One of my favorite fall activities has always been a trek to the apple orchard to pick a few bushels of apples and then spending an afternoon baking a year’s supply of apple pies to freeze for the coming months.  Since discovering a gluten-intolerance, I’ve given up on the pie baking.  It seems the only helpers I’m able to rustle up want to help only in the eating department, not the making, the baking or the clean up   So in the interests of peace in my accidental kitchen, I gave up the pie making until I either found a gluten-free pie recipe or recruited a Sous-Accidental Chef… whichever came first.  The recipe came first

This delightful recipe hit my inbox today and i’m excited to give it a try this weekend.  I even managed to bribe honeyman to make a late season trip to the apple farm so we could get some fresh honey crisp apples (my favorite!) to bake him a pie for his upcoming Boy’s Weekend.  This recipe is courtesy of Angela Elliot’s Alive in 5 recipe book.  It’ll also be a welcome treat on the Thanksgiving table this year.

Angela Elliot’s Apple Pie

For the crust:

1 cup raw walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla flavor by Frontier
1/2 cup pitted honey dates, soaked
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Filling Ingredients:

6 whole Granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup pitted and soaked honey dates
1/2 cup agave
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Directions for the crust: Place the walnuts, vanilla flavor, dates, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor, and process until the mixture holds together and forms dough.

Press into a 9-inch pie pan to form a crust.

Directions for the filling:

Place the apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and 1 Tbs. of the cinnamon, and toss until evenly coated. Place the dates, agave, and remaining 1 tsp. cinnamon, and salt in a blender. Add a very small amount of filtered water, just enough to facilitate blending, and process until smooth. Add to the apples, and toss until evenly distributed. Spoon into the prepared crust. Slice, and serve.

It’s the start of apple season here in Canada.  In a few weeks, I’ll be heading to the Apple Orchard to pick a few bushels of apples.y Yum yum yum!  Last year, I turned all of those apples into a year’s supply of apple pies (I churned out 28!).  Believe it or not, we still have a few left in the freezer.  This year, my challenge will be to make some of the pies gluten-free since it’s not fair to do all that work and then not get to enjoy any of the rewards   Since I’m still a few weeks away from my Orchard visit, I think I’ll take advantage of the apple bounty and slurp down some Apple Pie Smoothies!

Apple Pie Smoothies

1 whole frozen banana
1/2 each peeled, chopped apple
1 cup apple juice
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Blend all ingredients in a blender.  Great substitute for applesauce!  Control the consistency by adding more or less chopped apple.