gluten free baking

Apple Berry Crumb Pie

This is a twist on apple pie I like for when I am tired of apple pie or in late winter when the apples get sort of sad; they are not as crisp or flavorful so I add some berries to brighten up the mixture. This recipe uses cranberries. I used frozen ones but fresh are great too; lots of them will be in the stores for Thanksgiving. They taste like cherries in this pie! My guy was sure these were tart cherries!! Yay; that means they are a good addition.  I bet you could use other berries or cherries from the freezer case. I am planning on making this pie for Thanksgiving Day.

I have made this pie before I went gf but with a rolled-out crust cutout with big circles. That version had ginger in it. This one is a bit more traditional in the flavors and easier without rolling out a second crust.

The filling is cooked briefly on the stove top to keep the pie from settling too much in the oven.  There are three main components but don’t be scared; this is an easy pie to create.

apple cranberry crumb pie out of ovenCrust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 Tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a pie bag or on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you prepare the crumbs and the filling.  I have a wonderful pie bag made by OXO that is nonstick, sturdy construction and just awesome! I have used nothing else but that bag since it was gifted to me a year and 3 months ago.

Crumbs:

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

5 Tbsp.  cold butter cut into 6-8 chunks

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.

Filling:

4-5 cups sliced fresh baking apples (no red delicious or honey crisp)

1/2 cup 2/3 c sugar (use the higher amount if you like it sweeter)

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp. fresh orange rind and a Tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp. butter at room temp

2 tbsp. instant tapioca or tapioca or rice flour

Raw or big/fancy crystal sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions: Mix the fruit, spices and sugar in a large bowl, Add the butter to a large sauce pan and melt; dump in the fruit mixture, cook about 6-8 minutes until apples soften and the cranberries are bursting. Then add the rind, juice and tapioca or rice flour, stir.  Let cool a few minutes to room temperature.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Pour cooled filling into pie shell, top with crumbs; use them all; sprinkle with your fingers. Top with a Tbsp big crystal sugar if you have any – a nice finishing touch.

Place on baking sheet to catch drips (I have a pie drip pan I love!)  Bake for 30 min and turn down the oven to 375 degrees and bake 20-25 more minutes: until crust is golden and you can see the filling bubbling.  Cut it short or lower temperature if crumbs are browning too much. Cool on rack for at least 1-2 hours before serving.  Enjoy! apple cranberry crumb pie slice

First published in April 2020, no changes to recipe; minor corrections/changes to text.

Classic Apple Pie

Apple is the quintessential American fruit: the story of Johnny Chapman Appleseed is still popular,  apples are a favorite fruit of elementary age students and apple pie is king for many pie lovers.  A ripe apple is a crunchy sweet treat. Just walk through an apple orchard in autumn: the delicious scent in the air will cause you to purchase lots of apples.  An apple pie in the oven always perfumes the house for hours, acting like a magnet for children and male friends! I normally make an apple crumb pie but sometimes I go that extra step to make a top crust, sure pleases my guy even through he professes to love crumb pies…

I put this scratch pie together in a few steps; make the double recipe of crust dough; put it in fridge to chill while I peeled, sliced and cut up the apples.  If you plan to pre-bake your crust those ten minutes of baking the empty pie crust are also a good time for preparing the apples.  Each step is fairly easy but the results are spectacular.  Of course, you could buy a ready-made unbaked crust but this crust I use is fairly easy if you use a stand mixer and it is really tasty: my mom hardly believes it is gluten free! I really don’t know how to convince her but this disbelief of hers is proof of the great flavor and texture of this particular basic gf pie crust.  I used a mixture of baking apples, but not Granny Smith unless they have gotten a tad soft and definitely no apples meant for only eating raw like Red Delicious.

It goes without saying that this pie is great with a slice of vanilla ice cream.

Fresh out of the oven!

The entire pie got eaten and no one remembered to take any more pictures of it; like of a single slice… sadly it is long gone.

Double Crust Apple Pie

Crust:

2 1/4 c brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

1/4 c sweet rice flour

2 Tbps. granulated sugar

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

12 Tbps. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

2 lg eggs

4 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Directions: Spray a nine inch pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. Set aside.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add eggs and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into two balls with your hands. Put them on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust balls some; wrap well and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes.

Roll out one flattened ball of chilled into a pie crust in a pie bag or between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in the pie pan, be sure to center it.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around or wait to do it with the top crust.

Filling:

6-8 medium-large sized apples, I like a mixture of yellow delicious and at least one other cooking variety; red Rome, Jonathan, empire, Courtland, or any tart apple you like to bake with.

Peel apples, quarter, cut out core, slice into 1/3 inch thick slices. Should have at least six cups. Place in a large bowl

¼ cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar (more if you like it sweet)

3 tbsp. minute tapioca or 3 tbsp. gf flour mix (recipe below or any decent blend)

1 tsp. cinnamon

A good sprinkle of ground nutmeg

1-2 tbsp lemon juice

Mix the dry ingredients, sprinkle the apples with lemon juice; add the dry ingredients. Heap in pie crust, Top with:

1  Tbsp. cold butter cut into small bits (optional)

Roll out top crust after you put the filling in the pan that is lined with the first crust. Peel off wax or parchment and lay over apples, crimp edges with fingers to seal them.  Prick or slash the top to let out steam. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 55-65 minutes until bubbly and the crust is light brown.  You can cover the pie loosely with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes.  I have a bottom heat oven so my crust gets crisp but if you have issues with soggy bottom crusts; prebake your crust for 10 minutes; then fill, top and bake immediately.

Cool the pie at least 4 hours to allow the juices to reabsorb before serving at room temperature.

Brown Rice Flour Mix (same as  King Arthur basic gf blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

The crust recipe is from Annalise Roberts’ great cookbook: Gluten-Free Baking Classics. My filling is slightly different.

Originally posted in 2017

Apple Crumb Pie

Apples, a favorite American fruit and they are the main ingredient in America’s favorite pie.   This crumb topped pie is easier than a two crust pie. I gave you the amounts for a 9-inch pie; I myself generally make it 10 inch; use 10 cups sliced apples and higher end of amounts of sugar, tapioca and spices.  Bake 60 minutes.

I put this pie together in a few steps; make the crust dough; put it in fridge to chill while I peel, slice and cut up the apples. I also throw together the crumbs before rolling out the pie; you don’t need to rinse the mixer bowl from the crust then.  If you plan to prebake your crust those ten minutes of baking the empty pie crust are also a good time for making the crumbs and preparing the apples too!  Each step is fairly easy but the results are spectacular.  Of course, you could buy a readymade unbaked crust but this crust I use is really tasty: my mom never believed it was gluten free!  This disbelief of hers was proof of the great flavor and texture of this particular basic gf pie crust.unbaked-apple-crumb-pie

It goes without saying that this pie is great with a slice of vanilla ice cream.  Winter is still a good time for an apple pie but by spring the apples are iffy, and I stop baking pies with them.  Be seasonal whenever possible when it comes to fruits, and you will get the best flavor and taste in your fruit-based desserts.

Apple Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 Tbsp. brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 Tbsp. sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Directions: Spray a nine-inch pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. Set aside.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes.

Roll out the flattened ball into a pie crust in a pie bag or between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in the pie pan, be sure to center it.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.

Filling:

8 cups thin apple slices from 8-9 medium-large sized apples, I like a mixture of yellow delicious and at least one other cooking variety; red Rome, Jonathan, empire, Courtland, or any tart apple you like to bake with. Note: I have made it just with Cortland or with Golden Delicious apples; excellent pies!

Peel apples, quarter, cut out core, slice into 1/3 inch thick slices. Mix in a large bowl with:

¼ cup brown sugar

3-5 Tbsp. granulated sugar (3= tart, 5 if you like it sweet)

2 Tbsp. minute tapioca

1 tsp. cinnamon

A good sprinkle of ground nutmeg

A small sprinkle of ground ginger

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Heap in pie crust.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Finishing directions: Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like.  I like about 2/3 of the mixture.  Up to your personal taste…  Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 55-60 minutes until bubbly and the crust is light brown.  You can cover the pie loosely with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes.  I bake my pies at the lowest possible level shelf, so my crust gets crisp but if you have issues with soggy bottom crusts; prebake your crust for 10 minutes; then fill and bake immediately.

Cool the pie at least 3 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature.

Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

The crust and crumbs are from Annalise Roberts’ great cookbook: Gluten-Free Baking Classics. My filling is slightly different.

Originally posted February 2015.

Zucchini and Tomato Quiche in a Potato Crust

Sometimes you just don’t feel like making a traditional crust. This was one of those times. I had a homegrown zucchini, some cherry tomatoes, cheese, eggs, and 2 potatoes. Quiche for supper! This is a different filling recipe than my usual one; it is more eggs, half and half instead of milk and no cottage cheese; cubed mozzarella cheese. It was a delicious change of pace especially with the julienned fresh basil leaves sprinkled all over the top. You could use other veggies; I went with what I had. The garden’s bounty and it didn’t fail me.

Just baked, still pretty hot.

Angie’s Zucchini and Tomato Quiche

Ingredients

2 large russet potatoes, washed well and sliced very thin: about 1/8 inch thick.

cooking spray

5 large eggs

1/3 cup half and half

about 4-5 ounces cubed mozzarellla cheese

about 1/3 cup sliced onion; I used one small onion

2 Tsp EVOL

approximately 1 to 1-1/2 cups sliced zucchini

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup or so cherry tomatoes, halved

6-7 large basil leaves Jullianned

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 8.5-9 inch metal pie pan with olive oil cooking spray. Line it with potato slues on the bottom and half way up the sides. Spray again all over with the olive oil cooking spray. Bake 20 min; don’t let it get really brown. Turn oven down to 350 after removing pie shell.

Mix eggs and half and half in blender; 10 seconds or so.

Sautee the onion rings in some EVOL; maybe 2 tsp of it. Add squash after 2-3 minutes. Cook until softening; maybe 5 minutes. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Pour into warm potato crust. Sprinkle with tomato halves and cheese cubes. Pour egg mixture gently over it Sprinkle with basil leaves.

Bake in 350 degree oven 30-35 minutes; if it looks like it is browning too much turn heat back to 335 degrees.

Cool to lukewarm before cutting. Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Custard Crumb Pie – Long Name – Yummy Pie

This is a variation on my favorite rhubarb custard pie which is my go-to recipe for a great spring dessert. I added strawberries to please my guy who isn’t a huge rhubarb fan. The strawberries add their special flavor and he really enjoyed this pie this past weekend. So did I! Our new favorite pie…

This is an easy pie even though it has several steps.  It is different from the usual rhubarb pie because the texture is a bit closer to a crumb cake, no wet (aka slimy texture) and no ultra-sour flavor.  I think this new strawberried version is great for those who doubt the power of rhubarb!  This GF crust will work for any pie with a traditional dough and the GF crumb topping is a great choice for any crumb pie topper.  This is my mixture of three recipes with some modifications which come together to create one of my favorite GF pie recipes.  I know it has several steps but each one is easy and you can use these crust and crumb techniques for other pies.

I like it because it has a great texture and the flavor is complex but subtly rhubarby.  It isn’t really soft or all that custardy (if I didn’t say the word custard you would never know) but has a more cake-like texture. It is a game changer of a pie. I promise you that!

Fruit in the unbaked pie shell.

Angie’s GF Strawberry Rhubarb Custard Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 1 tbsp brown rice flour mix (recipe for blend at bottom of pie recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

——————

Spray a 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. I must confess I forget this step a lot of the time and it doesn’t seem to matter much….

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice. Do not leave out the juice; it is critical to the crust texture and structure!  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape the sticky mess into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you chop the rhubarb into ½ inch chunks.

This pie is ready to bake!

My sister Karen bought me one of those pie crust plastic bag thingies; has a zipper around the edge.  By OXO: I love it; it works better than wax paper which can get soft and tear as you roll out the crust.  King Arthur Flour sells an inexpensive one on line. I highly recommend you get the OXO version for making scratch pie crust.  Or maybe improvise with a sheet of heavy duty plastic! Strong enough to work with the rolling pin and better than wax paper.pie crust bag

Filling:

4-5 cups cut up fresh rhubarb – place in medium bowl

1 1/2-2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Mix with dry mix made of

2/3 – 1 c sugar (depends on how sweet you like your pie) I go with 2/3 cup

¼ c brown rice flour mix (see below recipe)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Sprinkle cinnamon

Roll out pie crust in a pie bag or between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Fill with dry rhubarb mix.  Pour the following wet mix evenly over this mixture:

Liquid mix: 3 large eggs beaten lightly with 1/3 c milk (not skim), and ¼ tsp almond extract.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Sprinkle the top of the pie with the crumb mix; use as much as you like.  I like about 2/3 of the mixture.  Up to your personal taste… It sinks into the rhubarb and wet mixture to create an almost cake like texture and the crumb crust adds lots of sweetness and eye appeal.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 55-60 minutes until bubbly and the crust is light brown.  Cool at least 3 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature.

The pie is just out of the oven, hot and smells wonderful!

Brown Rice Flour Mix (same as King Arthur’s Basic GF Blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

Afternoon snack; still faintly warm. Delicious!