Back in my younger days, when I could consume mass quantities of carbs without gaining a pound, I baked a wicked good apple pie, and I baked it often. While most apple pie bakers argued over which was better, a crust made with shortening or or one made with butter, my pie crust recipe used both.
These days, I don’t bake apple pies very often. I might bake a galette on occasion, but that’s about it. Besides dealing with the calories, I live in a house where I need to cook gluten-free because of my wife’s allergies, so things like pie were 86-ed off the menu.
Although I can find really good gluten-free flour (the brand I use is called “Cup 4 Cup”), it has its limitations. It’s great for dusting shrimp or fish before frying, or coating a pork chop before cooking, but the dough lacks elasticity, and never holds up well for pizza or pie crusts.
Brands of pre-made gluten-free products, however, are getting better. What once was only found in a gourmet store at a ridiculous price, is now found at the local supermarket at a reasonable price. Freschetta, the frozen pizza company, makes a gluten-free 4-cheese pizza that is absolutely delicious.
And the other day, I found a 2-pack of frozen GF pie crusts at Whole Foods. No way I couldn’t give that a try. I used one pie crust to hold the pie filling, and I sliced up the second one to decorate the top of the pie. Worked great.
Looks like apple pie is back on the menu!
pie dough
2 1/2 pounds apples: peeled, cored and sliced about 1/4″ thick (I like Gala)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour (I use GF)
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Pre-heat the oven to 350.
Place the apple slices in a large bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and flour. Mix well.
Pour the apple mixture into the pie plate that already has the pie crust in it. Dot the top of the apples with the butter and either seal the top with more dough, or decorate with whatever pattern of dough makes you happy. If you’re sealing the top with a full layer of dough, make sure you poke a few holes for steam to escape while cooking.
Place the pie on a cookie sheet (to catch any spills) and bake for 30 minutes, with foil wrapped around the edges of the crust to keep it from burning. Then remove the foil and bake about 30 minutes more, until the crust is golden.
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