Deep Dish Apple Pie with a Flaky Oil Crust (gluten-free)
This luscious gluten-free, vegan apple pie uses a slightly different type of pie crust recipe. I first created this crust for a potato-pea samosa recipe. Everyone loved it so I decided to create it into an apple pie. The dough isn't your normal pastry dough because I don't use a saturated fat. Instead I use a mix of grapeseed oil, applesauce, ground chia seeds, and baking soda to create the flakiness.
This dough only requires two flours, one of which is Superfine Sorghum Flour. You'll want to purchase this form of sorghum flour; don't be tempted to use regular stone-ground sorghum flour. The end result will be very grainy. The filling uses low-glycemic coconut sugar and blend of spices. I prefer to use tart granny smith apples or McIntosh apples in apple pies and crisps. Use a 14-cup food processor fitted with the slicing disc to quickly slice all eight apples!
Deep Dish Apple Pie with a Gluten-Free Oil Crust
Enjoy a little slice of Autumn with this fresh, gluten-free apple pie. My favorite baking apple for pie is McIntosh. I core them and slice them as thin as possible for a perfect pie. A faster way to do this is to core them and use the slicing disc on your food processor and you'll have all the apples sliced in about 60 seconds! To grind chia seeds, use a coffee grinder or the dry container of your Vitamix. I use coconut sugar because it is a low-glycemic sweetener but you could also use maple sugar, Sucanat, or an organic cane sugar.
Crust
Filling
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the superfine sorghum flour, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda into a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk together well.
- Place the ground chia seeds into a smaller separate bowl. Add the warm water; quickly and vigorously whisk together until the mixture has formed a gel and has thickened. Add the applesauce and oil and whisk again (the oil may not combine too well, but that's okay).
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry and whisk together. The dough will begin to thicken, remove whisk, and continue to combine using a spoon or knead it together with your hands. Form dough into a ball, then cut in half and form into two balls. Set aside (but do not refrigerate) for a few minutes while preparing the apple mixture.
- Place all ingredients for the filling into a large bowl and toss together well. Set aside while rolling out the dough. Set out a deep dish 9-inch pie plate.
- Place one dough ball onto a pice of waxed paper or parchment paper. Place another piece on top of the dough. Roll out dough into a large circle in between the paper. Peel off the top piece and place dough into the pie plate. Seal up any tears in the dough if needed. Pour apple filling into pie plate. Roll out second dough ball like the first. Carefully place over the apple filling and crimp edges together. Make a few slits in the top of the dough to let steam out.
- Bake for about 55 to 60 minutes. Cool for abut an hour before serving.
Use this recipe in our Meal Planner
About the Author
Ali Segersten
Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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Comments
Wow! I just made this yesterday after our order of superfine sorghum flour arrived in the mail. I have to admit that I was not terribly optimistic as I flopped the dough from the parchment to the pie pan and it crumbled/cracked into pieces. I kind of glued it together with some water, patched it up a bit and did the same with the top crust. It looked perfect when I took it out of the oven. It tasted so great that had I not mentioned that it was gluten free, I am not sure people would have known. Wow! What a treat!
This crust is fabulous. I halved this recipe for a regular-sized pie pan for Thanksgiving dessert. I don't have superfine sorghum so I just used Bob's regular and it still turned out awesome. Oh, and I didn't grind the chia, just put them in whole. Even a meat-n-potatoes, gluten-loving 7-yr old nephew polished it off in record time! The best part was the discussion of chia seeds that the pie elicited (my husband has been reading the Tarahumara running book)! The night after Thanksgiving I tried to make samosas, like you said you use it for, Ali. They were delicious but REALLY ugly. I'll have to figure out how to free-form this dough for samosas (unless perhaps I made the samosa in individual ramekins and then popped them out after baking....). This crust recipe will be a staple! Thanks!
I made this recipe today using apples and cranberries and it is fabulous! OMG! I love the vegan, saturated-fat-free crust. Thank you a million times for this recipe! ~Lara
This looks like a great recipe, I am excited to try it! I have also started a Gluten Free Recipe Blog-- www.thesimpleglutenfree.com.
Yum Ali!! Im going to make this. I love that you use chia in the crust~ love the new blog look too!
Hi Ali,
I would really like to make this pie tonight but I have not ordered the special sorghum flour yet. Is it imperative that I use it? I have superfine brown rice flour that I could use, do you think that would work?
Thanks, Lori H.
The new blog look is wonderful! And, I'm intrigued by the no fat pie crust. I made my first GF pie crust yesterday (with fat). It'll be fun to try yours next.
Your blog looks great Ali! Hmm, gluten-free pie crust, may have to give that a whirl.
This looks amazing. Feels like a project for the Thanksgiving weekend. The recipe index is great - really useful!
Loving the new layout! And this pie - wow, I'm definitely going to have to get me some superfine sorghum. Sounds great.
WOW!! I love the new layout and all of the information that you included - from "About us" to the elimination diet and why it is important! I am really impressed - plus it is so easy to navigate. Thanks for taking the time to make this great site better for all of us!
Deb
Ali, I might be little TOO excited about this recipe right now... Pie crust is one thing I've really missed since going gluten/dairy/egg-free! And maybe it is just a trick of the camera, but that crust doesn't appear to be crumbling to bits! And yet it still looks so flaky and yummy! I'm BEYOND impressed and cannot wait to try this recipe. Also, I've been using superfine sorghum for a while now, and I LOVE it too.
Thanks so much! :)
Desi
Thanks gals, glad you like the new site. I use superfine sorghum flour for a lot of my new recipes and am finding fabulous results! :)
You are amazing! This looks wonderful...superfine sorghum is new to me, but looks like I'll be buying very soon. :) Great new look with the blog, too.
Oh my goodness! You are so good at the pie thing Ali! That picture looks like a perfectly sculpted pie. I wish I had your patience! I can't wait to check out your about page!
Love the new look, Ali! Fresh and user friendly. I'm excited to try this superfine sorghum flour. I prefer sorghum of all GF flours so I'll have to order some. My apples are ready for baking!
Ali, love the blog's new look! I recently made your vegan pumpkin oatmeal cookies (with some alterations) and they were yummy---my husband took a lot of them into work so that I would not eat every single one myself! Thanks for all the great recipes!
I love the new blog layout! It is going to be so much easier to navigate your site!
Apple pie looks amazing too!