It is Autumn, the weather is cooler and apples are in season. And who doesn’t love an apple pie? If you are watching your carbs, you might want to consider this a special occasion treat, as each honey crisp apple that I used is 21 net carbs. However, if you are focused more on paleo, low carb and gluten free, with no added sugar, this is the apple pie for you!
You can use any apple that you want! A friend gave me a few honeycrisp apples from her tree. Its hard to resist freshly picked fruits and vegetables! Especially anything that is in season.
These are honeycrisp apples
from a friends apple tree.
The pastry dough is one of my favorites and I have used it for both savory and sweet treats. It is almond and coconut flour based making it low in carbs and gluten free. You want to be sure to work with it while it is cold. This is true of all pastry dough because of the butter used. You don’t want it melting in your hands! While I usually use super fine blanched almond flour, I opted to try the natural fine almond flour that includes the almond skins for this rustic pie.
https://onxeniastreet.com/2020/11/08/almond-flour-pastry-dough/
While the below recipe is for a standard size pie, I actually made two individual pies and only used half of the dough. This way tomorrow I can use the other half to create something else. Probably a savory galette!
The sweetener that I have chosen to use for my apple pie is called yacon syrup and it comes from Peru. It is a traditional sweetener used by the Incas for diabetics for a few hundred years. It has a slight molasses like flavor and falls into the category of oligosaccharides that come from fruit or tubers. The yacon syrup is made from the yacon root & is similarly evaporated like maple syrup is. Oligosaccharides are also full of healthy prebiotics which help with good gut flora and they are very high in fiber. The best thing about them is that they don’t spike your blood sugar.
Ingredients:
https://onxeniastreet.com/2020/11/08/almond-flour-pastry-dough/
Pastry Dough:
1 cup almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 tsp xanthum gum
1/4 cup cream cheese
4 tbsp cold butter
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
lemon zest
1 egg
Filling:
6 honeycrisp apples sliced
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tbsp yacon syrup (or your favorite sweetener)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp butter
1 sprig freshly chopped rosemary
1 egg for egg wash
1/4 cup yacon syrup
juice of 1/2 lemon
Directions:
For the dough:
In a food processor blend your dry ingredients to evenly distribute. Cut the cold butter into smaller pieces before adding it in along with the cream cheese & egg. Process it until it all comes together.
Wrap your dough in cling wrap & knead it to activate the xanthum gum, which acts as a binder. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Like any pastry dough made with cold butter, you will want to handle it while it is cold.
yacon syrup & lemon juice
Slice your apples into this slices. Toss them with the pumpkin pie spice, yacon syrup or other sweetener and lemon. Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, mace & cloves. I love to use it instead of adding them in individually.
Melt your butter in a pan. You are going to cook them on medium heat in order to soften them just a little so that you can bend them when creating your rose design. It should take around 7 minutes. If you go too long, they much like mush! And we definitely do not want mush! You will notice that your efforts here will have also created a sauce. Reserve that to pour over your pie.
reserve the caramelized sauce for later
Roll out your dough between two sheets of parchment. Place it into your buttered pie pan and poke a few holes with a fork. This will keep the crust from puffing up.
You can create 1 standard size,
or 4 individually sized pies.
When this is done, then you can begin arranging your now softened apple slices into a flower.
Sprinkle fresh rosemary and pour the reserved sauce from your pan over the pie. I just love the earthiness of rosemary with the apples. It gives a very autumn feel to this dessert. Beat an egg to create the egg wash and brush that onto the pie.
Bake at 350 F for 1 hour or until golden brown.
Kali Oreksi!
on xenia street 