I finally made an apple pie with coconut flour that I think tasted good and not like an omelette; this is something that almost always happens to me when I try coconut flour - everything tastes just like eggs.
Giving up is something I usually end up doing due to my impatient nature and I did just that with coconut flour - I gave up. What made me try again was the fact that I tried making Elana’s coconut flour cupcakes, which are just some of the best gluten-free cupcakes I have tried. This made me feel like it was possible to bake with coconut flour; I really wanted to learn using it since the texture is something I like and it is not a starchy flour.
Maybe I will be baking more with coconut flour after this experiment, I do hope so.
Using whole flours without the use of xanthan gum is very important to me, the slimy texture of xanthan gum is something I can not eat, and I would rather be without baked goods if this is the option. Gluten-free flour mixes with the likes of potato starch etc. is also something I do not like, and once again I would rather eat just vegetables and meat than eat anything made with those flours; they are also a health risk if used in bread and eaten everyday, many people with celiac end up with weight gain and blood sugar problems because of the use of starch. I do not believe that this is a problem in cakes and things that are not eaten everyday, but when eaten often these ingredients become a problem.
I knew of this when I stopped eating gluten because my aunt’s husband gained a lot of weight eating those starchy gluten-free breads, and eventually ended up with pre-diabetes. At first I just ate regular food without bread- of course most desserts were out of the question. Then I tried out some quinoa flour and I liked it a lot, those first months I baked mainly just some chocolate cupcakes and really enjoyed the fact that I could have something like cupcakes again. After some time I tried making pizza, bread and cakes, sometimes it did not work out, but when it did I cherished the fact that flour like quinoa is available.
Eventually I tried other flours - buckwheat, rice flour, nut meal, each of them had qualities I liked and so I ended up using them, but mainly I still used quinoa flour. In everyday life I try to use flours with a fairly low starch content and with as much nutrients as possible, but I do not have a problem eating something with for example potato flour sometimes, and I do not have a problem with eating sugar sometimes. However, I feel that it is necessary for me to avoid starchy flour mixes and the likes in everyday life - for my health and for my taste buds.
I think that there are really good alternatives for all the starch in gluten-free baking and at least trying out something like coconut flour, almond meal or quinoa is worth it, in my opinion anyway.
Gluten-free apple pie recipe
I used almond meal and coconut flour for the base, nuts should be baked below 170C, but I bake this pie at 200 C; you can always reduce the heat and bake for a little while longer if you are worried about this. When grinding almonds I usually never peel and soak them, some say that nuts contain potent antinutrients if they are not roasted or soaked, but I am not very bothered with it.
You should brush the apples right after peeling with some lemon juice if you want them to stay white.
I usually bake the batter for a small while before adding the apples since it is really loose, but you can place the apples on top right away - they will just sink into the batter.
The recipe-
The batter
Wet ingredients:
-4 eggs, I use rather small organic eggs, so 3 large ones would be enough
-1 dl or 0,4 cup melted butter, or dairy-free margarine
-1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
-1 dl or 0,4 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
-3/4 dl or 0,3 cup coconut flour
-1 dl or 0,4 cup sugar, or some other sweetener
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 heaping tsp cinnamon
- a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
- a pinch of salt, if you are using unsalted butter
on top
-5-6 apples, tart ones taste better and since this is an open pie, firm apples should be used
- 3 tbls melted butter
-1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 dl or 0,2 cup sugar
- 1 tbls cinnamon
- a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
- a pinch of salt, if you are using unsalted butter
Preheat an oven to 200 c or 400 F.
Grease a pie dish with butter and coat it with almond meal.
Sift the dry ingredients together for the batter, and then mix the wet ones together, then combine them into a rather loose batter.
Pour the batter into the pie dish. Put the batter into the oven while you slice the apples.
Slice the apples and combine the vanilla extract with the melted butter. Mix together the spices and the sugar.
Take the batter out of the oven and place the apples on top, brush them with the butter and sprinkle the sugar on top.
Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes in the oven.
Serve with some vanilla custard or vanilla ice cream.
A recommendation
I could not believe my eyes when I saw a French bakery in the middle of Helsinki and they had some macaroons in the window.
Macaroons mean gluten-free goodness.
Instantly I bought different kind of macaroons and madeleines (for someone who is not celiac). They have other kind of gluten-free goods besides macaroons, so I was told. There were also croissants made with real butter and not some hydrogenated junk; this is a rare treat in Finland where real butter is almost never used in anything.
I am not sure that the things sold there are certified gluten-free; I did not ask about it, they are after all made in the same bakery where they bake bread. However I and some other celiacs have not had any problems when eating things bought from there.
The address is this if you live in Finland or are visiting and want to try having some of their macaroons.
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