Gluten-Free Apple Pie with Granola Topping features soft, sweet cinnamony gooey apples surrounded by a flaky crust and a simple granola topping. This simple apple pie recipe includes a trick or two you’ve likely never seen!
Any time life necessitates a homemade apple pie, this magical recipe is here to comfort and to please!
If you’re like me and your pie making skills aren’t finely tuned enough to include intricate lattice top designs, you’ll get a kick out of this granola topping.
It requires zero effort and the end result is a sort of apple crisp meets apple pie situation.
Before we get too far…
I bake apple pie differently than traditional apple pie recipes. First, I pre-bake the crust just until it is showing a tiny bit of color.
Once the crust is prepared, I stew the apples in a saucepan so that they turn out uniformly perfectly soft and gooey.
In this sense, I can also tell exactly how sweet and cinnamony the apple filling is rather than guessing how it will turn out and the pie takes much less time in the oven.
I like this method because it ensures we can fit enough apples into the pie without it overflowing and it also ensures the apple pie filling becomes nice and gooey for better texture and flavor.
The juices help soften and caramelize the apples so that we end up with the absolute best apple pie. Not to mention, the bottom crust turns out with the perfect texture for the best results.
For me, making apple pie in this way is a surefire win because I’m all about a perfect soft apple filling. Those who prefer al dente apples may want to stick with the traditional recipe for classic apple pie.
You can use a store-bought frozen pie crust or make your own homemade pie crust. I used my Gluten-Free Pie Crust. You will also need a 9-inch pie plate for this recipe.
My Almond Flour Pie Crust and my Coconut Flour Pie Crust are great options here as well and you can always go with regular pie crust.
Don’t worry if this is your first time baking an apple pie! I have included step-by-step photos in this gluten-free recipe and have also included photos in all of my pie dough recipes.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this gluten-free apple pie recipe.
Ingredients for Gluten-Free Apple Pie:
Gluten-Free Pie Crust: Pick your favorite gluten-free pie crust recipe and give it a short pre-bake.
You can use one of the recipes for pie crust on my site or pick a tried and true recipe you’ve used before.
Frozen gluten-free pie crust is also available at most grocery stores, and saves a great deal of time.
Fresh Apples: Choose your favorite apples for apple pie! I like sweet apples like gala apples, envy apples, or fuji apples.
If you like tart apples like Granny Smith apples, feel free to use any kind of apples you love.
Just note if your apples aren’t very naturally sweet, you may want to consider adding extra pure maple syrup or some brown sugar to the apple filling mixture.
Pure Maple Syrup: I use pure maple syrup to sweeten the apple mixture to keep the recipe refined sugar-free and also to add some maple flavor.
I love the consistency and flavor the maple syrup produces.
Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Sea Salt: Ground cinnamon and nutmeg bring warm flavor to the apple pie and sea salt enhances all of the flavors, leaving us with a warmly-spiced sweet treat!
Use cinnamon and salt to your personal taste. You can add ¼ teaspoon of allspice if you like it in your apple pies.
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: To thicken the juices around the apples in the apple filling mixture, we need a thickening agent like flour. I use my favorite gluten-free flour blend. You can also use regular all-purpose flour, cornstarch, tapioca flour, or arrowroot flour.
Granola: Pick your favorite kind of granola to use as the topping! I use store-bought gluten-free granola, but homemade granola works great too. Whatever you use, be sure you will enjoy it with the flavor profile of the pie.
Recipe Adaptations:
If you’d rather use a top crust instead of granola, feel free to do so. Just be sure to prepare pie dough for two crusts. If you go this route, brush an egg wash over the top crust and cover the top of the pie with aluminum foil.
If you prefer a classic gluten-free Dutch apple pie, you can certainly go this route, creating a crumb topping in place of the granola topping.
Now that we’ve discussed the basic ingredients for this easy apple pie recipe, let’s make it!
How to Make Gluten-Free Apple Pie with Granola Topping:
Prepare your homemade pie crust, or get out your store-bought pie crust and bring it to room temperature. If you made a homemade crust, roll out the dough using a rolling pin into a circle that’s 12 inches in diameter.
Transfer the pie dough to the pie pan and pre-bake the crust for 15 minutes at 375 degrees F. Set crust aside until you’re ready to use it. You can prepare the crust and pre-bake it ahead of time if you’d like.
If you’ll be baking the pie later, turn off the oven but if you’re baking the pie now, lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Peel the apples then slice apples into apple slices that are about 1/4-inch thick. I like to place the apple slices in a large bowl while I’m cutting all the apples.
Transfer the sliced apples, pure maple syrup, lemon juice, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt to a large saucepan or large thick-bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven.
Cover the pot and heat over medium-high heat. Bring the apple mixture to a full boil then reduce the heat to medium.
Continue cooking with the lid covered, stirring occasionally, for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the apple have softened substantially and much liquid has leached out.
Stir in the gluten-free flour (or cornstarch or regular all-purpose flour) and continue stirring until the liquid around the apples has thickened up to a gooey consistency. Taste the apples for flavor and add more pure maple syrup (or brown sugar, coconut sugar, or cane sugar) or cinnamon.
Transfer the apple mixture to the prepared pie crust.
Sprinkle the granola crumb topping on top of the apples, creating an even layer. Transfer the pie to a large baking sheet. This will help catch any spillage that may occur from the apple filling, although that shouldn’t be an issue.
Cover the pie with aluminum foil and bake apple pie at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 30 minutes, or until you can see the apple filling is oozing around the crust and the granola is slightly golden brown on top.
Remove the pie from the oven and either serve immediately or allow the pie to cool for 3 hours (or longer). If you serve the pie immediately while it is still warm, it will be a bit harder to obtain clean slices.
Waiting for the pie to cool completely will make it easier to get clean pie slices. If you’re like me and you aren’t as concerned with the appearance, I recommend serving the pie fresh out of the oven. This is when the granola topping is still nice and crispy.
Slice the pie and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.
Store leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
If you follow a grain-free diet or are looking for a quicker way to enjoy an apple dessert, make my Paleo Apple Pie Bars.
And that’s it! A delicious apple pie recipe that can be customized according to your dietary needs.
If you’re looking for more holiday dessert recipes, check out these reader favorites.
Explore more Holiday Desserts:
- Gluten-Free Apple Bundt Cake
- Grain-Free Paleo Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Gluten-Free Cranberry Crumble
- Paleo Pecan Pie Bars
- Paleo Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Healthy Sweet Potato Brownies
Enjoy a hefty slice of gluten-free apple crisp pie a la mode!
Gluten-Free Apple Pie with Granola Topping
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 prepared pie crust
- 6 cups apples sliced into ¼-inch thick slices. About 6-8 medium to large-sized apples
- 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon*
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 Tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour or regular all-purpose flour
- 1.5 to 2 cups gluten-free granola or granola of choice
Instructions
- Prepare your homemade pie crust, or get out your store-bought pie crust and bring it to room temperature. If you made a homemade crust, roll out the dough using a rolling pin into a circle that's 12 inches in diameter. Transfer the pie dough to the pie pan and pre-bake the crust for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees F, until it shows some golden brown color. Set crust aside until you’re ready to use it. You can prepare the crust and pre-bake it ahead of time if you’d like. If you'll be baking the pie later, turn off the oven but if you're baking the pie now, lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Peel the apples then slice apples into apple slices that are about 1/4-inch thick. I like to place the apple slices in a large bowl while I’m cutting all the apples.
- Transfer the sliced apples, pure maple syrup, lemon juice, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt to a large saucepan or large thick-bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven. Cover the pot and heat over medium-high heat. Bring the apple mixture to a full boil then reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking with the lid covered, stirring occasionally, for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the apple have softened substantially and much liquid has leached out.
- Stir in the gluten-free flour (or cornstarch or regular all-purpose flour) and continue stirring until the liquid around the apples has thickened up to a gooey consistency. Taste the apples for flavor and add more pure maple syrup (or brown sugar, coconut sugar, or cane sugar) or cinnamon.
- Transfer the apple mixture to the prepared pie crust.
- Sprinkle the granola crumb topping on top of the apples, creating an even layer. Transfer the pie to a large baking sheet. This will help catch any spillage that may occur from the apple filling, although that shouldn’t be an issue.
- Cover the pie with aluminum foil and bake apple pie at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 35 minutes, or until you can see the apple filling is oozing around the crust and the granola is slightly golden brown on top.
- Remove the pie from the oven and either serve immediately or allow the pie to cool for 3 hours (or longer). If you serve the pie immediately while it is still warm, it will be a bit harder to obtain clean slices. Waiting for the pie to cool completely will make it easier to get clean pie slices. If you’re like me and you aren’t as concerned with the appearance, I recommend serving the pie fresh out of the oven. This is when the granola topping is still nice and crispy.
- Slice the pie and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.
Notes
Nutrition
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