Granny Smith Crumble Pie (gF)

Gluten-free pie crust is a tough one! I have yet to find a way to make it *exactly* like wheat-based pie crust, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t delicious. The main difference I notice in the final product is that the gluten-free crust is crumblier. But who cares! It’s nom nom, and crumbly is yumbly.

These days, you can buy 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blends in most stores. However, I usually prefer to make my blends from scratch (as you see here) because I can tweak the ratios and make the flour work for my specific use case. That’s a whole ‘nother topic though…

Stuff You Need:

What to Do:

1. Prepare the crust. Whisk dry crust ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut in chilled vegan butter and vegetable shortening. When well combined, the dough should look like course gravel. Add water and knead with your hands until no loose flour remains. If it feels a bit sticky, add more rice flour ¼ cup at a time until it feels like Play-Doh. If too dry and crumbly, add a little more water ½ tablespoon at a time.

2. Flatten the dough ball slightly and transfer to your pie dish. Gluten-free dough does not act the same way as wheat-based pie dough does, so we won’t be rolling it out with a rolling pin--we’ll be smooshing it into place. Use your fingers to spread out the dough to evenly cover the dish all the way to the outer edges. Allocate a little extra dough to the crust edges so that you have a thick palette to work with when pressing in edge designs later. If you have any extra dough scraps when you’re finished pressing, layer them over the crust edges to create more volume.

3. Use a fork’s prongs, your fingers, or the edge of a spoon to press into the crust edges to create a symmetrical design all the way around. Refrigerate the crust-lined pie dish while you make your filling and topping.

4. Preheat your oven to 350F.

5. Core the apples, then slice remaining flesh into thin wedges, 1/4 inch thick. You should have about 7-8 cups worth of sliced apples when finished. Set aside.

6. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add 1 cup cane sugar, 2 tablespoons of water, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir to combine, then add sliced apples. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until apples start to get floppy and the skins turn yellow-ish. Transfer cooked apples to a dry mixing bowl, using tongs to squeeze out excess liquid. Let cool.

7. Continue simmering the sugary apple liquid for another 10-12 minutes, or until the volume has roughly halved. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 teaspoon of molasses, stir to combine, and remove the pot from heat. Set aside and let cool while you prepare the crumb topping.

8. In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry topping ingredients and whisk together. Once mixed, add melted butter and stir until incorporated. Set aside.

9. Pour the sugary liquid mixture over the sliced apples and toss to coat. Remove the pie crust from the fridge and pour in the apple filling.

10. Using your hands, crumble the topping over the top of the pie evenly. Roll the topping lightly between your palms to create small, even chunks.

11. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes**, or until the crumble topping gets crunchy and lightly browned, and pie edges are golden. If your crust edges are browning too quickly, you can cover them in aluminum foil to slow the browning process.

12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least one hour before cutting, if you can help it (that will allow the pie to set). If possible, let cool overnight. Serve with vegan vanilla bean ice cream.

**Rule of Thumb: Once the pie filling starts to bubble up through the crumb topping a little bit, let it cook for at least another 10 minutes to thicken up the filling.