This classic Paleo Apple Pie has an easy (yes!) double crust made with a dairy free option and is loaded with juicy apples, warm spices and sweetened naturally with pure maple sugar and syrup. It’s a family favorite and perfect for Thanksgiving or any special celebration this fall!
It’s funny how apple “season” in my mind is all sweaters, hot drinks and falling leaves, while the reality is the sweltering heat of September in NJ.
We try to go apple picking every year in September – since that’s the month for apples, and yet every year I seem to sweat even more than the last. Especially last year – it actually got up to 97 degrees on the day we went apple picking (!!) WRONG! So, so wrong.
I do still hope we’ll go apple picking this month though, and maybe we’ll get lucky with 75 degree almost sweater-weather weather.
Anyway, I actually created this apple pie recipe last Thanksgiving, or rather, the day after Thanksgiving. Weird, I know, because honestly who bakes an apple pie the day after Thanksgiving?!
Well, someone who wasn’t happy with the apple pie she made for Thanksgiving might have the potential to be determined crazy enough to try to right-the-pie-situation on the day after Thanksgiving.
That might have been what happened to me. Okay fine, you got me! That situation is precisely what happened to me last Thanksgiving.
It wasn’t the crust that was the problem – which made the issue even more frustrating because I didn’t know I had a problem until I cut the pie open!
The filling is what killed me – it wasn’t juicy enough, and the apples actually didn’t cook enough. Strange, right?! I realized that I was so worried about a runny pie (which isn’t a big deal so much actually) that I took steps to make it so dry, that it wound up too dry.
The mistake I made was simply trying to paleo-fy a traditional apple pie filling, but apparently it doesn’t translate perfectly. I wound up adding less starch and sweetening with a combination of maple sugar and syrup, which made for a gooier, juicier filling without being runny.
I also decided to opt out of a lattice crust for a couple of reasons. First, it’s VERY difficult to make a successful lattice with paleo pie crust due to the lack of gluten.
The dough is very susceptible to breaking because it doesn’t stretch, and the amount of manipulation needed for a good lattice is a lot for the dough to handle. All this said, it is POSSIBLE to make a lattice top crust with this dough, just not recommended.
The second reason is I’ve noticed that a lattice crust leads to a drier filling. I do believe this contributed to my first (failed) apple pie in addition to the ingredients used.
It makes sense though – with much of the top exposed to air the apples wind up drier after baking. I loved the quality of the apple filling after just making slits in the top crust for venting.
The crust itself is very easy to prep – I use my food processor to mix it together and it’s truly a breeze this way! You can make it right before baking the pie, OR make it ahead of time, storing the two discs of dough in the refrigerator until ready to use.
I always use a mix of grass fed butter and palm oil shortening for the crust, however, you can also use one or the other with success depending on your preference. I have noticed the shortening leads to deeper browning and more of a crumbly crust, while butter creates a flaky, lighter colored crust.
Have we covered it all?! I think we’re ready to bake! Here’s to a HAPPY THANKSGIVING (or any day, really!) with a successful paleo apple pie – let’s go!
Paleo Apple Pie {Gluten Free, Dairy Free Option}
Paleo Apple Pie {Gluten-Free, Dairy Free Option}
Ingredients
Double Crust:
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1 3/4 cups tapioca flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp maple sugar or coconut sugar
- 14 Tbsp grass fed butter palm oil shortening, or a combination of both
- 2 large eggs
Filling:
- 3 lbs apples crisp + sweet (honey crisp and pink lady are great) peeled, cored and sliced into even 1/4” slices
- 1/4 salt
- 1/4 nutmeg
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ginger
- 1 tbsp lemon juice to toss with sliced apples
- 1/4 cup maple sugar
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp tapioca flour or arrowroot
- 2 tbsp grass fed butter or ghee, cold, cut into small pieces (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the crust first:
- In the bowl of a food processor pulse all ingredients EXCEPT eggs to create thick crumbs, then pulse/process in the eggs until a dough forms** Gather the dough into a ball and split into two equal parts. I usually weigh each one to make sure they’re even. Wrap dough balls in plastic wrap and flatten into discs, then chill while you prepare the apple filling (see below)
- You can also chill the dough this way until ready to use - simply remove from the fridge to soften it up prior to using.
- Once apple filling is prepared, place in the fridge while you roll out bottom and top crust.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and have a 9” glass pie dish ready before rolling out dough. Roll out one dough into a 12” (approximately) circle between two sheets of parchment paper, dusting with tapioca or arrowroot if needed.
- Place your pie dish upside-down over the dough, then using the bottom parchment paper, flip the dough into the dish. Finish by pressing it into the bottom and sides of the pie dish to fit - this dough will break easily since it lacks gluten, however it also repairs incredibly easily and can withstand a lot of manipulation without affecting the final product!
- Place pie dish in the fridge, then roll out the top crust into another 11-12” circle, then carefully place in the refrigerator until ready to top the apple filling.
For the Apple Filling:
- In a large bowl, toss sliced apples with the lemon juice to coat, then with remaining ingredients except for the butter or ghee, to evenly combine. Place in the refrigerator until ready to fill bottom crust.
- Once top and bottom crusts are prepped, fill bottom crust with apple mixture, layering as desired. Dot apples with the cold butter/ghee, then carefully place top crust over filling.
- *I do not recommend making a lattice crust for this recipe since the lack of gluten leads to significant breaking (and frustration!) and the filling also turns out less juicy*
- Seal the edges with your fingers or a fork (totally up to you) and brush with an egg wash* if desired. Carefully cut several slits in the top crust to release steam, then place pie dish on a baking sheet, and cover perimeter of crust with foil.
- Bake 25 mins at 425 then lower heat to 350 and bake another 25 mins or until crust is deep golden brown and filling bubbles through the top.
- Allow pie to cool at least 45 mins before serving. You can allow the pie to sit out at room temp, loosely covered, overnight if necessary. The apple pie is best served within 24 hours of baking. If keeping longer, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, then gently warm in the oven.
Recipe Notes
*The egg wash I used was simply one egg whisked with a bit of almond milk, lightly brushed over the top crust (you won’t use all of it!)
Nutrition
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Want More Paleo Fall Baking Recipes? Try One of These!
Sweet Potato Cinnamon Raisin Muffins
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I am SO excited about this 🙌🙌 thank you!
Is it possible to make this without the coconut flour and add almond flour instead in it’s place? What outcome does coconut flour in recipe have?
Could you omit the sugar to make a savory crust? Would you replace the amount with one of the flours?
I went apple picking for the first time last fall and loved every minute of it! Especially all the different varieties of apples. Now I want to go again to make this pie ASAP! 🙂
Looks 100% like the real deal! I LOVE apple desserts in the fall.
This looks beautiful and delicious!!! Do you know if it’d be possible to use coconut oil in the crust in place of the butter/palm oil? Thanks!
My kids like a crumble topping on pies instead of a top crust. Do you think that would dry the filling out? Any ideas for a topping?
Have you ever added rosemary ,I just love it in my apple pies.Wonderful recipe!
What can I use instead of Palm Oil Shortening or Grass Fed Butter?
This is a great recipe for Paleo Apple Pie. The only change I made was I increased the arrowroot in the filling to 2 T., because the apples were VERY juicy. It only cooked out a tiny bit. My non-Paleo husband loves apple pie and approved this recipe. Thanks so much!
This is an dream paleo apple pie with a light, crispy, melt-away, buttery crust (I used butter and red palm oil combo) and exceptionally delectable spice blend for the filling (I went big on the ginger). Thank you for sharing this blessedly beautiful apple pie recipe! I plan on using it for thanksgiving. I was so happy to find a GF apple pie recipe with simple ingredients I had on hand (except maple sugar, so I used what was left of my coconut sugar ending up a tad short in the filling which didn’t matter since honeycrisps are on the sweeter side). Bravo! You created the perfect apple pie recipe. Thanks again!
This pie was absolutely delicious! I made it for my husband’s birthday and he loved it. I’ve made several of your recipes and we’ve loved them all. Thank you for the helpful hints on handling the dough. I am not a baker but find your recipes to be both comprehensive and delicious!
I’m having trouble finding palm oil shortening – what brand do you use? Thanks – looking forward to trying this recipe!
I prepared the recipe as described, the crust got brown very quickly so I had to cover it halfway during the 425 baking. The inside were not as moist as I would have liked and the crust really fell apart. However, my family really enjoyed it, so I am going to attempt it again with some tweaks next time.
Just curious if anyone has used the crust recipe to make apple dumplings? I’m making the pie today – but would love to enjoy some paleo apple dumplings during apple season 🙂
This looks amazing! I recently made a pumpkin pie using your paleo pie crust recipe, and while it turned out super tasty, I did find that my dough didn’t quite turn out “doughy”. I used butter, and I did read someone’s comment that when she made it with butter she had a similar experience. It was more pasty, and I had to just kind of press it into the pie pan. It definitely was far from rollable. What do you think I did wrong? I want to try the apple pie recipe but there’s no way I could to the double crust with the dough I made last time. Any suggestions would be helpful! ❤️
Hi – I don’t think you did anything wrong except perhaps the dough wasn’t chilled quite enough? Typically paleo dough is just not like regular dough – it breaks easily, making it tough to roll out. I actually do prefer making the crusts with all butter and it typically works well. As for the double crust, I recommend chilling the dough and rolling between two sheets of parchment for the best results. You can then very carefully transfer the top crust over the apples, seal and bake.
Has anyone tried using lard in place of the shortening/butter? I typically have good success using lard in my pie crusts and wondered if this pie crust would lend itself to it. Looking forward to making for Thanksgiving! I have a plethora of apples from our apple picking trip! 🙂
I haven’t tried it but I do think it would work at least for the texture.
Thank you, Michele for the reply! I’m having to watch the dairy right now, so I will try with leaf lard (or at least a combo of leaf lard and grass fed butter) and report back! 🙂
Could I make and assemble the pie a day ahead, store overnight in the refrigerator and bake the next day?
Thanks so much again for your reply!
In the words of my teenage son, “this pie is EPIC!” I couldn’t agree more! My son has been requesting a legit double crusted apple pie ever since he was diagnosed with food allergies, almost ten years ago! I had tried many paleo/grain-free apple pie like recipes but none of them really hit the mark and I could never get a grain-free crust to come out right. They always fell apart or would burn and I could never acheive that buttery, flaky crust like a flour pie crust. This apple pie was the best apple pie I have ever made and it was so simple to put together! I ended up using 12 tbsp of grass fed unsalted butter with 2 tbsp of Proper Food’s Leaf Lard, Premium Non-Hydrogenated Pure Pork Leaf Lard. My food processor was a bit too small for the amount of ingredients, so I just mixed with my fingers and hands in a larg bowl and formed into discs, wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, I took out one disc, gave it a few poundings with my rolling pin, lightly dusted a piece of parchment paper with tapioca flour and rolled it out. It rolled beautifully and I was even able to flip a few times and roll! Did not fall apart and I was easily able to slide a dinner plate underneath, then placed my pie dish face down and flip! Worked like a charm! The top crust rolled out and placed just as easily! I was giddy with how much this crust worked and, more importantly, tasted like a regular flour pie crust! The filling was perfectly juicy and I used a mix of Pink Lady and Golden Delicious apples!
This will be my go-to apple pie from now on! We reheated slices for two days and it was just as delicious each time! Thank you so much, Michele! xoxo
Tried this as double crust muffin tin pies, all good until attempting to remove from pan, totally crumbled. Tasted amazing, so will repeat anyway, but wondering what adjustments might help it maintain form after baking…
This pie was amazing!! I substituted the maple sugar with honey at 1/4 the volume and it turned out great. I will definitely be making this pie again! Thank you!
Can I use red palm oil combined with butter? Or will it make it a strange color? Or maybe it’s not even the same…
Can I use arrowroot powder instead of tapioca flour??
Why do we have to place the glass pie dish on a baking sheet? Can’t we just put it in the oven by itself?
Also, can the dough be made with ghee only? I’m on whole30 and can’t have dairy, and I think palm oil is not allowed either. Thank you.
I made this and it was really good! I did make a free changes though. Here’s what i changed:
– I used arrowroot powder in the crust instead of tapioca
– I replaced the maple sugar in the crust with date sugar
– I used 8 T butter and 6 T Pam oil shortening for the crust. I hav used the butter cold out of the fridge.
– I used a mix of granny Smith apples and some other homegrown apples from a friend.
– I replaced the maple sugar in the filing with date sugar
– I used arrowroot in the filing rather than tapioca
– I ended up adding an extra two tablespoons of maple syrup to the filing because the sugar filing mixture was too thick, maybe because of the date sugar…
– I rinsed off some of the lemon juice right before I put the pie together (I had cut the apples a few hours beforehand) because I was writing the apples would be too sour
Thanks for the great recipe! Great topped with fresh whipped, stevia sweetened whipped cream!
This is by far the BEST paleo crust I have ever tried. After years of getting crumbly crust that tears apart so easily, this crust recipe is a dream. I made this apple pie for Thanksgiving and everyone raved about it (even the family members who roll their eyes at paleo desserts). Thank you for sharing!
Can the eggs be replaced with gelatin eggs. Have you tried this?
Made this repeatedly but without the top crust. Super easy and a hit with everyone including the non-paleo crowd.
it is a grate recipe and I will use it again
I only used the filling recipie, used a different crust so I could braid it. Forgot to dimple it with butter, which likely would have made the pie even more delicious, but it turned out good! Simple and easy, but will likely experiment with different recipies.