Apple Pie with double (grain free) crust

This year I poted to go for a gluten free Apple Pie for Thanksgiving (I seem to flip flop between pumpkin and apple on alternate years.) I neglected to get a photo, but want to remember this recipe because it tasted great. The crust got a bit soggy by day three, but still tasted good - it was almost like it just had a crumble top.

I used a recipe from Comfy Belly, a blog whose grain free biscuits are also great. This Apple Pie recipe is a double crust with apples that you cook in a saucepan. Note to self: cut apples in large pieces so they don't get too mushy when cooking. Also, press the bottom crust into the pie plate, and use care when rolling out the top crust. Mine tore a bit, but it actually looked good that way in the end - I just layered it a bit. It was rough and homemade looking that way.

I used only a Tablespoon or so of honey in the whole recipe split between crust and filling, and about 1 1/2 Tablespoons truvia (1 T for the filling). It was not overly sweet, but was sweet enough and will not elevate blood sugar!

(We also brought squirrel organ pate and cauliflower mashed potatoes to dinner. The pate was a initially met with some doubt, but all gave it some thumb's up after trying it.)

"Paleo" Apple Pie

I made a really good apple pie for Thanksgiving. I finished it off yesterday morning and am already wanting more! Ah, the time of holiday treat eating. I blended a bunch of recipes and was happy with the end result. The only thing I'd tamper with next time is the crumble topping...it didn't get crispy and was a little more soft/chewy. I didn't actually mind that, but will experiment some more.

The crust is a pecan crust from Elena's Pantry. The only thing I changed was to add a little sweetness to the crust. I only added one date - it seems neglegable to use just one, but that is what I did! I also baked mine differently than she does because I pre-baked it a bit and did the filling with mostly cooked apples. The whole pie baked together for only 15 minutes. Making grain free pies is really much easier than the old gluten kind - at least not needing to roll out crust and wait for it to chill and all that business. I found it quite pleasant. You could easily reduce the sweetener in the filling (or use part stevia) - I was winging it and it turned out not overly sweet.

Pecan Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 medjool date, pit removed
1 T coconut flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease/butter/ghee a 9" pie plate.
2. Pulse pecans and chopped date in a food processor until mixture resembles course gravel. Add coconut flour, salt and egg and pulse until the mixture thickens and starts to form a ball.
3. Spread nut crust mix into pie plate, making sure to smooth it evenly on the bottom and sides. I found it nice to wet my fingers so that the mixture didn't stick to my fingers. It took a little patience, but the whole thing spread pretty easily.
4. Bake in the 350 degree oven for 10-14 minutes. The crust will start to brown slightly and will look more firm. I poked a few fork holes on the crust to let any steam/air out as it baked. Let crust cool a bit before filling with apples.

Apple Filling
7-9 tart apples
juice of half a lemon
4 T butter/ghee
3 T honey
2 T coconut sugar
1+ tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 T coconut flour

Core apples and cut in thick slices Heat butter in a large pot and add apples once it is melted. Add remaining ingredients. Cook for about 20-25 minutes on medium heat. You want the apples to cook, but not get too soft or mushy; stir gently to coat apples in the sweet butter sauce throughout cooking time. You also want liquid to reduce a bit.

Crumble Topping: Mix the following ingredients in a food processor until crumbly/sticky.
4 dates, pit removed, chopped
2 T pecans
2 T almond meal
2 T butter or ghee

For pie: Once apples are soft and mostly cooked, spoon apples into pie crust. I had a little remaining liquid which I poured over the apples. Top pie with crumble topping.

Bake for 15 minutes in 350 degree oven. Serve!

Pumpkin pie (GF)

I've been eating a little more paleo-like these days, sort of as an experiment in sugar-free, grain-free, low lactose eating. I am not strict about it, but so far it feels really good. Also, it seems that more folks around me are eating this way - or some variation, which makes blog posting about it a little more fun.

So - I brought pumpkin pie to my family feast, making no promises that it would taste good (just in case). Pumpkin pie is just so quintessential. I mean, I have yet to have a vegan version that actually tastes good, and I was worried this could go down the same (dairy-free) route. But, no! This filling actually tops my list of pumpkin pies: honey = delish. It was thicker than other recipes, which I loved. The more non-traditional aspect of the pie was the crust: it was a nut crust (no flour), which was more like a cheesecake graham cracker crust consistency. The nuttiness was really good - and though not the flaky (glutinous) crust of pumpkin pie norms, it was super tasty.

I got the recipe from the website linked above. I used my own pumpkin (it was actually butternut squash, which I roasted for an hour, then cooled and pureed). I liked the fresh ginger a lot, and would maybe use a little more next time. I am also curious how this would turn out with a mix of almonds and pecans...

Crust:
* 1 cup pecans;
* 1/2 cup hazelnuts;
* 4 tbsp butter, ghee or coconut oil (room temperature);
* A pinch of sea salt;

Filling:
* 1 can fresh or canned pumpkin puree (about 1 3/4 cups);
* 2 eggs;
* 1/2 cup local raw honey;
* 1/2 cup coconut milk;
* 2 tsp cinnamon;
* 1/4 tsp ground cloves;
* 1/4 tsp fresh grated ginger;

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Process the nuts in a food processor to almost a flour consistency. Be careful not to process too much and get a butter instead.
3. In a bowl, mix the ground nuts with the butter or coconut oil and then spread the crust mixture in a pie pan and bake for 10 minutes. (See photo of crust after pre-baking.)
4. While the crust bakes, mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl.
5. Add the filling evenly on the baked crust and bake for an additional 45 minutes.

Maple Pumpkin Pie with Candied Ginger

Eren and I first made this pie 8 years ago. Every time the weather turns cold we remember this recipe, and yearn for the fall that we lived in the same town and baked pie after pie. I think it is everything pumpkin pie should be: not too sweet, perfect custard texture, creamy, and very pumpkin-y. The maple adds this really nice richness without being too sugary, and the ginger is amazing. And we got to make it this weekend! Pie recipe is here at Epicurian: Ginger Maple Pumpkin Pie. The "pumpkin" we used was actually a kabocha squash that was a super rich dark orange color.

The crust we used was another Baking Illustrated recipe. Baking Illustrated is like the science version of cooking - they test every recipe (ever seen America's Test Kitchen? this is them) with different ingredients to come up with the fail-proof perfect one. According to science. Kind of fascinating.

Pie Dough for Prebaked Pie Shell (1 single 9" pie)
1 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 t. salt
1 T. sugar
3 T. vegetable shortening, chilled
4 T. unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/4" pieces
4-5 T. ice water

Process flour, salt and sugar in food processor until combined. Add shortening and process 10 sec until texture is like sand. Scatter butter over flour mix and pulse to a course mixture (10 - 1 second pulses). Turn the mixture into a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle 4 T. ice water over mixture and use a folding motion to mix. Press down on dough until it sticks together, adding 1 more T. of water if dough is not coming together. Flatten dough to 4" disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least an hour or up to 2 days. *I have made this crust without a food processor: grate butter into flour mixture with a cheese grater and cut it in using one of those cutter-inner tools.

Remove dough from fridge (if in longer than one hour, let stand at room temp until malleable). Roll the dough on a lightly floured work surface, or between two sheets of parchment to a 12" circle. Transfer to a 9" pie plate. Trim the edges to 1/2 beyond the pan and fold it under itself. Refrigerate until firm (40 mintues) and then freeze 20 minutes. (*Note, I don't have a 9" pie pan so I used a bigger tart pan - no prob. Also, I skipped the refrigerator/freezing step and all was fine.) Preheat oven to 375. Press foil to chilled crust (make sure to cover edge) and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 25-30 minutes and carefully remove weights. Continue baking 5-6 minutes for a partially baked crust, or until golden brown for a fully baked crust (12 minutes more).

Using a partially baked crust, we filled it with the custard and baked it according to the pie recipe. Because of my odd pan, the edge was a little too low, so it could not hold as much of the custard. Alas. Still delicious.

Plum-Apple Top Crust Pie

This recipe is another Smitten Kitchen one - the top crust just looked so delicious I couldn't not make it. And there were some gorgeous plums at the co-op this week...I can't remember the kind, but they are this beautiful dark red color. The crust is a little easier than the standard - you cream the butter and sugar and use an egg rather than water. Also, because it puffs up a bit and you dish it up like cobbler, it doesn't seem so fragile. Just roll it out and plop it on. The grated lemon/orange rind is amazing in the crust...and I ate it with ice cream rather than whipped cream. YUM. I want pie every night.
Apples, squash, and pumpkins are abundant. Pie season is upon us.

Banana cream pie

My sweetie's birthday was on Sunday, so I made her this pie to celebrate. I found the recipe after googling "best banana cream pie" (yeah, I know, I'm sooo creative). This one looked complicated, and in things unfamiliar (like cream pies) I tend to think that complicated = tasty. Complete with homemade crust, vanilla pudding and candied whiskey walnuts, it turned out delicious. Happy 33rd, E.