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Craving the comfort of a warm slice of pie? This easy keto apple pie is every bit as delicious as a traditional apple pie, but without all the carbs and sugar! You won't believe what the secret ingredient is, which, when combined with the right spices and scrumptious almond flour crust, has the same taste and texture as an apple pie! Gluten-free and easily made vegan too!
If you're following a low carb lifestyle or ketogenic diet, you may have thought that apple pie was a thing of the past. Luckily, that's not true. While the usual version is off the table, you won't even miss it when you take your first bite of this keto friendly apple pie.
Serve it to your friends and family, and they'll be amazed that this keto mock apple pie recipe isn't the real thing. It tastes just like classic apple pie, but without apples, sugar, or gluten!
Apple pie without apple filling? Yes it can be done! The secret ingredient swap is zucchini (yes, zucchini in place of those tart apples!) Zucchini, thanks to its mild flavor, is able to absorb the flavors of the butter, warm spices, and lemon just as well as apples and has a similar mouthfeel.
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It may seem like a lot of work, but make it once, and it'll quickly become one of your favorite desserts. It's sure to become a staple for your holidays and get-togethers. This gluten free apple pie recipe is a delicious alternative to pumpkin pie during the holiday season or makes the perfect picnic pie in the summer. Nothing beats that buttery crust filled with ooey-gooey "apple" pie filling!
👩🏽🍳 Why This Recipe Works
- Tastes like real apple pie (but without apples!)
- Keto & low carb friendly
- Gluten-free
- Delicious almond flour crust
- Flaky, buttery crust that pairs beautifully with the gooey pie filling
- Completely sugar-free apple pie!
- Great for a special occasion, or to enjoy any time of year!
🥘 Ingredients
Almond Flour Pie Crust Ingredients
While many low carb pie crusts are crumbly, like a graham cracker crust, this one holds up to rolling and spreading across a pie pan perfectly. Made with simple ingredients found in any keto kitchen, this delicious pie crust recipe will become your go-to for all your keto pies.
- Almond Flour: Blanched almond flour is preferred since it's finer than almond meal and makes a smoother pie crust.
- Xanthan Gum: This is the key ingredient that helps your keto pie crust hold together. Without it, it will be crumbly like a graham cracker crust. Using xanthan gum helps make this almond flour pie crust easy to roll out just like a traditional crust for any pie.
- Coconut Flour: Adding a bit of coconut flour helps give the pie crust better texture.
- Erythritol: This is the sweetener we used, but you can use your preferred sweetener, such as monk fruit sweetener.
- Unsalted Butter: Cold butter is a must for flaky pie crust. You don't want warm or room temperature butter. If yours isn't cold, chill it in the freezer for a few minutes first before adding it to the dry ingredients for a crust. Dairy free butter can be used, if desired.
- Lemon Zest: A little lemon zest brightens up the flavors of this almond flour crust!
- Apple Cider Vinegar: A little vinegar makes for a more tender pie crust.
- Egg: Egg mixed with a little cold water is used to make an egg wash. Using it on the edges of the pie and the top crust helps seal the base gives the top of the pie a beautiful golden color. However, you can use water to seal the crust, if you prefer.
Filling Ingredients
- Zucchini: Zucchini squash has a neutral flavor that readily takes on spices, so it makes the perfect faux apple for this recipe. You can also substitute chayote squash, which maintains a firm bite like apples do. However, it is more expensive and not readily available in all grocery stores. Yellow summer squash is another apple replacement option.
- Butter: You'll cook the zucchini in butter to make it tender and to add richness to the pie mixture.
- Brown Sugar Substitute: This lends sweetness to the filling, which is expected for this gf apple pie.
- Warm Spices: Spices are the key to a good apple pie. Flavor the zucchini with ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom, and you won't taste a bit of difference between real apples and the squash. You can also use an apple pie spice mix if you don't have the individual spices on hand.
- Lemon Juice: Lemon brightens up this pie and enhances its flavor. It's especially helpful when replacing apples with zucchini because the tartness helps it taste fruitier, like an apple. If you don't have lemon juice, lime juice will work in its place.
- Arrowroot + Water: Arrowroot powder thickens the apple pie mixture, makes it glossy, and gives it a silky mouthfeel (per Taste of Home). Combine a tablespoon of cold water with the arrowroot powder to make a slurry.
📖 Variations
- Add Nuts: For crunch and a sweet, nutty flavor, add pecans or walnuts to the filling.
- Make a Lattice Top: Instead of a crust that covers the entire top of the pie, make a lattice top by cutting the other half of the dough into strips and weaving them on top of the pie.
- Skip the Top Crust: Instead of the top crust, make a crumble topping using the directions for our vegan apple crumble, substituting 1 cup of almond flour for the oats.
- Try a Different Sweetener: If you don't like erythritol, substitute any other powdered sweetener you prefer.
- Make It Dairy Free: To make this keto apple pie dairy free, substitute vegan butter for the butter.
- Make It Vegan: In addition to using vegan butter, you can use vegan egg substitute for the dough and replace the egg for the egg wash by brushing water or almond milk on the pie crust to seal it instead.
🔪 Instructions
Cut Butter Into Dry Ingredients: Whisk almond flour, xanthan gum, coconut flour, and erythritol together in a mixing bowl until well combined. Add cold butter and rub it into the dry ingredients until it resembles bread crumbs.
Add Remaining Ingredients: Add the lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, and egg to the crust ingredients, and mix to form a dough. Flatten the pastry dough into a disk shape, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Prep Zucchini: While the dough is chilling, peel and dice the zucchini.
Cook Zucchini: Heat a large pot and melt the butter, allowing it to melt and turn slightly brown. Add the diced zucchini, reduce the heat to low, and stir for 5 minutes.
Sweeten the Squash: Add the brown sugar substitute, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, and lemon juice. Stir through and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until zucchini is fork tender. Taste the zucchini and adjust the flavors by adding extra lemon juice, cinnamon, or sweetener to taste.
Make a Slurry, Thicken The Filling: In a small bowl, mix the arrowroot powder with 1 tablespoon of cold water, stir to form a slurry. Gently stir through the arrowroot mixture and cook until the filling mixture thickens. Remove from heat and allow the low-carb apple pie filling to cool completely in the fridge before adding to the pie crust.
Half the Dough: Cut the chilled dough in half. Place half of the dough, covered, back into the refrigerator, and place the other half between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll out the dough between the sheets of baking paper with a rolling pin to fit a 9 inch pie dish.
Line Pie Plate: Remove the top piece of parchment paper and line the greased pie dish with dough, trimming the edges of the bottom crust and using a fork to pierce the base.
Bake Keto Apple Pie Crust: Bake crust in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, making sure not to overcook and brown the edges. Remove and allow to cool.
Fill The Crust with cold pie filling and coat the edges with water or egg wash.
Make Top Crust: Roll the remaining dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper, removing the top sheet and laying the dough on top to cover the pie filling.
Finish Top Crust: Trim the edges and cut two small slits in the top with a knife. Brush the top of the pie with egg wash.
Bake Pie: Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. When cooked through, remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool for one hour before cutting and serving.
❓ Recipe FAQs
How to store low carb apple pie?
In The Fridge: Store this sugar-free apple pie in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap. It'll keep in the fridge for about 4 days.
In The Freezer: If you don't plan to eat this keto apple pie within 3-4 days, put it in the freezer and enjoy it later. Cut it into slices, wrap each individual apple pie slice tightly with plastic wrap or store them in an airtight container, and put the wrapped slices in a freezer-safe bag. It can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months (per Food Network) and should be thawed at room temperature before reheating.
How to reheat mock apple pie?
This pie can be served cold or hot. If you'd like to reheat it, place a single slice in the microwave and heat in 30 second increments until warmed through. Alternatively, you can place it in the oven at 350F for about 15 minutes until warm. Add 5-10 minute increments if you need to heat it further. You may want to cover it loosely with aluminum foil to protect the crust from over-browning if reheating in the oven.
Are apples ok for keto?
While apples are healthy and nutritious, a single medium apple has 25 grams of carbs and about 19 net carbs. That's nearly an entire day's worth of allotment for most people on a keto diet.
What can you substitute for apples on keto?
Zucchini is the perfect substitute in the case of this delicious keto apple pie recipe. Other low carb vegetables like chayote squash or yellow squash are options for keto apple desserts, as they maintain the same bite as an apple. Keep in mind, chayote squash may not be readily available in all grocery stores.
How many carbs are in a slice of sugar free apple pie?
This mock apple pie with zucchini has only 6 grams of net carbs per slice! The average slice of apple pie has between 40-50 grams of net carbs per slice, which make this keto pie much healthier for you!
💭 Expert Tips
- Smaller zucchini have fewer seeds and are more tender, which will make for a better texture in this faux apple pie.
- Dice the peeled squash into even bite-sized pieces (approximately 1/2 inch cubes) for even cooking.
- Cook the zucchini on low heat to allow it to absorb all of the flavors of the brown sugar substitute and delicious spices.
- Coconut flour burns quickly, so keep an eye on the pie while it's in the oven to make sure the crust doesn't burn. If it browns too quickly, loosely cover the pie with foil.
- To avoid a grainy keto apple pie filling, use powdered sweetener rather than granulated sweetener. If using allulose, remember that you'll need 30% more as a 1:1 ratio doesn't work with this sweetener.
- For best results, chill the cooked filling for at least 30 minutes before adding it to the pie so the dough doesn't melt when it's added.
- Serve this zucchini pie with keto ice cream, low carb vanilla ice cream, homemade whipped cream, and sugar free caramel sauce for a truly decadent dessert.
