Today was one of those gloomy, wet, and just plain yucky days. Now, I live in Florida so I can’t say it was cold…but it was cool for Southwest Florida so it felt right to get in the kitchen and make a warm comforting pie. Now if my husband had it his way this pie should have been a cherry pie! However, I had apples and cranberries to use up so that was the pie that was being made today! As he was eating a nice big helping of it (with ice cream on top), the missing cherries were not mentioned. Funny how that works! 🙂
Considering the fact that the holidays are done and over with, I am sort of sad that I didn’t think of this pie then. I say this a lot but some of my best recipes develop out of what is in my fridge that needs used up. This was fabulous! To be honest, my husband is not a big cranberry fan and he loved this pie. I am excited to share this with you and the pie crust is so easy to make!! Yep, pie crust….and gluten free!!!
Recipe:
Crust-
1 cup Earth Balance (non-dairy butter), be sure this is cold straight from the refrigerator
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour
2 egg yolks (save egg whites for egg wash)
2 pinches of salt
3-4 tbsp ice water
Sugar for dusting top of pie
Filling-
7 Honeycrisp apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
1 (12 oz) bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup pure cranberry juice (not from concentrate or a blend)
1 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Zest and juice of one lemon
2 tbsp cornstarch
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook put all of the crust ingredients in and combine until the dough comes together. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead a few times by hand. Separate the dough into two even amounts and shape into discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and put in the refrigerator until the filling is prepared.
Meanwhile, combine the sliced apples, cranberries, juices, sugar, spices, and the zest and juice of the lemon in a pot. Mix well to combine and heat over medium high heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium heat and stir until cranberries burst and apples are cooked. Stir in the cornstarch and stir constantly until thickened to the consistency of pie filling.
Take one disc of pie crust out of the refrigerator and knead by hand several times to make it pliable and to get a little heat from your hands in the dough. Roll out to fit your pie pan and place this crust in the bottom of your pan pressing it in to fit. Pour the filling into your pan. Do the same process with the second disc of pie crust, place on top of the filling and seal the top and bottom edges together in whatever design you prefer. Cut an “X” in the center of the pie so steam can escape. Brush the top of the pie crust with the egg whites from earlier and sprinkle with a dusting of sugar.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until crust is golden brown. You may need to place foil around edges of the pie if they begin to brown more quickly than the center of the pie. It will take approximately 45 minutes.
This is the view after my husband’s piece…as you can see…his piece was not small!!
Hope you love this addition to your gluten free table and remember to always…EAT PIE PASSIONATELY!!!
~Kimberly
passionate palate 