This beautiful apple crumb pie comes from Make Your Own, by Javant Benton, with a few small adaptations of my own. A naturally sweet almond flour crust cradles a filling of tart Granny Smith apples, cinnamon, and date paste, then is finished with a delicious walnut-pecan crumb topping after baking. It’s completely whole-food, plant based; gluten-free, oil free, and free of refined sugar—proof that a classic comfort dessert can also be wonderfully nourishing.
Difficulty: Easy
Makes: One 9-inch pie
- Combine the ground flaxseed and water and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the flax egg to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until it begins to come together, then use your hands to form a ball of dough.
- Place the ball between two sheets of parchment paper and roll to fit a 9-inch pie pan.
- Transfer the rolled dough to the pie pan by flipping the bottom parchment paper onto the pan with the rolled dough facing down. Gently press the dough to line the pan. Trim any excess dough.
- Poke the crust with a fork, cover, and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Cover the piecrust with parchment and pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and reduce oven to 375°F. (I did not find the parchment and weights to be necessary.)
- Peel and cut the apples into ¼-inch slices. (I cut mine in slightly larger chunks.)
- Mix apples, date paste, cinnamon, arrowroot powder, and water until coated.
- Pour filling into the piecrust. Cover with an oven-safe lid or foil.
- Bake covered for 20–25 minutes. (I added 10 minutes.)
- Uncover and bake an additional 5–10 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Cool 10 minutes while preparing topping.
- Process topping ingredients in a food processor to a coarse crumb and spread over the pie.
Note: Pie will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
