It’s thankful month! How wonderful is it that we get to celebrate food, family and thankfulness in November?!
This is the time of year I miss the basement I had growing up. Just thinking about it, summons up the scent in my mind. What a perfect place to store apples, potatoes, and onions for winter! When I think of basements, I am always reminded of my grandmother’s. She called it the cellar… and dinner was referred to as supper.
As a kid, I remember seeing shelves and shelves of food down there, like a grocery store. I’m sure my memory is a bit exaggerated, as everything seems so much bigger and grandiose when you’re little. Don’t you love that about childhood memories?
Although my grandmother wasn’t making vegan pies, I think if she were here, and if I was actually able to convince her to taste it, she’d really enjoy this recipe.
Instead of sweetening the apples with refined sugar I used a blend of organic brown rice syrup and coconut sugar. The deep flavors pair beautifully with the apples and pie crust. I hope you enjoy this pie created for you with love!
Ingredients
4 lbs. apples, approximately 8 large apples
½ cup + ½ tsp. coconut sugar, divided
2 Tbsp. brown rice syrup
2 Tbsp. lemon juice (juice from ½ a lemon)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp. vegan butter substitute (I used Earth Balance Organic Whipped Buttery Spread)
2 Tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. apple pie spice
¼ tsp. sea salt
2 disks pie dough (for vegan check to make sure it’s plant-based. Check your store’s freezer section for some great organic options)
Directions
Peel, core, and thinly slice apples about ¼ inch thickness. In a large bowl toss the apple slices with lemon juice, brown rice syrup, coconut sugar, and vanilla. In a very large skillet, melt ¼ cup vegan butter.
Sauté the apples over medium-high heat for 15 minutes. Juices will be released as the apples soften and that’s OK.
Add the flour, apple pie spice and sea salt and continue to sauté for 2 to 3 minutes longer.Cool the filling completely in the fridge. The filling can be prepared the day before if desired!
Carefully roll out the top crust over the filling, and pinch along the sides to close the top and bottom crust together. Cut a few slits in the top crust.
*Decorative Option – Roll out the top crust with flour. Using a cookie cutter cut out 3 shapes, such as hearts. Place the top crust over the filling mixture. Pinch along sides to close top and bottom. Gently place the shapes back over their holes slightly off center so there are still openings to allow the pie to vent.
Brush a light amount of water over the top of the pie and sprinkle with ½ tsp. coconut sugar. Put the pie in the oven and turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 1 hour.
The pie, of course tastes amazing with a scoop of non-dairy vanilla ice cream. In this picture, I served it with Rice Dream Organic Vanilla Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert, but the coconut milk non-dairy frozen desserts are my personal favorite.
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