Eat Together, Make Life Delicious...

Dessert is a great time to have everyone sit around the table and talk. In our house, if the kids eat before "dad" comes home, they always come back to the table for this ritual without much fuss but only when the dessert really rocks. So in my house, dessert has to be great and one of my favorites is bake appleberry pies. I prefer to use a whole grain pastry flour and almond flour instead of white flour. Why? It's healthier. Most Whole Foods will have this available in their bakery section. Almond Flour can be expensive and can be substituted with more whole grain pastry flour, or you could mill your own! It's actually not that hard, but does take time (stay tuned for a post about that soon). I also like to prepare individual pies versus one large pie. I find the presentation is a lot nicer and there is something very personal about it.

Baked Appleberry Pie with Crumb Topping
Makes 4 individual mini pies (about 4 ounce per serving)

For the pie shell:
1 cup whole grain pastry flour
½ cup almond flour or whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar in the raw
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoon milk or vegan butter

For the filing:
3 apples, peeled, cored and cut into bite size pieces
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
10 strawberries, hulled and diced

For the topping:
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk or vegan butter
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
1 teaspoon sugar in the raw

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, combine the pastry flour, almond flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and butter and pulse until everything is thoroughly blended.

Pour in ¼ cup ice-cold water and pulse again until the dough comes together. Not all the water may need to be used. When the dough is formed, remove it from the processor and form it into four equal balls. Place them on a well floured piece of wax paper and carefully roll out (with a well floured rolling pin) to form a 5-inch circles and no thicker than ½-inch thick. Transfer the pie crust into the individual pie shells and tuck in the extra dough to reinforce the edge. Decoratively pinch the crust between your fingers and one knuckle, going all around the crust to make a fancy pattern. Dock the bottom of the crust with a fork.

Line the pie with aluminum foil and fill the foil with dried beans. Place the pie into the oven to blind bake for 10 minutes and then remove the foil and let the pie shell continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until it starts to turn golden. Remove it form the oven.

While the pie is baking, prepare the filing. Over medium-low heat, cook the chopped apples with and one tablespoon of water in a medium saucepan for 10 minutes, or until the apples have released some of their juices. Reduce the heat to low and add in the cinnamon, agave, and strawberries. Stir the fruit for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and pour it into the pie shell.

Now prepare the topping. In a small bowl combine the oats, zest, cinnamon, butter, agave, and sugar and toss. Mash the butter into the oat mixture with a fork until it is well blended and the oats are moist. Spoon topping over the pie and then place the pie back into the oven to bake for 20 minutes. If the pie crust starts to darken, to avoid burning cover the pie loosely with foil. Remove the pie from the oven and set aside to cool. Serve immediately.

Labels: appleberry pie, Comfort Food, Easy Desserts