One of my favorite fall activities has always been a trek to the apple orchard to pick a few bushels of apples and then spending an afternoon baking a year’s supply of apple pies to freeze for the coming months.  Since discovering a gluten-intolerance, I’ve given up on the pie baking.  It seems the only helpers I’m able to rustle up want to help only in the eating department, not the making, the baking or the clean up 😉  So in the interests of peace in my accidental kitchen, I gave up the pie making until I either found a gluten-free pie recipe or recruited a Sous-Accidental Chef… whichever came first.  The recipe came first 😉

This delightful recipe hit my inbox today and i’m excited to give it a try this weekend.  I even managed to bribe honeyman to make a late season trip to the apple farm so we could get some fresh honey crisp apples (my favorite!) to bake him a pie for his upcoming Boy’s Weekend.  This recipe is courtesy of Angela Elliot’s Alive in 5 recipe book.  It’ll also be a welcome treat on the Thanksgiving table this year.

Angela Elliot’s Apple Pie

For the crust:

1 cup raw walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla flavor by Frontier
1/2 cup pitted honey dates, soaked
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Filling Ingredients:

6 whole Granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup pitted and soaked honey dates
1/2 cup agave
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Directions for the crust: Place the walnuts, vanilla flavor, dates, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor, and process until the mixture holds together and forms dough.

Press into a 9-inch pie pan to form a crust.

Directions for the filling:

Place the apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and 1 Tbs. of the cinnamon, and toss until evenly coated. Place the dates, agave, and remaining 1 tsp. cinnamon, and salt in a blender. Add a very small amount of filtered water, just enough to facilitate blending, and process until smooth. Add to the apples, and toss until evenly distributed. Spoon into the prepared crust. Slice, and serve.