grain-free apple pie with arrowroot-coconut flour crust and lightly sweetened apple filling, plus a leftover-pie coconut milk ice cream variation

This crust will not hold a slice while it is warm. The arrowroot needs to cool fully to room temperature, longer if you chill it, before it turns from a sticky, gooey dough into something you can actually cut. That kind of waiting runs against how most of us are trained to treat dessert, and it is worth naming plainly: the patience here is structural, not optional. 6 servings, built for a holiday table, and it holds its own there.

Cinnamon does more than carry the smell of the season. It is involved in supporting a steadier blood sugar response after a meal, which matters more than it sounds during the elimination phase, when so much of the day already asks your body to hold steady. The 2 tablespoons of honey in the filling are the only concentrated sweetener in the entire pie, spread across 6 servings. The apples, cooked down slow until they turn soft and jammy, carry nearly all of the sweetness on their own.

Let this pie sit untouched while it finishes setting, coconut oil and cinnamon still in the kitchen air, apples cooked down soft, and you standing there not cutting into it yet. That waiting counts as part of the meal, the same as the eating. Slice it once it is fully cool, and it will hold.

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups arrowroot starch
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (solid or measured melted)
• 1 1/2 cups warm water

Apple filling

• 4 large red apples
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons honey

Method

1. Heat your oven to 350 F. Grease a pie dish and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
2. Whisk all the dry crust ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir in the coconut oil and warm water and mix until a cohesive dough forms. The dough will be wetter and softer than a standard flour-based pie dough. This is expected. The arrowroot makes the dough pliable and a little sticky while raw; it firms up into a proper crust texture once cooled.
3. Divide the dough roughly two-thirds and one-third. Press the larger portion into the prepared pie dish, working it evenly across the bottom and up the sides. Pre-bake for 10 minutes.
4. While the base pre-bakes, roll the smaller dough portion between two sheets of parchment paper into a rough 8-inch square. Cut into 1-inch strips for a lattice top, or leave it whole for a solid top crust. Refrigerate the top crust until you are ready to place it.
5. Peel, core, and slice the apples into quarter-inch pieces. Cook them with the coconut oil, cinnamon, and salt in a skillet over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are very soft. Remove from the heat. Stir in the coconut flour, then add the honey and stir again.
6. Spoon the apple filling evenly into the pre-baked shell. Remove the top crust from the refrigerator and flip it onto the pie using the parchment as a support, then carefully peel the parchment away and tuck in any overhanging edges. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered, then lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top to prevent over-browning and bake for another 10 to 12 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let the pie cool fully to room temperature before cutting. The arrowroot crust is gooey while warm and will not hold a slice until it has set. Chilling it in the refrigerator firms it further. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Apple Pie Ice Cream variation

This variation uses leftover pie slices to make an ice cream that carries the full flavor of the pie. An ice cream maker is required.

• 2 slices leftover apple pie, chopped into small pieces
• 2 cans (13.5 oz each) full-fat coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Stir the coconut milk, honey, and cinnamon together until the honey is fully dissolved. Fold in the chopped leftover pie pieces. Pour into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. The original recipe notes approximately 50 minutes of churning, though this varies by machine. Transfer to a sealed container and freeze until firm.

*Adapted from grazedandenthused.com*