Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Naturally Sweet Apple Pie



This apple pie recipe has been my favorite for more than thirty years. I think I like it best because the natural sweeteners allow the true flavor of the apples to shine through. Delicious and sweet, this recipe is one you can enjoy without guilt! Containing no refined sugars, the sweetness comes from apples in fresh and juiced forms.

Use your favorite pie crust recipe. My favorite is one that contains whole wheat pastry flour, salt, olive oil, and ice water. . .but it's a recipe I no longer use since our family has had to convert to 'gluten free'. I'm still experimenting with gluten free pie crusts and don't have a recipe that's perfected to the point of sharing yet. The one in this picture is made from non-wheat flours and I experimented with coconut oil as the fat source this time. The flavor was good and the flake-factor excellent, but I have some more recipe adaptation to do before I have something to share.

Naturally Sweet Apple Pie

1 six-ounce can apple juice concentrate
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
5 - 6 large apples, peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp. margarine (Earth Balance)
1 tsp. cinnamon
Salt to taste

Heat apple juice and thicken with cornstarch and remove from heat. Add margarine and cinnamon. Have apples ready and pour the thickened juice mixture over the apples. Stir until coated. Sprinkle with salt. Pour into a pie shell and cover with top crust. Bake at 350 degrees F. until bubbly and golden brown (about 1 hour).

*If you would like some additional natural sweetness, add some sweet herb stevia to the apples when stirring with apple juice. It makes the filling just a touch sweeter without masking the wonderful apple flavor.

Enjoy with a cup of cinnamon tea!

Several asked about the sweet herb, stevia. It is a plant in the sunflower family and is a native to South America and Central America. It goes by several names: sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, and stevia. The leaves of this herb are 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is a natural sugar substitute and has been shown to have many health benefits. When used it cooking, it's important to experiment and determine your favorite 'brands', as each brand has a slightly different flavor. I like to grow and dry my own stevia. It's delicious in tea! Or I dry it and ground it. When using commercially packaged stevia my favorite brands are NuNaturals, NOW, and Sunrider.


16 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:08 AM

    Thanks for your visit, and love your blog too, and I always enter to look some news!
    Big hug
    Vera of Ceramica edição ltda

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  2. Wow! It looks and sounds delicious.

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  3. Anonymous12:18 PM

    That looks so good, I haven't made a pie in a long time! Apple pie just sounds wonderful right now...

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  4. Anonymous1:21 PM

    It looks perfect. I'll be excited to see what you come up with for the gluten-free crust...or should I say two of my children will be excited!

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  5. That one's a keeper !

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  6. Yummy pie!! I will have to try this recipe. I'm new to blogger and wanted to say hello. I really enjoy your blog and hope to visit again soon.

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  7. That recipe sounds so intriguing that I think I'll try it tomorrow. With a diabetic and dieters in the family, it should be a hit. Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  8. I think that using natural sweetners are perfect for this time of year when the apples are so sweet and juicy on thier own, I think I'll give your filling a try, thank you.
    It looks beautiful too.

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  9. My favorite kind of pie, and it looks so delicious! You have such a lovely way of displaying the simplest things, and I really appreciate and enjoy that!

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  10. another yummmmm.....do you think oyu could just back this without a piecrust...to save calories..with a little whipped topping????
    Just wondering.
    Deby

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  11. Mmmmm, yummy. Beautiful photo too!

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  12. I just can't do pie crusts. I don't know what it is... I think I don't practice enough and just let my mom be the pie lady and I cheat and get frozen ones. This sounds wonderful. JEJ loves the natural flavor with little sugar. I will try it.

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  13. Thanks for a recipe that will satisfy my sweet tooth without sugar. I also appreciate all the lovely photos of the outdoor scenes.

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  14. Sounds delicious! But, if you pardon my ignorance, what is stevia?

    Love,
    Julie

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  15. What a fabulous recipe and the picture is so very lovely. I also love the idea of having cinnamon tea with it and will try this. Thank you also for sharing the information about stevia--I wasn't familiar with that herb.

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  16. I have made this pie for years since Melanie is diabetic. We love it

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