Gluten Free Brown Butter Apple Pie
This gluten free apple pie has all the features of a classic apple pie: buttery, flaky crust with thinly sliced apples and cinnamon. And one ingredient that makes the pie extra delicious. Browned butter. This enhanced version is great to serve on holidays or any time you want to use that extra apples !
Gluten Free Brown Butter Apple Pie
I became familiar with apple pie after I came to live in Ireland. A friend baked it for us and it was the most delicious thing ever. We never baked with fruit growing up. It wasn’t a Sri Lankan thing to do. We mostly ate it raw. Apple is a delicacy back then. But here during Fall, the abundance of fruits means you can make all sorts of things with it.
I made sauteed apples to go with my porridge and apple chia seed pudding. I still have loads of apples left from our apple picking.
My kids love a good apple pie. If there’s pie in the refrigerator, they would have it for lunch, dinner or as a snack.
If you need to have that ONE recipe in your arsenal for good ol’ apple pie, THIS IS IT.
Pie Crust
This pie crust has all the features of a classic crust without the gluten. It’s buttery, flaky and one of the BEST gluten free pie crusts I have made.
It uses a gluten free flour mix and has added xanthan gum in it to make it bond instead of gluten. If your mix doesn’t have xanthan gum, be sure to add 1 tsp xanthan gum to the mix.
We all know that a gluten free crust can be finicky to work with. I have mixed Gluten free flour with coconut flour and an egg. Coconut flour will help absorb the moisture in the crust when baking. The addition of egg further strengthen the dough. And I’m able to create the lattice and also cut some leaves for decoration. It’s totally not necessary but I want to show you that it can be done with this dough.
You can weave a lattice as the top crust. Have the pastry strips wider than usual for handling without breakage. Or you can use the rolled dough and make slits for the steam to escape.
Brown Butter Apple Pie Filling
What makes this apple pie extra delicious is the browned butter. The butter is browned and mixed with the strained juice of the apple filling. Then it’s heated to reduce to a syrup. The brown butter syrup is drizzled over the filling before covering the pie. A little extra butter in the holiday season is totally worth it, I’d say.
I used a combination of granny smith(green), gala(red) and jonagold(red) apples in the pie. A combination of sweet and sour apples work best in a pie recipe. You can use this apple guide to know more about the apple varieties here in Canada.
Tips to make gluten free pie baking easy
- Roll the dough on a parchment paper or cling film.
- Chilling the dough is important. I had to chill the dough twice: before rolling out and before weaving the lattice.
- The crust can be made ahead of time.
- If you chose to weave a lattice, weave it on parchment paper. When ready to place it on the pie, simply invert the lattice from the parchment to the top of the filling.
If you want to use regular All Purpose Wheat Flour simply substitute Gluten Free flour and coconut flour to 3 cups of All Purpose Flour.
Recipe
Gluten Free Brown Butter Apple Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 1/4 cup (275 grams) gluten free flour
- 1/2 cup (55 grams) coconut flour
- 3/4 cup (180 grams) cold butter cut into cubes
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- pinch of salt
Apple Pie Filling
- 5 to 6 apples peeled,cored and sliced
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup raw cane sugar
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
To make pie crust
- In a food processor, combine gluten free flour,coconut flour, salt, chopped cold butter and pulse until the butter is broken down into small pieces.
- Add the egg and vinegar and while the machine is running slowly add the water. Process until combined and the dough comes together.
- Take the dough onto a floured surface and divide into two portions. Flatten the dough into round disks and cover each portion with cling film. Refrigerate for one hour.
To make the filling
- In a bowl mix the apples, lemon juice, sugar. Keep aside for an hour. After an hour strain the apples and collect the juice in a separate cup.
- Heat a small sauce pan in medium and add the butter. When it turns a golden brown add the strained apple juice. Continue to stir and cook till it becomes a syrup. Take off the heat and vanilla extract.
- Sprinkle cornstarch and cinnamon on the apples and mix.
To assemble and bake
- Preheat the oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.
- Remove the disks of dough from the refrigerator and roll between two parchment papers. It should fit a 8 inch deep bottomed pie pan. Remove a parchment paper and invert the dough onto the pie pan.
- Place the apple mix inside the pastry lined pie dish and spoon the brown butter syrup on top.
- Roll out the remaining dough between parchment papers. If you're weaving a lattice cut the pastry into 7 or 8 strips. Weave on the parchment and invert the pastry onto the filling from the parchment. If you're using the rolled out dough fully on top of the filling, make several slits with a knife for the steam to escape.
- Seal the pastries together. Crimp the crust if desired or press with a fork for a patterned edge.
- Egg wash the pastry and sprinkle with cane sugar.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for 40 minutes. If the top gets browned too soon, cover the top with an aluminium foil.
- Let the pie cool for an hour before slicing.
Notes
- If your gluten free flour mix doesn't have xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanhan gum to the flour.
- You can refrigerate the pie up to 3 days. Warm the pie before serving.
- To make it with normal AP flour, simply use 3 cups of AP flour in the crust recipe.
This is such a beautiful pie! I love the addition of the brown butter.
Thank you ! Brown butter makes it extra delicious !
Please save me a slice of this! WHOA! This is stunning and already GF so I don’t even have to try to adapt! YUMMERS!
Thank you ! It’s delicious too! Win Win !
This apple pie is so pretty! I’m sure my kids would devour the slice in no time, especially with the addition of ice cream.
Thank you ! This pie is a huge hit with our kids!
My fiance is gluten free and his favorite dessert ever is apple pie! I’ll have to make this for him soon!!
Thank you ! I’m sure he’ll like it!
This looks and sounds Awesome! The Brown butter seems to make all the difference. pinning for later.
Thank you so much ! Yes,the brown butter makes all the difference!