Our beloved apple pie for the holiday season… without the sugar. I have served this up at two holidays pitted against full sugar pies and no one can tell it’s sugar free… and often it is preferred. Feel free to sub the Purecane with Swerve, sucanut, or maple sugar if you like!
Einkorn Apple Pie (No Sugar)
This recipe is an evolution from my mom’s pie crust recipe…. It is influenced by the Irish love of cream and the Scottish love of whiskey. The credit for that actually goes to one Cindy McGregor who once told me she put vodka in her pie crusts… and it really does affect them. The chemical reaction makes for a very easy and consistent dough, and coupled with the sour cream (I often use milk kefir, but yogurt and buttermilk work too) it is a lovely, flaky and almost always perfect recipe. If you are used gluten free or alternative flours as I do the crust can be finicky, so I employ the help of unbleached baking/parchment paper in the process. I always roll out the crusts on parchment paper or a silicone mat with a french rolling pin. I have found it makes pie crusts an enjoyable process rather than one that can ruin a holiday! Makes enough crust for one medium two-crust pie. Serves 8
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1¼ cup/250g grass fed butter
- 3 cups/375g Einkorn flour
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp sour cream or kefir
- 1 tbsp brandy bourbon, whiskey or vodka
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp cold water
For the Filling:
- 10 Apples peeled, cored and sliced into 3/4" wedges
- 1 cup Purecane, Allulose or Swerve Can sub with a paleo sugar like Sucanut or Maple Sugar if you can tolerate it.
- 3 tbsp Cleargel
- 2-3 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
For the pastry:
- With pastry blender or wire mixer attachment, blend butter & sour cream with salt and flour. When mixture is crumbly (don’t let it get doughy), add well-mixed egg-brandy-lemon juice-water mixture. Refrigerate 2-4 hours.
For the filling:
- Peel, core and slice the washed apples and set into a medium to large bowl.
- In a small bowl, mi the Purecane or other sweetener, Cleargel and cinnamon together and then shake over and toss with the apple slices. Set aside.
Putting the pie together:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
- Divide dough into two parts.
- Roll out first part on a silpat or parchment paper with a bit of flour. When it looks like it will fit over your pie plate, turn the plate over and place it in the centre of the rolled out doe, and flip the whole thing over.
- Fill with your apple apple mixture and arrange the slices to avoid compression.
- Roll out remaining dough in the same way on the parchment paper, and this time flip the whole thing over onto the filled pie.
- Cut around edge of pie creating about 2cm (¾ inch) of overhanging dough.
- Taking your thumb and index finger of one hand and the thumb of your other hand, press in the edges of the dough until the whole pie is 'sealed'.
- Cut some personalized holes in the top so the pie doesn't explode in the oven.
- Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes hour or until crust begins to brown.
Notes
* To glaze the top, whip another egg and brush over the top of the pie before baking.
