Apple Pie

Sweetened only with apple juice concentrate, this apple pie recipe is perfect for celebrating Pi day, 3.14, and every other day of the year.

The ultimate way to celebrate pi day would be a dairy-free Quiche for breakfast, Walla Walla Sweet Onion pie for lunch, chicken pot pie for dinner, and several fruit pies to fill in the gaps.

Yes–We love pie!

Making apple pies less sweet–by replacing the sugar with a couple of tablespoons of apple juice concentrate helps us enjoy pie without losing our waistline.

When the apples are plentiful in the fall, I like to freeze peeled, sliced and cored apples in Ziplock freezer bags so we can easily enjoy apple pie all year.  Pull some out of the freezer before making the pie crusts.  They will still be frozen when you put them in the pie shell, so you need to increase the baking time by 10-15 minutes.

Sprinkle flour and cinnamon on top of the apples.  Sometimes I want just a hint of cinnamon and other days I want a strong cinnamon flavor.

Pour apple juice concentrate (or spoon–if the apple juice concentrate is still frozen) on top of the flour/cinnamon mixture to help the flour work down.   Top with margarine bits and cover with the top crust.

How does the flavor compare?  I prefer a less sweet pie, but may that is because I’m choosing to lower my sugar intake.  But, I do really think it is better than my old apple pie recipe with just white sugar.  The concentrate gives the pie a boost in apple flavor instead of just making the pie sweet.

---

Apple Pie

One Flaky Dairy-Free Pie Crust

Apples: peeled, cored, and sliced to fill bottom pie crust (4-6 apples to fill a 9 inch pie)

1 Tbsp flour

2-4 Tbsp apple juice concentrate

A sprinkle of cinnamon (1/8 tsp-1/2 tsp)

1 Tbsp oil or dairy-free margarine, see Replacing Butter

Preheat oven to 425°.

Make pie crust according to pie crust recipe directions (from the above link).  Roll out half of pie dough and place in the pie pan.  Fill the pie crust with apples.  Sprinkle flour and cinnamon evenly on top of apples.  Pour apple juice concentrate on the top.  Either drizzle oil or place little bits of margarine on top of apples.

Roll out the rest of the pie dough.  Using SaranWrap or a rolling mat to help you move the crust, carefully place the pie dough on top of the apples.  Press the crust top to the crust bottom, sealing it so the juices don’t bubble out.  Trim any extra pastry dough from the edge of the pie pan.  Cut holes in the top crust for vents to let out steam.

Bake the pie at 425° for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven heat to 350° and continue cooking the pie for 45 minutes.  The apples should be bubbling.  If you use a glass pan, the bottom crust should look cooked when looking up at the bottom of the pie.

Let pie cool. The apples will set up and absorb the extra juices when the pie has cooled.  Enjoy!

Tip:  To keep your oven clean, place a foil lined baking sheet under the pie in case the pie boils over.