Mock Apple Pie – Gluten & Dairy Free

Here we are again with another Ratio Rally offering.

This month is being hosted by Lisa of Gluten Free Canteen and is one of my favorites… pie!   Go there to see all the other great gluten-free pie offerings this month!  UPDATE: I have links at the bottom of this post too!

Baking by ratio… is really keeping a more exact proportion of ingredients in a recipe so that it always turns out.  Measuring ingredients can give a widely varying weight ‘cup for cup’ and in gluten free baking too much isn’t a good thing!  Once you try weighing your ingredients you will find it so much easier.  Really!!

Pie dough has to be the easiest ratio ever… as simple as 3 – 2 – 1!  3 parts flours to 2 parts fats to 1 part water.  The amount of water can change based on the fat used.  If using butter, it is partially water, so a little less water will be needed.  I am pretty sure there is water content in the Earth Balance Soy-Free Buttery spread I used, which accounted for a little less than the full 1 part of water needed in my recipe.

My mom always used lard to make her pie crusts.  Once I started making pie for my own family I used lard initially.  It does make for a very flaky crust but I dislike the lard taste.  I eliminated ALL hydrogenated oils from my kitchen years ago and switched to using palm shortening instead of the hydrogenated cottonseed oil called Crisco… eeewwww.

Did I say that I really like pie?  I think that the crust is one of my favorite parts of the pie.  I would take the extra bits of dough, roll them out, sprinkle them with cinnamon & sugar and bake until just starting to turn golden brown… crust cookies… YUM!!

Once I needed to eat gluten free it was pie and pie crust that I missed the most.  I have tried those boxed, gluten free pie crusts, but they left an odd aftertaste in the mouth, were crumbly more than flaky, rolling them out was disastrous… and try to make my pinched crust edge??  Forget it!  The crust just broke.  Though repairing tears and holes was super simple.

Until today.  Today I came to closest to gluten free pie crust perfection as I have ever come, or tasted… anywhere!

Now that I have made my own pie crust without any of those funny gums…and my crust did not have that ‘odd’ taste… I am wondering if it is those gums that leave that odd taste behind…

Of course that near perfect gluten free pie crust needs a show stopping filling doesn’t it?  And why, oh why would a woman who lives in the Pacific Northwest – better known as “Apple Country”… make a “MOCK” Apple Pie pray tell???

Why to use up those giant, baseball-bat-sized zucchini of course!  lol  We can only make so much zucchini bread and zucchini chocolate cake in one season.  Let’s try something new for a change – - – - – let’s make pie!!

Mock Apple Pie

1 recipe pie dough for a double crust pie (below)

1 – 2 large, hard, zucchini, peeled, de-seeded & sliced to equal 5 – 6 cups

1/2 cup sucanat

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 – 1/4 grated nutmeg (I buy the whole nuts and grate as needed)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon organic cornstarch

tiny splash of vanilla extract (use the real stuff!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place zucchini, sucanat, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, cornstarch, and vanilla into a mixing bowl.  Stir until well mixed and zucchini slices are coated with the sucanat & cinnamon mixture.

Pour into prepared pie shell.  Top with second shell and seal.  Pierce top shell to make vents for steam to escape.  Cover fluted edge of crust with foil or a pie crust shield.  Place pie in pre-heated oven and bake for 10 – 15 minutes.  Turn heat down to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30 – 40 minutes until zucchini is tender.  Let rest out of oven for 15 minutes before slicing.

Slice.  Eat.  Enjoy!Why claim only ‘near’ perfection…?  The fluted edge didn’t hold it’s shaped as well as I would have liked in the heat of the oven.  I will have to try using a little less shortening next time to test out that… otherwise this one’s a keeper!!

Pie Dough

Take your mixing bowl and set it on your scale.  Turn on the scale.  Weigh out ingredients.  This is the EASIEST way to measure out shortening ESPECIALLY!!  No muss, no fuss, no mess, easy peasy!  Try it, you’ll love it!!

5 ounces sweet rice flour

2 ounces sorghum flour

3 ounces tapioca flour

1 ounce organic corn starch (make sure this is NON-GMO!!)

1 ounce millet flour

4 ounces Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread

4 ounces palm shortening

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

Weigh out all the ingredients into mixing bowl and cut the fats into the flour mix.  I used my kitchen aid stand mixer for this.  Cut in the fats until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Mix 1 beaten egg with 1 teaspoon vanilla and add to mixing bowl.  Add 1 – 2 ounces of cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough forms a ball.  Place the dough into a plastic bag and pop into the freezer for 15 minutes or the fridge for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into two equal pieces.  Roll one out between sheets of plastic wrap using a rolling pin to the diameter of your pie plate plus 2 inches.  Keep the second piece of dough in the freezer or refrigerator.  Once the dough is the proper diameter,  remove the top piece of plastic wrap and lift the rolled out dough using plastic wrap to lift and place into pie plate, remove the other piece of plastic wrap.  Use the same pieces of plastic wrap to roll out top crust.  Place sliced zucchini mix into crust lined pie plate.  Place crust on top of pie plate, using plastic wrap to lift rolled out dough.  Make fluted edge to seal top and bottom crusts.  Cut decorative vent holes.

Makes enough for one 9-inch double-crust pie or two single-crust pies.

The guys really liked this pie.  The Patriarch said the crust was wonderful, and he isn’t overly fond of gluten-free items normally.  He even had seconds.  Arrow gave this pie the thumbs up.

The best part… Neither one of them could tell that this was not made with apples! 

Blessings,  ~Mrs. R

RATIO RALLY PIE LINKS:

TR from No One Likes Crumbley Cookies Chocolate Mousse Pie

Jean Layton from Gluten-Free Doctor Cheese Crusted Apple Pie

Irvin from Eat the Love Double Butterscotch Apple Pie

                                                        Charissa from Zest Bakery                                                   Apple Galette with Pisco Soaked Golden Raisins

Kate from katealicecookbook Kale & Zucchini Tart

Jenn from Jenn Cuisine Sweet Potato and Duck Pot Pie

Caleigh from Gluten Free[k] Leek and Potato Pie

Rachel from The Crispy Cook Maple Walnut Pie

gretchen from kumquat deep dish chocolate bourbon pecan pie

Claire from Gluten Freedom Autumn Pumpkin Spice Pie

Morri from Meals With Morri  A Pie Crust to Remember

Silvana Nardone from Silvana’s Kitchen Chicken Potpie

Caneel from Mama Me Gluten Free Green Tomato Pie

Meredith from Gluten Free Betty Blueberry Pie

Shauna from Gluten-free Girl and the Chef Fresh Pumpkin Pie

                                Meaghan from The Wicked Good Vegan                                    Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin Seed and Ginger Topping

Erin from The Sensitive Epicure Chess Pie 

                                        Mary Fran from frannycakes                                            Pumpkin Mousse Pie and Apple Maple Cream Cheese Pie

Brooke from B & the boy! Pot Pie

Lisa from Gluten Free Canteen Frangipane Apple Tart

This post is also linked to Kim at InAShoe.com

Tagged as: baking, dairy free, gardening, gluten free, homemaking, pie, ratio rally, recipes