With quarantine baking becoming more and more of a trend over the last few weeks, I felt that we all could use a tasty gluten-free Apple Pie recipe, with all the seasonal flavor but a LOT less sugar! This mindful apple pie recipe is perfect for the summer. Made on a delicate and buttery almond flour crust, and topped with a cinnamon-spiked streusel topping – sure to be a hit with the whole family!
A Buttery Gluten-Free Almond Flour Pie Crust
I have made gluten-free pie crusts in previous years with oats and nuts and dates, and found them to detract too much from the main event – the fruity center! While delicious on their own, they were too much of a cookie.
This time around, I wanted a gluten-free pie crust that was more like eating the real deal, I was persistent in finding a way to make an authentic recipe that did not have gluten. However, I didn’t want one made with a gluten-free flour blend filled with starches and gums.
After a bit of experimentation, our Sharp Chef Michelle Miller found the perfect option to fit my request — a gluten-free pie crust made very similar to a classic crust, but with almond flour. The crust bakes up flakey and buttery and perfect! I was so pleasantly surprised when I tried this recipe out myself. If you are newer to the baking space, do not fret!
Fair warning: It is not quite as sturdy as a traditional crust! Gluten-free baked foods never are. It took patience and finesse to pull out the perfect slices from my pie plate.
Tips for Making the Perfect Gluten-Free Pie Crust:
- Take your time! The crust needs to be chilled well to hold together.
- Be sure to prebake the crust, even if it’s for a fruit filling like this apple pie. This ensures the crust doesn’t get mushy underneath the apples.
- Almond flour browns/burns a lot faster than wheat flour, so this pie bakes longers at a lower temperature than a traditional pie.
- For the best results, I recommend using a pie shield. If you don’t have a pie shield, you can use foil around the edges of the pie plate to cover the crust but not the center. If doing this in your Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven, do not use foil. Use a silicone pie shield.
- Make your pie the day ahead, and thoroughly chill it before cutting it! If you try to serve this pie warm, it will taste wonderful, but the crust will not hold up in slices. The first time I baked this pie, I served it still warm, and I just told people it was apple crumble!
The Perfect Companion for Baking
Am I the only one who has been using my spare time to test out new recipes? By cutting out my commute time, I have over 2 extra hours in the day to improve my baking skills. I have been heavily relying on my Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven for baking since I have been working remotely! It’s so handy to have a second oven to help prepare multiple dishes at once after the workday has ended.
It’s the perfect tool for this mindful apple pie recipe. The countertop oven cooks with a combination of steam and convection, so it keeps food moist but ALSO browns it. I really prefer using this appliance for baking now because I can personally taste the difference. Because this almond flour crust browns faster than a traditional pie crust, the steam helps keep the crust from drying out while baking.
How to Make a Mindful Apple Pie Filling
When I make fruit-based desserts, I want the sweetness and flavor of the fruit to shine through. If you’ve ever had a delicious homemade apple sauce, you know that on their own, cooked apples can taste pretty similar to the apple pie filling.
To keep this apple pie filling gluten-free, I used a little bit of arrowroot starch to thicken the juices. I also used some light muscovado sugar (this is an unrefined brown sugar that still has the molasses), and some cinnamon. Super simple!
Because the almond flour pie crust is both a little difficult to work with and a bit richer than a regular pie crust, I opted for a crumble topping here, like a dutch apple pie. This topping is made quickly by blending up some oats, walnuts, muscovado, cinnamon, and butter. Five ingredients, and so quick to make, and then sprinkle it over the pie filling before baking.
To keep this pie, Paleo: Use honey instead of muscovado. I have done this in the past, and it works great! Instead of using the crumble topping, simply sprinkle chopped walnuts over the top of the pie for the last 20 minutes of baking.
Gluten-Free Apple Pie Recipe
Are you gluten-free and always missing out on the delicious fall pies? Well now this Gluten-Free Apple Pie Recipe is the answer to all of your problems!
- 1 almond flour pie crust
- 2 pounds apple tart baking apples, like honeycrisp
- 3 tbsp muscovado sugar or honey for paleo
- 3 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Crumble Topping
- 3/4 cup oats
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 2 tbsp butter chilled, (cut in chunks)
- 2 tbsp muscovado
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- To use the almond flour pie crust for an apple pie, the crust needs to be parbaked on 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
- Prepare the apples by peeling and very thinly slicing the apples. Put apples in a bowl of water with some lemon juice to prevent browning during this process.
- Drain the apples. and then mix in the arrowroot, muscovado, cinnamon and additional tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir well to coat apples.
- To make the crumble topping, add all ingredients to a blender or food processor, and pulse until the mixture comes together in large crumbs. You want to retain some of the texture of the oats and walnuts, so don’t over-process.
- Fill the parbaked crust with the apples (heap the apples above your crust – they bake down a lot!), and the top with the crumble topping.
- Use a silicone pie shield to cover the crust and prevent over-browning.
- Bake the pie in the Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven for 50 minutes on 350 degrees.
