a large circle, about 2 ½” larger than the pie pan.
- 7. Once you’ve formed a circle-ish shape, carefully transfer the dough into the pie pan. Allow it to sink down on its own and then gently use your fingers to push it into the edges and clean up around the top. Place the crust into the freezer for 30 minutes.
- 8. After the crust has been chilled, empty the apples into the crust with slightly more apples near the center and less around the edges.
- 9. Repeat the rolling process with the second dough ball until it is a flat circle. Then use a knife or pizza cutter to create long strips of dough. Gently lay each strip over the pie to create the classic criss-cross pattern.
- 10. As a final touch, lightly brush the crust with coconut milk and sprinkle it with cane sugar.
- 11. Place your beautiful creation on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes.
- 12. Remove and allow it to cool for about an hour.
Notes
- Preheat oven to 400º F at step 5 then drop to 350º F at step 11.
- Prep Time: 70
- Cook Time: 50
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 586
- Sugar: 30
- Sodium: 190
- Fat: 35
- Saturated Fat: 24
- Unsaturated Fat: 8
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 71
- Protein: 4
- Cholesterol: 0
Hey! So I am allergic to almonds as well as nutmeg. I saw the above comment and reply to use oat flour instead of the almond flour but what about the nutmeg? I know that that adds a nice kick towards tartness but it gives me migraines. Any thoughts?
Aw, we're sorry to hear that :(. It does add a nice warm spice flavor, but if you get migraines from it you could simply leave it out or just add another 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon. It's hard to go wrong with all of the other great flavors going on ;).
I am so excited to try this pie. I am making it today for a family gathering. I only have boxed coconut milk on hand. Should I go out and get a can of full fat or will the boxed version do?
They're going to love it! We used "So Delicous coconut milk", not the canned coconut milk for this recipe. It comes in a carton and can be found at most grocery stores. If you can't find coconut milk, almond milk is perfectly fine too :). Thank you for the question and good luck!
Oh yay! That is exactly what I have in my pantry. Thanks so much for responding so soon. I hopped on here to check and you had just commented. I will let you know how it turns out. Recently gluten free and avoiding dairy and cane sugar so this should be a yummy treat.
Nevermind about the oil and milk! My screen just shifted and it popped up! lol!
;) Hope it turned out great!
Oh my, it was AMAZING! I had rave reviews on it! (and it's officially a part of my Thanksgiving collection) I also blogged about it, and linked it to your site here. Such amazing-ness just had to be shared!
Yes! Fantastic - so glad it was a hit! Thanks for letting us know, and for linking back. :)
How much oil and milk do you use for the crust? I'm going to make it this morning for a ladies event tonight. ^_^
Can you recommend anything to sub for the almond meal? We have a nut/seed allergy. I know gluten free flours differ from weights, protein contents, absorbencies, etc. I've never experimented with almond meal due to our allergy, so I'm not familiar with what would sub well.
Thx!
Oat flour or a blend of oat flour and rice flour would probably be a good substitute. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
I made this pie last night for a birthday instead of cake, unbelievable ! Everyone loved it!
The only thing I changed was cooking it a bit longer, I added another 20 minutes to the end because my apples weren't cooking, the bottom and sides were still not browning and the inside just wasn't gooey and bubbly yet. With the extra time it came out superb, thank you so much, it was just great. I can't say enough...
Success! So very glad that you and your guests enjoyed it! The cooking time difference could be any number of things -- would love to know what kind of apples you used! Thank you for letting us know what you thought. :)
This turned out pretty good, though it was difficult to get the dough to work without it breaking and falling apart!
I was wondering what the first temperature is supposed to be before you "turn it down" to 350? I couldn't seem to find it anywhere. I did mine at 375 but not sure that was hot enough.
Thank you for the feedback! Yeah, due to the gluten free flour mixture, yeast free dough, and lack of eggs, it does make the dough a little "unstable" and difficult to work with. So sorry about that, the initial temperature should be 400º. We're glad that it still turned out good for you!
when do you add the tapioca flour in the filling?
Add the tapioca flour at the same time as the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and salt. Thanks for catching that mistake!
This pie looks AMAZING!! So, when you say to drop the temperature for the last 30 mins., what temperature are you lowering it to?
It IS amazing! The temperature should be lowered to 350F for the last 30 minutes. Let us know how you like it!