Gluten Free Apple Pie

Miniature Apple Pies for National Apple Pie Day 

Free of gluten, nuts, eggs, soy, with sugar and dairy free options

Gluten Free Miniature Apple Pies for National Apple Pie Day

 I’m finally ahead of time for once!  Those of you who follow me on Google +, Twitter or Facebook know that I sometimes post about funny food days.  Some of you have asked that I include a recipe or info about those days.  A while back I managed to post a tutorial for making Turkish Coffee  on National Coffee Day, but I finally managed to plan ahead and get one done early! 

This apple pie is made especially in honour of December 5, National Apple Pie day.  The origins of this mysterious day appear unknown, but apparently there is also an Apple Pie day in May, too. 

Apple pie is so awesome it gets TWO national days.  

Hubby, who has no gluten problems, liked these so much that he ate two in a row.  Then he suggested we just have apple pie for dinner…

So this recipe is a bit of a modification of my Miniature GroundCherry Pie recipe .  It’s simpler and less time consuming.  The inspiration for this particular form of pie comes from a great post on the Nourishing Gourmet.  However, since that recipe calls for almond flour, which I’m allergic to, I stuck with my original recipe and just modified it a little bit. 

I suspect that these would freeze well, too, because the ground cherry pies froze quite well.  We, of course, have eaten them all before freezing became necessary!  

 The directions are written out below, but here are some pics to help familiarize yourself with the process of prepping these tasty little hand pies. 

 

Rolling out apple pie crust

Filling and covering the pies

Using up the scrap
Funny how a photo of one's own hand usually looks rather grotesque and huge, eh?

Gluten Free Pie Dough Ingredients: (Makes about 9 mini pies)

¾ c either brown rice flour or sorghum flour

½ c tapioca starch (or arrowroot starch)

¼ c sweet rice flour (aka glutinous rice flour – don’t worry, it’s gluten free, it’s just called that because it’s made from sticky rice)

8 Tbsp butter or dairy free alternative like Earth Balance chilled and chopped into chunks (you can also use half coconut oil, if desired)*

¾ tsp xanthan or guar gum {update Oct. 4, 2013-I've tried this without gum and it's even better}

¼ c cold water + extra as needed

*Updated for clarity - I've tried this using 4Tbsp butter and 4Tbsp coconut oil instead of 8Tbsp and it was fine. I haven't tried using just 8 Tbsp of coconut oil so I don't know how it will work out)

Apple Pie Filling:

2 c finely diced apples (about 2 apples, peeled)

¾ tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp rice flour

A dash of salt

(Optional, 1 Tbsp brown sugar and ¼ tsp cinnamon for sprinkling on top)

 Directions:

1. To make the dough: In a food processor, add all the dough ingredients except the water.  Pulse to blend. 

2. Slowly add the water and continue pulsing until the dough forms a ball.  Add more water by the tablespoon if the dough is too dry.   

3. Turn the ball of dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper, wrap, and chill about 30 minutes. 

 

4. In the meantime, prepare the filling.  Mix together all the filling ingredients.  Now I kind of cheated and tossed this in the microwave for 5 minutes.  This serves 2 purposes: it brings out the pectin and makes the filling gel together.  If you have oral allergy syndrome, this and the baking process help to kill the allergen proteins and make the apples safer to eat. 

If you don’t like microwaves, you can cook this on the stove just until the apples become a bit soft.  Don’t overcook, though, you don’t want applesauce. 

5. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

6. Roll out the dough about ¼” thick between two sheets of wax paper.  Hint: This will roll much better if you sprinkle the dough with a bit of rice flour on both sides.

7. Using a circular object of the desired size (i.e. a glass with a large rim, the edge of a glass jar, or a metal jar lid) cut out circles to make the tops and bottoms of the pies and arrange on the baking sheet.  Keep re-rolling and cutting out the dough until all that’s left is a scrap.  

I flattened this little bit in my hand, scooped a tiny bit of filling into it, then formed a bowl around the filling.  This made a perfect bite sized pie!

 

8. On half of the circles, scoop about 2 Tablespoons worth of filling into the centre.  Dip your finger in a small bowl of water and dampen the edges of the circle. 

9. Place the remaining circles over top the filling and press down around the edges. At intervals, indent a little harder around the edges for a wave-like effect. 

10. Using a sharp knife, score a little X on the top to allow steam to escape. 

11. If using the cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle around the top and press down gently. 

12.  Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 15 minutes, until the dough is fairly firm.  These won’t really brown because gluten free flour doesn’t seem to do brown like regular flour.  

And there you have it, miniature pies perfect for National Apple Pie Day!!  
Any plans to celebrate?! 

Do your lips tingle when you eat fresh fruits or vegetables? 

You might want to check out my cookbook, Living with Oral Allergy Syndrome: A Gluten and Meat-Free Cookbook for Wheat, Soy, Nut, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Allergies!

Get it in print from:

 Amazon.com * Amazon.ca * Barnes & Noble * Indigo * Black Bond Books * 

or ask at your local bookstore if they can order it for you!

This post was shared on the following great link parties:  Waste Not Want Not Wednesdays,Melt in Your Mouth Mondays   Monday Mania, Make Your Own Monday, Gluten Free Monday, Natural Living Mondays, Meal Plan Mondays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasteful Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Scratch Cookin' Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Whole Food Wednesdays, Tasty Traditions, Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Fresh Bites Fridays, Gluten Free Fridays, Allergy Free Alaska,