Grain-free apple pie is a traditional pioneer pie that tastes delicious and is easy to make! Apple pie is a heritage recipe and making an apple pie is a must have life skill for any modern pioneer! With this easy apple pie recipe, you can make an apple pie that is allergy-friendly and still insanely delicious. This pie uses simple ingredients to create a flavorful and healthy dessert option. Apple pie is one of my favorite types of fruit pies, and you will quickly see why after you try this recipe! It is sure to be a favorite amongst modern pioneers of all ages!
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Pioneer Recipe
Apple pie truly is a pioneer recipe. This heritage pie has been around for a long time and is often thought of as the traditional American pie. The early pioneers and homesteaders would have had an apple pie recipe in their cookbook (or memorized) to make for special occasions. As modern pioneers, this allergy-friendly grain-free apple pie recipe is a must have in your kitchen too!
Apple pie would have been a special treat that was made in chuckwagons during cattle drives, in western town restaurants, and in homestead kitchens. It was often said that a cowboy could eat a whole apple pie himself if given the chance. Due to the scarcity of fresh fruit during the early pioneer days, many apple pies would be made out of dried apples. It was a special treat to have an apple pie made with fresh apples!
Once more homesteaders starting settling in and planting orchards or fruit trees, apple pies made with fresh apples were more common, but still thoroughly enjoyed!
As modern pioneers, we can whip up this simple grain-free apple pie and add ‘making an apple pie’ to our list of pioneer life skills! This allergy-friendly version of apple pie is…
- grain-free
- gluten-free
- refined sugar free
- corn free
- tree nut free
- egg free
- dairy-free option
Benefits of Apples
An apple pie a day keeps the doctor away… maybe that’s not quite right, but it’s close enough for my likings! Apples are a very nutritious and hydrating fruit that contain some pretty amazing health benefits! Eating an apple, including its skin, can provide benefits for your digestive tract, heart, skin, and hair.
Here are just a few benefits that apples provide:
- Apples contain a good amount of quercetin, which helps control inflammation in the body.
- The component boron contained in apples helps promote healthy bones.
- Malic acid found in apples helps keep your teeth cleaner and whiter!
- The fiber content of apples aids in keeping your digestive tract healthy.
- Anti-oxidant levels in apples help support your immune system.
- Apples are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin E.
As you can see apples can benefit you in many different ways! They aid with digestive issues, respiratory problems, help prevent cancer and heart disease, as well as being beneficial for your skin, hair, and bones!
Best Baking Apples
There are many varieties of apples and certain varieties are best for certain purposes. An apple’s flesh, taste, and sugar content all play a role in what they are best used for. Some apples have firm flesh while others have soft flesh. Also, some apples are sweet, some are tart, and some are both! I used Jonagolds in this recipe and they tasted great and baked down nicely.
Here are some other popular apple varieties:
- Honeycrisp– personally, honeycrisp are my favorite eating apple, they are sweet with very crisp flesh, good baking and eating apple
- Fuji– similar to honeycrisp apples, Fuji are sweet, crisp, and juicy, they make great eating apples
- Golden Delicious- these apples are sweet with crisp flesh, they are a great multi-purpose apple
- Gala– an apple with crisp flesh and a sweet taste, these too make good eating apples
- Jonathans– they have a slightly tart flavor and are a great multi-purpose apple
- Granny Smith– these apples have firm flesh and are tart, they are the best apples for baking
- McIntosh– crisp and juicy with firm flesh and a tangy flavor, these make great eating and baking apples, however they tend to not hold their shape when cooked
Need another apple recipe to try out these different apple varieties on? Make sure you check out this amazing apple crisp recipe!
Serving & Storing
One reason why apple pie was a popular early pioneer recipe was because it didn’t need to be refrigerated. However, for modern pioneer days I have a few tips and tricks for storing and serving this grain-free apple pie!
If you plan on eating this pie within a day or two of making it, it will be fine stored at room temperature with a cover. However, if you need to store the pie for longer, it is best to cover it and keep it in the fridge. I also recommend doing this if you live in hot or humid areas.
Crust Options:
For serving this pie there are so many options, but first I want to discuss some topping and decorating options. There are two ways that I like to make an apple pie: apple pie with a lattice crust or apple pie with a crumble topping. Both ways are delicious! I included my favorite grain-free crumble recipe in this apple pie recipe, but if you want to make a lattice crust like what is shown in the pictures, then I also have some grain-free resources for that too!
These two grain-free pie crusts would both make an excellent crust for this apple pie! The traditional grain-free pie crust recipe makes enough for both a base crust and a lattice crust. The pastry crust you have to make a double batch of in order to have enough for a lattice crust on top. This grain-free cassava flour pie crust also makes a nice flakey crust for this pie. Again, you would have to double the recipe to make enough for a lattice crust on top.
You can also make a grain-free, egg free, and dairy-free pie crust using Chebe all-purpose mix! One batch of Chebe all-purpose mix makes enough for a base crust and a lattice crust.
Topping Ideas:
Lastly the topping ideas! This apple pie is delicious by itself, but sometimes I like adding a few of these toppings:
- Sodelicious dairy-free cocowhip
- homemade coconut whipped cream
- dairy-free vanilla ice cream
- homemade cinnamon sugar
Recipe Tips
This pie doesn’t need too many recipe tips because it is so simple and easy to make! However, to ensure your pioneer apple pie turns out perfectly, I’ve made a note of a few of the tricks and methods I use while making this pie to help your pie making experience go smoothly too!
- You can use frozen apples, just make sure you have a full 5-6 cups of frozen apples because they tend to bake down more than fresh apples.
- I have tried making this pie with homemade canned apple pie filling and it works well too! Again, just make sure you have plenty of filling and you may need to add a little more tapioca or cassava flour to thicken up the juice that the apples are canned in.
- You can use tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, or cassava flour in this recipe.
- Any granulated sugar will work in both the filling and the crumble recipe. I like using coconut sugar or maple sugar.
- The key to ensuring your apple pie is done is to make sure the filling mixture has boiled for an adequate enough time!
- If the crumble topping or lattice crust is getting too brown while the pie is baking, you can can cover it with aluminum foil while the pie finished baking.
- For a dairy-free apple pie, use a suitable dairy-free butter substitute or opt for a dairy-free pie crust option!
This pioneer grain-free apple pie is just as easy to make as a traditional apple pie! The recipe uses simple, wholesome ingredients that makes this pie a healthy modern pioneer dessert option. The taste and texture of this apple pie is perfect and sure to please!
Grain-free Apple Pie (nut free)
Ingredients
Apple Filling
- 5-6 large organic apples approx. 6-7 cups
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup maple sugar
- 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- 1 tsp. organic cinnamon
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1 unbaked grain-free pie crust
Crumble Topping
- 1/4 cup organic, grass fed cold butter
- 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 2 T. coconut sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Wash, peel, core, and slice the apples. Slice the apples into thin slices so that they bake better.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the apple slices, coconut sugar, maple sugar, tapioca flour, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Stir the apple slices until everything is coated.
- Pour the apple slices into the unbaked pie crust and set aside.
- In a food processor, gently pulse together the coconut flour, tapioca flour, and coconut sugar.
- Cut the butter up into tablespoon size pieces and add them to the food processor. Pulse until crumbles form.
- Sprinkle the crumbles evenly over the apple slices in the pie crust.
- Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any spills. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 40-45 minutes. The apple filling should be bubbly. If the crust or crumble is getting too brown, cover it with some aluminum foil.
- Allow the apple pie to cool completely before cutting and serving!
Where to Find the Ingredients
- Bob’s Red Mill arrowroot flour
- Nutiva coconut sugar
- Nutiva coconut flour
- Simply Organic ground cinnamon
- Supplies: 9″ glass pie plate, Cuisinart food processor
One bite of this delicious grain-free apple pie and it will have you coming back for more! The grain-free flours, low sugar levels, and beneficial apples contained in this pie make it a healthier pie option too! I love the fact that this apple pie is a pioneer recipe, and one that the early pioneer would have made on the homestead or a cook would have prepared in the chuckwagon. It truly is a chuckwagon recipe! The taste and texture of this pie is sure to please modern pioneers of all ages and it will quickly become a favorite fruit pie on your homestead!
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by Alexa
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