Gluten-free Goodness: Dutch Apple Pie

Apple pie is one of my very favorite comfort foods. I could eat it day in and day out. And, I would much rather have a pie than a cake for just about any occasion. So, when contemplating gluten-free, it's the pie crust that sticks in my mind as the hardest thing to say good-bye too. That was until I found this recipe. After trying out this pie crust, and realizing how good it was, I would not be afraid to go gluten-free.



GLUTEN FREE DUTCH APPLE PIE
(crust: adapted from Mennonite Girls Can Cook)
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6-8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup rice flour (white or brown)
1/2 cup nuts (pecans, almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts)
4 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. honey (or one good glug from the honey jar)

Crust:

1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup potato starch (NOT potato flour)
1 cup rice flour
dash of sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
rounded teaspoon of xanthan gum
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1/4 cup ice water
rice flour for rolling

Blend together the flours, xathan gum, salt and sugar. (Flours for gluten-free baking must be well-blended.)

Cut in butter.  Beat egg , add vinegar and ice-water.  Stir into flour mixture forming a ball.  Add a little more water if too dry. (Note: I find the dough almost wet, but it still works.)  You may knead the dough a bit since rice flour crust can stand handling. Knead until you have a smooth soft ball.

Refrigerate dough for 1 hour or more to chill.

Roll out between wax paper dusted with sweet rice flour. I scotch tape the wax paper to the counter to keep from sliding. Peel off top layer of wax paper , flip over onto pie plate and then carefully peel off the other layer of wax paper and fit pastry into pie shell fluting edges.

Filling: Mix together apple slices, lemon juice and cinnamon. If you like a sweet pie, add 1/2 cup sugar. Place the apples inside of the lined pie plate.

In a food processor, mix together the rice flour, nuts, butter and honey. It will be a wet consistency. Drop the nut mixture in globs on top of the apples.

Bake at 375' until the apples are tender and the topping browned (Note: because of the honey, the topping will probably brown faster than the apples cook.)

Crust makes enough for 2 single crust pies so you can either freeze the extra dough, or double the filling recipe and make 2 pies at once.