How to Make a Gluten-Free Apple Pie

This gluten-free apple pie recipe has a light flakey top and bottom crust. The apple pie filling is the perfect balance between sweet and tart that stays put when you slice into it. It's so good, you'd never know it was gluten-free.

Gluten-Free Apple Pie Recipe

If you're gluten sensitive you shouldn't have to miss out on dessert. This is especially true for enjoying a classic apple pie. With this recipe, you'll never feel deprived again!

Ingredients

• 2 gluten-free pie crusts
• 5-6 large apples, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch 
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pea size
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven temperature to 350F.  
2. Peel all the apples and cut them into ½-inch slices.  
3. Put the sliced apples in the large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice and vanilla.  Stir gently.
4. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together and pour them over the apples.  Stir to coat.  Sprinkle apples with salt.
5. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cornstarch evenly over the apples and stir to coat.  Then sprinkle the other tablespoon of cornstarch evenly over the apples again and stir until fully incorporated.
6. Put 1 uncooked pie crust over your pie pan and place the apples into the pie shell.  
7. Dot the apples with the chilled butter.  
8. Gently place the other pie crust dough over the apple mound.
9. Press the two pie dough edges with your fingers to seal them together.  
10. Cut 4 slits in the top of the pie with your knife.  
11. Whisk 1 tablespoon water and 1 egg together in a small bowl.  With a pastry brush, lightly coat the pie crust with the egg wash.  
12. Put the pie dish on a baking sheet and bake the pie for 45 minutes.  
13. Cool completely before serving.

Recipe Notes: Firm tart apples work best when making apple pies. Granny smith apples are my favorite.

Serve your gluten-free apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or for a dairy-free option try a chocolate sorbet.

How to Make a Gluten-Free Crumb Topping

I love a good crumb topping. Truth be told, I like crumb toppings way more than a pie crust top. If you do too, try this gluten-free version.

Crumb Topping Ingredients

• 1 cup Cup4Cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Mix together the Cup4Cup flour, brown sugar, and salt until they are well blended.
2. Drop pieces of the unsalted butter over the flour mixture and rub together until crumbly.
3. Stir in the vanilla.
4. Sprinkle crumb topping over the pie and bake as directed.

Recipe Notes: If the crumb topping is too wet it will form a dough ball. If this happens, add more gluten-free flour blend until it becomes dry and crumbly.

To make this in a food processor, simply add all of the ingredients and pulse until crumbly. This is a faster method, but it also creates more to clean up.

Is Canned Apple Filling Gluten-Free?

If you'd rather make (or buy) your own gluten-free crust and use a canned apple filling, you need to know if the filling is gluten-free too if you're highly sensitive to gluten.

Yes, most canned apple fillings are gluten-free and most don't have high fructose corn syrup either. The filling is thickened with the apples' natural pectin. However, it's always best to read the ingredients.

Who Makes a Store-Bought Gluten-Free Pie Crust?

And are they any good? If you don't want to bother making the crust yourself, it's nice to know what other options are available. I've tried Trader Joe's gluten-free pie crust and Pillsbury's.

Pillsbury's refrigerated dough for pie crusts and pastries comes in a convenient tub and makes a good pie crust. Although, I'm not crazy about the fact it contains hydrogenated oil. It's a bit oily and crumbly to work with but overall it gives good results.

Trader Joe's gluten-free pie crust is extremely convenient. It comes formed in an aluminum pie pan and is frozen. The texture is more of a shortbread and not as light and flakey as a homemade pie crust made with Cup4Cup pastry flour.

I do like that Trader Joe's pie crust is made with butter, tapioca flour, rice flour, and cornstarch. There wasn't anything in the ingredients I couldn't pronounce or had to research!

Gluten-Free Flour reviews

Not all gluten-free flours are created equal. Here are the ones I've tried along with my honest and unbiased reviews. Plus why I think one, in particular, is far superior to the rest!

• Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Gluten-Free Flour: baked goods came out flat and gritty tasting.
• Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Flour: baked goods came out flat and gritty.
• King Arthur's Gluten-Free Flour: baked goods came out flat and gritty.
• Great Value Gluten-Free Flour
• Almond Meal & Almond Flour: this works well when blended with whipped egg whites and retains moisture very well. Best used for making tortes, pie fillings, and cookies.
• Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Pie Crust Flour: The pie crust came out extremely flakey and crisp. It browned beautifully and had lots of flakey layers.
• Cup4Cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: baked goods retained shape better when the dough was refrigerated before baking. Baked goods tasted smooth, with no grittiness!

How do you keep your apple pie from oozing out?

After it comes out of the oven let it cool completely.  It's worth the wait. If you slice into it too soon the filling won't have a chance to firm up and it will run out from under the crust. 

Letting your apple pie cool completely (at least an hour) before you cut into it is the key to keeping it from releasing its juices all over your plate.

Even though I cut into it too early within another hour it firmed up.  

Add a big scoop of whip cream or cheddar cheese if that suits your fancy.  

Apple Pie Memories

When I was growing up in St. Louis, every few years we would make a trip across the Mississippi to Eckert’s Farm near Belleville, IL to pick apples. They also had hayrides, hot cider, and bonfires.

We’d bring back bags full of apples and at least a pumpkin or two.  Mom would make a rich apple pie and the house would smell like apple cinnamon heaven.  

Other Gluten-Free Dessert You'll Love

Chocolate Torte

Espresso Panna Cotta

French Chocolate Mousse

5 from 4 votes

Print

Gluten-Free Apple Pie

This is a crazy pie with apple piled up as far as you can make them go.  Make sure your apples are firm and crisp.  It's sweet and tart!  Serve it hot with a side of cold vanilla ice cream for a real treat!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 332 kcal

Author Madalaine

Ingredients

• 2 pie crusts*
• 5-6 large apples pealed and cut into 1" cubes
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ cup Bob's Red Mill gluten free baking flour
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter chilled and cut into pea size
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 egg white raw

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Peel all the apples and cut them into 1" cubes.  Put them all in the large bowl.
2. Pour the lemon juice and vanilla over the apples.  Stir gently.
3. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together and pour them over the apples.  Stir to coat.  Sprinkle apples with the salt.
4. Remove all thyme leaves from their stems.  Mix the thyme with the flour.  Sprinkle the ½ of the flour/thyme mixture evenly over the apples and stir to coat.  Then sprinkle the rest evenly over the apples and stir again.
5. Put 1 uncooked pie crust over your pie dish.  Pour the apples into the pie shell.  There should be plenty to pile them up high!  Dot the apples with the chilled butter.  Then gently place the other pie crust dough over the apple mound.
6. Press the two pie dough edges with your fingers to seal them together.  Cut 4 slits in the top of the pie with your knife.  
7. Mix 1 tablespoon water and 1 egg white together in a small bowl.  With a pastry brush, lightly coat the pie crust with the egg wash.  
8. Put the pie dish on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Cool completely before serving.

Recipe Notes

*Homemade Pie Crust Recipe: try this out! You'll be surprised at how EASY it is!

Short Cut: Pilsbury Pie Crust 

Gluten Free Pie Crust- Nicole's Gluten Free on a Shoestring blog is an excellent gluten free resource.  She does an incredible job posting delicious (and well tested) gluten free recipes with great pictures.  This is her gluten free pie crust recipe that is light and flakey and worth the effort.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Apple Pie

Amount Per Serving

Calories 332 Calories from Fat 162

% Daily Value*

Fat 18g28%

Saturated Fat 7g44%

Trans Fat 0.2g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 7g

Cholesterol 11mg4%

Sodium 285mg12%

Potassium 184mg5%

Carbohydrates 42g14%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 12g13%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 194IU4%

Vitamin C 7mg8%

Calcium 21mg2%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.