By Cheryl McEvoy, NFCA Director of Communications & New Media
Where I grew up, it wasn’t officially fall until the local Cider Mill opened its doors. From apple pie to apples by the pound, they had everything. (My favorite was the Frapple ““ a frozen apple slushie.)
I haven’t been back in years, but my guess is their gluten-free options are limited. Fortunately, my friend Chef Oonagh Williams shared this recipe for Gluten-Free Creamy Apple Tart. Tip: For a shortcut, use a premade gluten-free pie crust or gluten-free pie crust mix.
Courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering
Ingredients
Crust
1/2 cup Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix or gluten-free all-purpose flour
¼ cup almond meal/almond flour
¼ tsp. xanthan gum
¼ cup powdered sugar
¾ stick (3 oz.) butter or non-dairy substitute, cold
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (optional)
Filling
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (lite or reduced fat is fine)
1 egg or 1/4 cup of egg substitute
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
2 tsp. cornstarch
¼ cup sugar
3 Granny Smith apples (or similar crisp apples), peeled, cored, thinly sliced and cut into 8ths – not huge chunks
Topping
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
½-1 cup sliced almonds, chopped pecans or other nuts
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place crust ingredients in mixing bowl and, using electric mixer or by hand, rub in butter until mix resembles moist, golden breadcrumbs, but does not form a dough. (This is why the butter or substitute should be cold.)
3. Press crumbs onto bottom and halfway up sides of 9″ pie plate.
4. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until the crust is slightly shrunken and tinged brown. Remove from oven.
5. While crust is baking, and in same mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, egg substitute, vanilla, flour and sugar until well blended and creamy looking. Mix in apples.
6. Spoon apple mixture into partially baked crust. This will have a very full appearance and will be over the height of the crust, but it won’t overflow or rise too much.
7. In small non-stick saucepan or in the microwave, melt butter over medium heat. Turn off the heat and stir in butter, almonds and cinnamon until they are evenly coated. If it cools too rapidly, then the nuts will clump together, so just warm through on low heat. Gently spoon over apple mixture.
8. Bake for about 55 minutes, covering the top if it seems to be browning too much.
The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness offers Vitacost.com website visitors weekly recipes and blogs about living the gluten-free lifestyle. For more information about celiac disease and gluten-free living, visit www.celiaccentral.org.