It is apple season in North Carolina so we put them to work in this scrumptious apple pie. The tartness of the honey crisp apples paired with the rich flavor of walnuts in the crumble topping are the perfect flavors for fall. This delicious pie is plant based vegan, oil free, gluten free and refined sugar free so you can feel free to have seconds.
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Ingredients
Crust
2 cups almond meal
2 tablespoons flax meal
1/4 cup dates
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons water
Filling
5 cups apples, cut into chunks
1 cup dates
juice of half of a lemon
1 cup water
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons corn starch mixed into 1/4 cup water
Crumble Topping
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dates
juice of 1/2 a lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Mix crust ingredients together in a food processor until mixture is ground uniformly and it starts to stick together.
- Lightly oil a 9" pie plate.
- Press crust mixture into the bottom of the pie plate and up the edges about 1 1/2".
- Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork a few times to prevent air bubbles.
- Bake crust for 10 minutes.
- Place apple chunks into a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the dates, lemon juice, water and cinnamon in a blender until smooth.
- Pour over the apples and mix well.
- Place mixture into a saucepan and cook on medium high for 15 minutes.
- Pour the corn starch mixture into the apples and stir.
- Pour the apple mixture into the the pie plate and spread evenly.
- Put the crumble ingredients into the food processor and pulse until ingredients are uniform in size, about 20 pulses.
- Spread crumble evenly over the apples.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
40 comments
Wow, totally making this for thanksgiving next weekend. Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe! Any reason we need to use oil instead of parchment paper? Just curious.
Just difficult to get the parchment to lay properly in the pan.
this might sound crazy but if you crinkle up the paper in a ball then unfold and fit into your pan
That is a great tip! Thank you, I am going to try that.
I made this yesterday for my aggressively non WFPB family and my son’s teenage friends. Everyone loved it and it was super easy. Definitely one for Thanksgiving! I think next time I’ll make some nice cream to go with it. Thanks so much!
Looks delicious! Could I substitute almond meal for oat flour?
Excellent. Tried it the first morning I saw the recipe come out and my wife loved it. Was quick and easy also which was really nice. Almost fool proof I think. Thanks for a great recipe.
Sounds dreamy. What crust recipe would you recommend as alternative due to nut allergy?
I don’t really have a crust recipe that is nut free. None of my efforts to make one gluten free, oil free have worked out very well. Check Pinterest. There may be one there that will work for you =)
Can I use almond flour and ground flax seed instead of meal? Looks delicious?
Yes
I did make this. I used oat flour since I didn’t have any almond (costs too much anyways). It turned out dry for me. I would give it a 3 out of 5. It wasn’t hard to make but overall I would not make it again. So many of these plant based desserts are disappointing. I’m 80/20 on eating plant based. I do eat some meat, diary etc but not a lot. I like to be flexible on vacation and holidays. I think for pies/cakes/cookies and brownies I will just eat the real thing. My husband wasn’t thrilled with it either.
RCC90: Hi. Oat does tend to soak up more than almonds, so that might account for some of the dryness. I totally understand though, about struggling with the wfpb desserts. I also eat everything and sometimes the wfpb version just won’t satisfy the same. One thing I do in those times is mostly wfpb with some extra. For instance, I love raw vegan “cheesecake” recipes which I’ll make to the recipe but add a small amount of cream cheese to get that cheesecake taste. For a recipe like this apple pie, you could do part white pastry flour part oat flour, add some butter but not the full amount, some salt, etc that way you get the wfpb health benefits but also some of the texture and flavor of your favorites. An 80/20 approach to the dessert ingredients themselves, lol. But also if you want to just go for it on desserts full out, I won’t stop you! We have to feed not just our bodies but our minds and souls, too, for true health. 🙂
I’ve found that when I use almond meal in a pie crust, I need to add extra water or plant milk to make it palatable for me. There is a dryness to the almond meal that I dislike, but the extra liquid seems to balance it out. I love using almond meal for pie crusts because I make my own almond milk and often have a lot of almond meal on hand. I dehydrate it in my dehydrator and then pulverize it in my Vitamix to get it ready to go for pies. Sometimes a WFPB recipe is worth trying a second time to see whether you can adjust it to your taste. Maybe add extra dates for sweetness or more/different spices. Or look at other WFPB recipes for the same thing and then customize the general recipe to suit your tastes.
This looks amazing. I loved your apple cake. I shall make this very soon. A crumble and pie all in one!
I made it and it is lovely 🙂
Ohh my gosh, delicious!!! And healthy enough to eat often! I love this recipe; thank you! My husband absolutely loved it too! I am so thankful you are creating these indulgent, whole food options! I made it in a silicone round pan, no oil needed. I added a bit more lemon and more cinnamon and some nutmeg because I love the strong fall flavors. 🙂 I only used 2 dates in the topping instead of the 1/2 cup dates. Everything else I made to the recipe. It was done in 23 mins and about to burn so I took it out and it was perfect and my gosh it is the most delicious apple pie! I used honeycrisp apples. I served it warm with a generous scoop of nice cream on top (frozen bananas, plant milk, cinnamon all in a blender). My mouth is watering as I write this because I’m remembering how yummy it is! Next week I’m trying your oreo cake! I want to try all your recipes now. My dad just went wfpb because he had a double heart bypass and his doc recommended it. I am definitely sending him to your webpage/youtube channel. He’ll be so happy!
That is fantastic.Thank you so much for sharing this with me! It just made my day =)
This pie recipe is a winner! I don’t know how you keep all these recipes coming and nailing them Jill! I didn’t miss the sugar at all! Crumb topping is out of this world!! I didn’t have any lemon, so I use lime and it was still wonderful! Thank you so much Jill for your creativity and sharing healthy & delicious recipes with us! Kudos to you and your crew!!
Thank you Paula! That is so nice!
Dear Jill
a small word to thank you for so many delicious recipes that I have been trying and enjoying. This apple pie is just amazing! I tried other vegan apple cake recipes but never got to such a delicious result. And oil and sugar free it’s just what I was looking for. Something I also like very much is that you propose ingredients that are easy to find.
Can this be made as an apple crisp and skip the crust?
Absolutely. My daughter has been making it that way because she doesn’t like the crust.
We made this for Christmas but, like some other commenters, found the base rather dry. I’d make it again but would just omit the base entirely and just make the filling and topping. 🙂
Is almond meal what is left over when you strain homemade almond milk?
I don’t think so. Almond meal is just ground almonds and when you make milk with the almonds, what is left is kind of dry. I think too much of the fat is removed in the process of making the milk so essentially what you have left is just the fiber.
We prefer a top crust over a crumble topping. Would i need to adjust anything if I doubled the crust recipe and put the second one over the filling?
That is a good question. Not really sure if you could get this crust recipe to work for a top layer but if you want to give it a go, I don’t think anything has to be adjusted to double it.
We made this over the weekend, pretty much as written, but using Stayman Winesap apples. My gawd! Delicious! So, now the two of us are like bloodhounds on the trail, as this was the first recipe and video of yours we’d encountered. I’m about to try your potato mushroom soup (we found a huge, fresh puffball) later today, after work, and who knows what, from there?
Happy to have discovered your site and your videos. We hope to become “regulars.” (We’ve been wfpb for quite a while, btw.)
It says 5 apples but did anyone measure this out in grams? Is it around 600 grams? I wish baking recipes were measured appropriately over here.
Yes, 600 grams is about right.
I’ve never weighed the apples and it turns out perfectly. I’ve made it three times. I like adding raisins. It’s a great recipe!
Made this for New Year’s Eve without the crust..just to save calories. This was fabulous! I am relatively new to your site but this is the second recipe I have made and I now have two dessert recipes in my WFPB arsenal. I made the lemon cake for Christmas and that was fantastic too! Thanks for sharing🙂. Happy New Year!
I’ve just made this. It was simple and worked brilliantly; was able to cut a slice although it was obviously quite crumbly. I used the crumbled baking parchment trick, so no oil needed. Omitted the cornflour without an issue.
The taste is excellent. Fighting over the last piece here! Will add a few raisins or current next time, but it totally didn’t need it. Thank you.
Hey Jill! Just made this apple pie recipe – cut the recipe in half and it turned out to be delicious! I did make a few tweaks by adding a little extra cinnamon and some nutmeg to the apple mixture and the crumble on top. I also may have overcooked my apples in the sauce pan before putting them in the oven (i thought it would be a good idea to put a lid on the saucepan to speed up the process of softening the apples and i kind of forgot about it a made them a little softer than what I would have wanted). With those changes and a almond redi whip top off it was soooo good! will definitely make again!
Scrumptious! I left off the crumb topping just to save some calories and it was still delicious. I’ll be having it for breakfast tomorrow – why not – it’s all wholesome ingredients!
Any substitute for vinegar?
Lemon juice
I made this for Rosh Hashanah, and it was amazing! everyone, vegan and non vegan loved it. Thank you for a great fall recipe!!!