A few posts ago, I talked about this amazing seed, mistaken as a grain called quinoa. I found out that it’s super versatile, in other words, you can use it as rice, as a salad, as cereal and so I thought, considering how truly healthy it is, why not try to use it as a pie crust? The nice thing about it is that I could use it to create a gluten free clean apple pie recipe. I sometimes get into these creative moods in the kitchen and this weekend I was determined to try it out. I discovered that the pie crust was REALLY delicious, it had a very different flavor, a bit nutty which combined with the sweetness of the apples made it a very unique recipe.
Quinoa Almond Crust:
1 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup quinoa flour (You can grind raw quinoa in the blender until it’s in the consistency of flour)
3/8 cup coconut oil (just under 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar (or stevia, I used the coconut palm sugar)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tablespoons of ice water
Preheat the oven at 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients together with your hands and press in the pie mold using your fingers.
For the Apple Pie filling:
4 to 5 Gala apples washed and chopped (I left the skin on)
4 tablespoons of coconut palm sugar or Stevia (I used the coconut palm sugar)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Mix the apples with the palm sugar, cinnamon and ginger, place in the crust and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the crust is completely cooked. For the crust on the top I ended up using some Bob’s Red mill whole wheat, however, what I’m going to do next time I make it, is to make a bit more of the quinoa almond crust recipe and place it on top of the pie by cutting the dough it into strips and criss-crossing them.
You might ask yourself why I used the coconut palm sugar. Coconut palm sugar is low in the glycemic index, what I have discovered also is that it’s a bit sweeter in my opinion than regular sugar so you can use a lot less.
The dough might be a bit crumbly for the top, if this is the case, roll the dough, cut into strips and place it in a criss-cross shape on the top of the pie. You can also use some of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free flour, 3/4 cup, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup coconut oil softened at room temperature and 1 to 2 tablespoons of ice cold water (you can use a bit more if needed). Mix well, roll and place on top of the pie, make sure you cut a few slits on the dough to allow the steam from the apples to come out, sprinkle with cinnamon for decoration and when about 15 minutes for baking are left, brus a beate egg white on the dough to give it a bit of that glossy finish.
