Pie Crust - Gluten free, Grain Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free (Apple Pie, Straw Berry Rhubarb Pie)

So this morning I was going through my produce baskets to see what I needed to order this week in my fresh weekly produce basket. 

I had soo many apples sheesh, and low and behold they were all getting soft at the same time. So, of course what can you make with apples? 

There was my brothers voice in the background "Apple Pie" and then my fate was already planned for me. 

Of course I had to make apple pie. It's not my favorite really, but I love it if you have GOOD quality sugar free ice cream not the No Name brand by the bucket hard as a rock crap ice cream. bleh.. If your going to have that you might as well have the processed store bought pie that has that filling that sits for months in a bucket.

Gosh that makes me cringe. Knowing what I know now, I do not want to eat it. I can think of the list of ingredients and picture them in my head.

SOOO, a real apple pie. yum. 

So I got out my cook books to look up different pastry shell recipes to see which one I felt like making.

I could have used the recipe I served at Christmas with my butter tarts and pumpkin pie. However, when it comes to double crust pies I don't like the texture of a rock hard crumbly crust. I want it to be soft, tender, firm, flaky, and delicate :)

Apple pie is so much more special then pumpkin pie. It needs the delicate crust folded over the top of the apples, versus just underneath the pumpkin.

There it is my beutiful pies.

Just the other day I was at my favorite Organic store and there it was a bin of organic rhubarb sitting there waiting for me to pick it. MMM so I bought a bag thinking if I didn't use it I could freeze it until I had time to make it into a pie.

Strawberry rhubarb pie.. My dad's mouth is watering right now lol. I thought that I would actually never make it myself as it's not my favorite. However my husband is a HUGE fan. He loves rhubarb stew, crisp, soup, pie and cobbler. 

So I thought about him and I figured while I was making the pastry I would just make a double batch!

So here it is. My delicate pie crust which I used a combination of two recipes from my favorite cook books to make this one. It's definitely soft, delicate and crumbly. I will warn you it is not nearly the same texture as a traditional wheat pastry. It doesn't "flake" because there is not gluten in it to surround the butter and flake during the baking process. It also has completely different ingredients but I thought it was fantastic!
I have about three more different recipes to try to pick out my favorite one but this by far was easy (no food processor, blender, or mixer) and it didn't have to chill hardly at all. 

I added cute little harts on the top to make them pretty as I had a smidgen of pastry left over (as usual).

Pie Pastry Crust DOUBLE CRUST - gluten free, grain free, dairy free, sugar free

Please note I have been receiving great comments in my email about this recipe. It is supposed to be more "cakey" than flakey. It is nothing like a traditional wheat crust. Also you will need to adjust the fruit fillings to your taste and following climate will change cooking time and starch requirements.

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl:

2 C blanched almond flour

1/4 C organic coconut flour

1/2 t aluminum free baking soda

1/2 t sea salt

 *add up to 1/2 C coconut flour depending on climate

Mix in a glass bowl:

3 organic eggs

1 T sucralose, xylitol, honey, raw agave nectar or 1/8 t stevia

1/4 C organic melted butter, coconut oil or non hydrogenated grape seed oil

Mix the dry ingredients with a pastry blender to remove all clumps and blend. Pour in wet ingredients and mix together with a spatula. Mix until dough becomes sticky and sticks together firmly in a large clump.

Let stand 3 min. If your dough looks too wet after 3 min add more coconut flour. Your dough should be moist but sticky and clumpy not wet.

Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper 1/4 inch thick (thinner will be harder to remove). Grease your glass pie dish with coconut oil or butter thoroughly.

Remove one sheet of parchment and transfer the dough to your pie dish.

If it breaks it's really easy to press another piece together and fill in the holes, no worries.

Place your bottom pie in the fridge. Place the second half of dough in a ball in the fridge while you make your filling.

Please read on about using this recipe with traditional recipes and alternative fillings.

This pie crust can be made using any traditional recipe. The only down fall is baking the crust over 18 minutes will burn it VERY QUICKLY.
You will need to pre cook ALL of your pie filling using this recipe with a double crust.

If you are using a single crust in say pumpkin pie, simply cover the pie with tinfoil and bake. Your edges will still end up very dark.

Apple Pie Filling - Sugar Free

In a saute pan over medium:

5-6 Galla apples peeled, and sliced 1/4 inch

2 T butter or coconut oil

1/2 C water

Cook the apple for 5 minutes until slightly tender. Add remaining ingredients:

1/2 C sucralose, xylitol, palm sugar, or 4 pkg stevia

1 t cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

dash of sea salt

1 t konjac flour or 1 T tapioca flour mixed with water until blended

Stir in the spices and tapioca until mixture thickens and forms a sauce. Remove from heat. 

Immediately pour apple pie filling into your chilled pie shell. Roll out the top crust using the same technique. Seal edges with a wet fork. Place 4 slits into the top of the pie crust and brush with egg wash.

Bake @ 400 for 18 minutes. Watch it, mine got very dark past 19 minutes.

Of course I had to experiment a tad with the strawberry rhubarb pie. I have never cooked this filling before and I was unsure if it would taste the same or if it would be done after only cooking for 18 minutes.

It turned out very well, it tastes the same to me as it did in my past memories. The only note I have is using tapioca starch in place of traditional flour made the sauce for the pie more white than usual. It however had no effect on the taste or texture.

If this bothers you I recommend using rice flour, or oat flour instead. Or simply a couple drops of beet juice and it will look just like the old days!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Fulling - Sugar Free

In a saute pan over medium heat:

2 T butter, or coconut oil
2 C of chopped organic rhubarb

Cook stirring ocassionally. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until it's just slightly tender. You only want it to be about half way cooked through as it will cook in the oven.  

Stir in:

1 1/2 C sucralose, xylitol, palm sugar, 1/2 C stevia

1 t konjac flour or 3T tapioca flour mixed with water until blended

Pour corn starch into rhubarb and sucralose mixture until combined. Remove from heat and place filling in a cold bowl. (If you leave the filling in the pan while adding the egg it may curdle).

Add 1 C Chopped strawberries

Scramble 1 egg with 1 t lemon juice very well. 

Pour over the filling and stir well to combine. Place in chilled pie shell imediately. Roll out the top crust using the same technique. Seal edges with a wet fork. Place 4 slits into the top of the pie crust and brush with egg wash.

Bake @ 400 for 18 minutes. Watch it, mine got very dark past 19 minutes.

It was fabulous! My glutenous brother said he wanted a second piece after 3 bites! MMMM... I am hoping to try this recipe using peaces and raspberries.