Vegan Gluten-Free Beautiful Apple Hand Pies to wow your guests this holiday! You only need 8 ingredients total to make this and it’s vegan, gluten-free and no butter or oil!
The only thing more delicious than a regular pie, is a hand pie. One that you can carry around and eat, no utensils needed. It’s not so easy creating a vegan, gluten-free pie crust that has no butter or oil and actually TASTES good and tastes buttery and crispy……ya know, how a pie crust should taste! This recipe inspiration came from one of my most loyal readers, Estee. She makes so many of my recipes and shares them with so many people, so I’m honored to create something for her when she requests it. I’m honored to create anything for you guys, actually. I love getting the requests, it’s super exciting. And today, I’m going to show you how to make some amazing vegan, gluten-free, oil-free Apple Hand Pies!
She sent me this recipe of Apple Pie Bites and requested that I make a healthy, vegan version. Challenge accepted. Soooo, these are obviously, COMPLETELY different, haha. Not exactly the same, they are pies, more than croissant bites. But sometimes, a recipe speaks to me, it really does, and this one was just screaming hand pies. I tested many different flour combos for the crust and none of them made me very happy as a pastry/croissant type of crust.
HOW DO YOU MAKE A VEGAN APPLE PIE?
I did manage to create an absolutely, delicious “buttery” pie crust though. It’s like those handheld pie crusts, but oil-free and gluten-free. This is not a fat-free dessert though. I have tried fat-free crusts and it is like eating cardboard….horrible texture, too chewy and not crispy…I personally don’t like eating cardboard.
So with lots of trials later, we have these amazing, hubby-devoured-them-super-fast Vegan Gluten-free Apple Hand Pies. Yes, please. My husband’s very favorite dessert I make, is my Apple Cinnamon Pecan Crisp. He absolutely loves baked apples in any form, so if he gave these mini hand pies a giant mouthful thumbs up, it’s a winner!
I also created an amazing just 2 ingredient flour combo! That’s basically unheard of for a gluten-free pie crust, as they usually alone are 4 or 5 flours. My combo is simply tapioca starch and white rice flour (not brown). The magic is the ratios. After many fails of crumbly, too dense, too chewy, too dry or too this and that, this was the winning combo. These flours CANNOT be subbed. Tapioca becomes like glue once it’s wet and so does rice flour and white rice flour binds better than brown rice.
HOW DO YOU MAKE AN OIL-FREE PIE CRUST?
Pecan butter! Pecan butter was a secret I discovered while winging it in the kitchen 3 years ago when I created these Pecan Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. They make those cookies soooo darn buttery and crispy, that I’ve been obsessed with pecans ever since.
Pecan butter is crucial to use instead of just ground up pecans into a flour, because the pecan butter specifically is very smooth and light and creamy and acts as the oil here with the flours, as opposed to oil or butter. We are looking for an actual, workable gluten-ish pie dough, not just a crumbly type texture. The pecan butter also helps to bind the dough. Also, no other nut butters will work, so don’t even think about subbing. Pecan butter is naturally the oiliest of all nut butters, is much softer and lighter, as other butters are too stiff and dense. I tested both cashew and almond butter and they failed.
Now, I’m going to take you on a not-so-traditional gluten-free pie making tutorial. Contrary to every typical gluten/butter pie recipe out there, you do not need cold water or chilled fat to make this dough. In fact, my process is the opposite, as you need hot water. Why? Well, since there is no gluten in my recipe, I needed to make my flours (I only used 2!) work to their maximum power. Adding hot water to rice flour and tapioca makes them gluey, as opposed to just cold water. The whole dough itself is not like traditional, it’s thicker, stickier and looser, but once it chills, it becomes magically firm and much easier to make little pies.
Now, because I love making things easier for you, I took a whole lot of photos to give you all a visual step-by-step photo tutorial to make it easy for you all. I know it is very beneficial…so here we go! Lots of pics, but I wanted to show each detail.
APPLE PIE STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS
First, make the pecan butter using raw pecans. It only takes about 10 minutes. You can make this the day before making the pies and keep it stored at room temperature. Add 2 cups raw pecan halves to a food processor and process into a flour. Scrape down the sides and process for about 10 minutes or so until it is very, very smooth and creamy. You will need to scrape down the sides a couple of times during. Do not stop processing once it is a paste, you need to keep going until it is very soft and smooth. Think, the consistency of a very soft buttercream frosting. It feels softer than it looks too. It should be smoother than almond butter, almost oily. If it’s not, then it won’t moisten the dough enough in the next step. Store at room temp before making dough.
Next, make your dough. This step only takes 10 minutes. Add the tapioca starch, rice flour, coconut sugar and salt to a clean/dry food processor. Use a scale for accurate results. Pulse just to blend together. Measure out only 1/2 cup of the pecan butter. Make sure you completely level this off of the measuring cup for accuracy in the dough. Add the 1/2 cup pecan butter, 6 tablespoons hot water (I warmed my water for 30 sec in the microwave) and vanilla. Process until it all comes together into a really sticky dough, resembling stiff, thick peanut butter, a few seconds. Scrape the sides and process once more for a few seconds until all flour is blended. It should look like the above photo, if it is crumbly, then you mis-measured or forgot the water or your pecan butter wasn’t smooth enough. It should be very gooey. It will not look like a traditional pie dough yet, it will be more sticky and loose, but will firm up magically in the chilling step. Do not be tempted to add extra flour!
Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and shape into a ball. Scrape all of the dough out of the processor and place in the freezer for 2 hours. It will become magically firm and easy to roll out and make your crust shapes. If you are making this the day before you are making the actual pies, then just store the dough in the fridge instead.
Make your apple pie filling. While the dough is chilling, make your filling. This can also be made the day before you are baking the pies, to save time. Just store in the fridge. Peel and chop up 1 granny smith apple into 1/2 inch cubes. These are more sour than other apples and I find they work best in the pies.
Cook your filling. Add the spices, sugar and water and turn to medium heat. Once it starts to sizzle, immediately turn to the lowest heat, cover and let cook for just 5 minutes. This is only to slightly soften them, so they are fully cooked after baking. Let completely cool before making your pies.
Pie making time. Remove your chilled dough from the fridge. Seeeeee, I told you it would magically firm up and look just like regular dough! Use the cold dough immediately so it’s easy to work with. You don’t want to remove it from the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Roll out the dough. Place the dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of paper on top and roll out into a large round-ish shape, 1/8 inch thick. Do this easily by rolling out from the center of the dough, to the edges, repeatedly. You don’t want it any thinner than 1/8 inch or the dough can break. You also don’t want the dough too thick, or you won’t have enough for 10 pies. The dough is delicate, but works amazing. Your dough should be fine after chilling that long, but if it’s too sticky, freeze a bit longer.
Cut out your pie crusts. Using a round 3 inch cookie/biscuit cutter, make 20 circles. I used a biscuit cutter that is 2.75 inches. Place 10 of them onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan that you will use to bake them on. It helps to remove the circles by peeling away the surrounding dough around it first, then they are easier to pick up. Keep reusing and re-rolling out the dough until you have 10 pies (20 circles). See recipe below for full instructions.
Form your pies. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the apple pie filling onto the center of each bottom piece, spread out, leaving a little space (about 1/4 inch) to seal the edges. Be careful about overfilling them, or the tops will break and ooze out. Add a few of the pecan pieces as well. You should have just enough filling for 10 pies.
Add the tops. Place the tops on gently and press down the edges with your fingers. It sticks very easily together. Use damp fingers if necessary. If any of the dough slightly cracks, just dampen a finger and smooth it back out. For decorative edges, you can crimp them with a fork. Tap around the edges in quick motions with the fork if it’s sticking at all, this makes it easier. Lastly, with a sharp knife, cut a tiny slit opening on the tops of each pie, this will allow a little steam to escape. The slit should only be about 1/4 inch.
Decorate the tops. Lightly dampen a pastry brush with water and brush the tops of each pie, just to moisten them, so the sugar will stick. Sprinkle extra apple pie spice or cinnamon and raw sugar (or coconut sugar) all over the tops. Don’t be shy with the sugar. The pies themselves are mildly sweet, so this is where the nice sweet bite comes from.
Bake the pies. See Recipe below for details on baking. Then you will end up with these beauties!
And, of course, we need an inside shot of that deliciousness!
Phew, that was a lot of work sharing a photo for each step, but I really wanted to help you all out with detailed photos and instructions. These are really simple to make, just a little prep work, which I think is worth it for the holidays!
Vegan Gluten-Free Apple Hand Pies
Ingredients
PIE DOUGH
- 1/2 cup raw pecan butter (SEE DIRECTIONS)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (136g) tapioca starch (other starches do not work here)
- 1/2 cup (80g) white rice flour
- 7 tablespoons (63g) coconut sugar
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons hot water (helps make the rice and tapioca flours become like "gluten")
FILLING
- 1 granny smith apple, peeled & chopped (you'll need about 1 1/4 cups of 1/2 inch cubes, 130g)
- 4 tablespoons (36g) coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice (storebought blend, or see note below for sub)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 cup chopped pecan pieces
TOPPING
- 1 tablespoon or so of Raw sugar and extra spice for sprinkling
APPLE SPICE BLEND
- If you can't find the apple pie spice, then just combine 3/4 teaspoon quality cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
NOTE
- As always, use a scale for accurate results with gluten-free baking, to avoid room for error. I tested these pies with different starches and flours (with many fails!) and this is the best combo. It's crispy, buttery and has good structure. Therefore, I do not recommend subbing whatsoever. Both tapioca and rice flour perform very differently in dough form than other flours and are crucial. The pecan butter is crucial, as it's much more oily than other nut butters, which make it work in this crust. Another nut butter will not yield the same results, I tested.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Time saving tips: You can make both the pecan butter and the dough the day before you bake the pies, then it all comes together really fast. You can even make the filling the day before as well and just keep stored in the fridge.
- First, you need to make the pecan butter. Don't fret, it only takes 10 minutes. Storebought does not work, it's too oily. It is important to use raw pecans and not roasted, because the roasted are too oily. Add 2 cups raw pecan halves/pieces to a food processor and process into a flour. Scrape down the sides and process for about 10 minutes or so until it is very, very smooth and creamy. You will need to scrape down the sides a couple of times during. Do not stop processing once it is a paste, you need to keep going until it is very soft and smooth and the consistency of a soft buttercream frosting. It should be smoother than almond butter, more oily. If it's not oily enough, then it won't blend properly with the flours! You will have extra, but will only need 1/2 cup for the dough. Clean and dry out your food processor before the next step. The pecan butter should be cooled and at room temperature before the next step, so that's why I recommend making it earlier.
- Next, make your dough. Add the tapioca starch, rice flour, coconut sugar and salt to a clean/dry food processor. Pulse just to blend together.
- Measure out only 1/2 cup of the pecan butter. Make sure you completely level this off of the measuring cup for accuracy in the dough. Add the pecan butter to the food processor, with the 6 tablespoons hot water (I warmed my water for 30 sec in the microwave) and vanilla. Process until it all comes together into a really sticky dough, resembling thick peanut butter, a few seconds. Scrape the sides and process once more. It will not be like a traditional pie dough, it will be more sticky, truly like peanut butter, but will firm up a lot in the chilling step. Do not be tempted to add extra flour! Refer to photo for texture. If your dough is not like a sticky peanut butter, you have mismeasured or left out the hot water or your pecan butter was not smooth enough before adding.
- Scrape out your every bit of dough onto plastic wrap. Wrap it up and form a ball and place in the freezer for 2 hours. The dough will be too sticky to use immediately. If wanting to store the dough overnight, store in the fridge instead of the freezer. Do not remove until ready to use right away.
- While the dough is chilling, make your apple pie filling. Add your chopped apples, apple spice blend and coconut sugar into a small pot and stir around to coat all the apples. Add the 1 tablespoon water and stir. Turn the heat to medium. Once it starts to sizzle, immediately turn to the lowest heat, cover and let cook for just 5 minutes, just until the apples have began to soften and is looking syrupy. You just want to slightly cook them, so they will be fully cooked after the oven baking step. Let the filling cool off.
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees and line a metal sheet pan with parchment paper.
- After the dough has chilled, remove and unwrap. Use the cold dough immediately so it's easy to work with. Place the dough on a large piece of parchment paper, add another piece on top of the dough and roll out into a large round piece at 1/8 inch thick, rolling out from the center of the dough, to the edges. Follow above photo tutorial as a guide. You don't want it any thinner or the dough can break. You also don't want the dough too thick, or you won't have enough for 10 pies. Using a round cookie cutter or glass about 3 inches in size, cut out 20 circles. I used a biscuit cutter that is 2.75 inches. There will be enough dough for 10 hand pies, which means you should get 20 circles total by reusing all the dough up. It helps to remove the circles by peeling away the surrounding dough around it first, then they are easier to pick up. Keep re-rolling out the dough until you've made 10 pies. You may have a little leftover.
- Place each bottom dough piece onto the parchment lined pan that you will bake with. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the apple pie filling onto the center of each piece, spread out, leaving a little space to seal the edges. Be careful about overfilling them, or the tops will break and ooze out. Add a few of the pecan pieces as well. Place the tops on gently and press down the edges with your fingers. It sticks very easily together. Use damp fingers if necessary. If any of the dough slightly cracks, just dampen a finger and smooth it back out. For decorative edges, you can crimp them with a fork. Lastly, with a sharp knife, cut a tiny slit opening on the tops of each pie, this will allow a little steam to escape. The slit should only be about 1/4 inch.
- Lightly dampen a pastry brush with water and brush the tops of each pie, just to moisten them, so the sugar will stick. Sprinkle extra apple pie spice or cinnamon and raw sugar (or coconut sugar) all over the tops. Don't be shy with the sugar. The pies themselves are mildly sweet, so this is where the nice sweet bite comes from.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, just until the tops are firm and no longer soft. Mine were perfect right at 15 minutes, but your oven may take a minute less or more. Just keep an eye on them and feel the tops for a crisp touch. Set your timer so they don't burn. Remove and immediately transfer to a cooling rack. Eat while warm. These hold up perfectly, just like a gluten-filled pie crust. They hold together well and are super easy to hold! Enjoy! Keep leftovers in a sealed container. Reheat them in a low heat oven just until warm and crispy again. They will not be crispy if reheated in the microwave, but soft & chewy, but still delicious.
Those look beautiful, Brandi! I have to admit, I’ve never make or tried pecan butter before, time to change! 🙂 Love to read your story about Estee, that this recipe is for her so amazing! I recently posted some apple recipes like my sweet potato soup with kale, easy vegan apple cake, baked apples, so you know I’m a big apple fan, too. Love that you use such an easy gluten-free dough without 5 different flours in one recipe and the fact that you make your own pecan butter, homemade is the best. Gorgeous recipe as always!
Thank you so much Florian! Yes, apples are my very favorite fruit…well the only fruit I like to eat in whole form and there is nothing better than baked apples, and these are to die for! You have to try pecan butter! It’s not even comparable to other nut butters and I’ve been obsessed with it for 3 years, very sweet and buttery flavor!
Oh my.
I’m thinking if God asked for a dessert one night it would surely include apples and spices ?
My husband doesn’t do crusts, sweet r savory, so thses gems would be perfect for me to make up and then freeze most to thaw out and enjoy as I needed. LOVE your pics of course but these cuties make them even more delectable to look at this morning.
I may have to make up my first batch if pecan butter with some of the Oklahoma pecans Annie sent me just to try out your dough as well!
Sounds so tasty and good for us as well.
Thanks Brandi ?
Awww you are so sweet Angela!! Thank you so much, so glad you love these photos!! I know there are a ton, but with dough and pie making and all, I thought it would help everybody to see the details and my readers always say they love the detailed instructions, so I thought I’d attach the photos this time 🙂
Pecan butter is so amazing! My favorite way is roasted, sweeter and smoother, but for this I needed it raw because my original roasted pecan butter would be too oily for this dough. Thank you again!
Wow these look incredible. What brand food processor do you have? I seriously need to buy one but I want to get one that is of good quality and does the job well. Love the recipes with pecan butter because I can actually eat those nuts. For some reason almonds and cashews I can’t eat. Most other nuts I can eat, so weird. On your pumpkin pie cookies I am gonna make next week I am making one batch with almond butter for everybody else and one batch with pecan butter for me. 🙂 Of course I will share my batch. 🙂 These little pies are perfect for the holidays. If I end up being able to get a food processor soon maybe I will make these next week too. Man I wish I lived with you hahaha. I would be so well fed. 🙂 It blows my mind how incredible all of your recipes are.
You are so, so kind, thank you so much Christina!! Glad to know you can have pecans, awesome! I use a Cuisinart, but also have a Kitchenaid. Both are excellent food processors, but the Cuisinart is higher quality and I like it better, so if you can drop a few extra dollars, get that one. I have the 11 cup one I think! Can’t wait to hear about the cookies!!
looks amazing Brandi!
Thank you so very much Andie!!
These apple hand pies look adorable! They are like a fancier (and finger food friendly version) of apple pies 😀 I love the step-by-by photos, they are beautiful and really help understanding the process better. Using pecan butter in the crust is simply genius. I’m a huge fan of your recipes! 🙂
Bianca, thank you so very much for the compliments, you are the sweetest! I’m so glad you enjoyed the tutorial photos! I’m getting such a great response today from this post, I’m thinking I’ll try to do the step-by-step photos more often, it’s VERY time-consuming though, lol! But for more detailed recipes like this, I’ll try to do it. Thank you again for leaving such a nice comment!
Hi Brandi, you are so inspirational, I will definitely try these over Christmas as my daughter is celiac and vegan. They look delicious, thank you.
That is so kind of you Vivian! Thank you so much and please come back and let me know what you think! Enjoy!
These look so good! I am continually amazed at the magic that you create in your kitchen and keeping it to 8 ingredients, as well, is just well amazing!!
Lisa, thank you so so much! I always enjoy your comments, you are always so generous and I really appreciate it! It isn’t always easy to create them at 8 ingredients, taste has to be #1! But, it’s my blog premise and I will only post what works and I am lazy and don’t like long ingredient recipes! This one surpassed my expectations! 🙂
O Brandi! pecan butter is one of my favorite nut butters to make at home! It’s so good! Pecans have such a distinct taste! Love these little fun pies 😉
It’s the BEST EVER!
These hand pies look incredible. I once made a galette/rustic roll out pie crust using hazelnut butter and it worked beautifully in place of butter or oil. But it was a gluten based flour. I love that you made this work gluten free, as usual, and they look amazing.
Thank you so much Nissrine, so kind of you! Oh, I love hazelnut butter too and have a chocolate chip cookie recipe here on the blog that the base is hazelnut butter…makes them super chewy! This pie crust though was crucial to pecan butter because of how light and oily pecans naturally are. It made the difference for sure in the crust.
The end product seriously is just like a gluten pie crust, holds together perfectly, firm and doesn’t crumble or fall apart, amazing with no gums or egg replacers….all those trials were worth it, lol! I now have a good roll-able gluten-free pie crust in my pocket!
These look incredible, Brandi! Great job on that crust! I’m actually attempting to makeover my mom’s amazing toffee bar recipe and was planning to test pecan butter in the crust. Glad to know it worked so well here! 🙂 Totally different kind of crust, but still. My hubby absolutely loves apple pie. I don’t think I have the patience to cut the dough into little circles, so perhaps I will just attempt to make a big pie out of this!
Thank you so much Jenn! It was the magic for sure instead of oil, just like with my cookies 3 years ago. Haha, yeah, I’m normally too lazy for these types of recipes, but being the holidays, I’m ok with a little extra prep and since the dough can be made the day ahead, the actual pie making session comes together fairly fast and it is SO WORTH IT! The hand pies are just totally different than eating a slice of pie….like a hot pocket, lol!
Thank you so much for putting the time into explaining how you got this recipe to turn out!! I enjoyed reading every sentence. Absolutely amazing, I envy your job, cannot wait to test this for myself on thanksgiving. Best clean blog ever
Wow Anna, thank you so much for your kind words! And thank you for reading every sentence! I know it’s a long post, but I also know that people don’t make pies everyday and I wanted to make it easy and share every little detail in the process (with photos) and I’m so passionate about sharing my kitchen experiences. It means so much to me that you enjoyed reading it. I was worried people would skim over it but many have said they enjoyed reading, so maybe I should make all my posts extra long, haha! Thank you again for leaving your comment 🙂
Oh and please come back and leave feedback after you make them, can’t wait to hear!
Love it, Brandi! Smart minds think alike? I shared an some hand pie today as well but yours are much prettier. I am so curious about your dough. It sounds so different, but that is what makes your recipes so awesome!
Ha, no way! I need to check yours out! Aww thank you so much! Definitely different type of crust, but it worked so amazing!
After seeing your teaser crust pic on IG yesterday i was so intrigued by what you were making with those cookie like-circles that weren’t cookies, and late last night it hit me: little pies!! They look so adorable on the outside and so mouthwatering on the inside it’s perfect! That flour duo of tapioca and white rice sounds like it has some serious sticky power, but I love how it makes for such a cohesive smooth crust. And the homemade pecan butter is such a great fat source, I bet these are crazy good! And props to you for taking the time to do all these detailed step-by-step photos, they look fantastic <3
Thank you so much Natalie! Yes, it has major sticky power, it’s really just like gluten pie dough, which is what I wanted. It bakes up so similar to a wheat crust! Thank you so much, so glad you like the photos!
Hehe. I spied the pecan butter in these in your sneak peek photo last night 🙂 Lovely pies. I love hand pies and agree that a good gf & oil-free crust is hard to make. They look delicious! Love the apple-filling too. I have a hand pie recipe in queue for sharing too, but not till a special occasion ;).
Thank you Audrey! Haha, wait I’m confused, what do you mean you spied the pecan butter, it wasn’t in the photo?? Yes, it was so hard and challenging and even though I’ve never seen a pie crust with pecan butter, I knew it would work, based on my successes of using it in my previous baking recipes! That and the 2 ingredient flour combo all came together for such a buttery/crispy crust, just like a wheat/gluten crust. I was doing a happy dance, lol!
Brandi, you are seriously a master magician when it comes to the kitchen…just, WOW! I LOVE the detailed, step-by-step photos – it felt like I was in the kitchen with you, walking through the process. So helpful! I’m totally shocked at the crust! And those apples all cooked up in the pan look amazing. I can see why your hubby devoured them super fast…I would, too!
Awww Mandy, you are so incredibly kind!! Thank you so much for the compliments my friend! So glad you love these photos! These were so delicious and are now one of my favorite recipes!
Looks so delicious! If you’re not a pie lover, would the crust make a good biscuit or cookie?…..
Hi Amie! They could be, with a couple of changes. The dough gets rather crispy, so I would follow the directions as is, but increase the sugar amount by a few tablespoons because it’s not nearly sweet enough for cookies. I would also not roll the dough out too thin, but instead, maybe closer to a 1/2 inch. You could then cut out your shapes and roll them in sugar. You could even add chocolate chips to the dough before you chill it. I’d probably bake them just about 10 mins so they don’t get too crispy. Just experiment with it. I am working on a sugar cookie recipe for Christmas for another reader request, so stay tuned for that too. 🙂
oh my gosh! these are the cutest! and I love the crust so this way it’s even more crust! (compared to a traditional pie it always seems scipmy on the crust!) lol 😉 DE-LISH!
I made these pies today. They are absolutely magnificent. A couple of things. #1. I did roll out the dough a little bigger because I was afraid to go too small. This resulted in less pies but they still turned out so wonderful. #2. Make sure you measure the apples by weight. I used a smaller apple but the amount turned out fine for me because I had less pies with the thicker crust. This crust tastes exactly like a butter crust and is flaky and delicate. Absolutely devine. Rave reviews by all including my 14 year old son who pretty much shoved the whole pie in his mouth. Thank you again Brandi for this fabulous recipe.
Yay!! Thank you so much for such wonderful feedback Estee and thank YOU for submitting your recipe request! I’m so happy you and your son loved them so much! Great suggestions on the dough and measurements too, yes too thick of dough will result in less pies, so make sure to measure 1/8 inch. I still had leftover dough this way, using the 2.75 inch cookie cutter. So glad they were such a hit! Thank you for leaving feedback!
I also loved your beautiful photos your shared on Facebook!
You had me at “hand.” I prefer food I can eat with my hands, and this fits the bill. YUM!
You do realize that if I could eat pies… The large 12 inch diameter pies would be considered… Hand pies to me too, right? LOL!
I made these today and they are fantastic! I found cling wrap on top helped w/the rolling. The crust has a nice nutty taste & the texture is delicate, almost cookie like. They are truly amazing & do hold up in your hand bite by bite!
Wonderful Fran!! I’m so very happy to hear you loved these and they were such a hit! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback!!
My student made these pies and said the dough was a dream to work with, unlike regular GF dough. I was wondering if you think this crust would work for a 9-inch pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pies usually have to cook for at least 50 minutes, and at a very high temperature (425, if I remember correctly) for the first 15 minutes. Do you think this crust could stand up to that much intense oven time?
Hi Holly! I’m so happy to hear that! I find it so amazing that this truly does work better than gluten-free dough as well, and I loved the taste better 🙂
I have not tried it yet as a full pie, but I do know that it makes plenty for a 9 inch pie. Since this dough cooks in about 15 minutes, I would definitely suggest that letting it cook for the first 15 minutes uncovered and then covering the edges of the crust for the remainder of cooking so it doesn’t burn. That is my guess without testing it. Please let me know if you try it!
Thanks so much! I will let you know what happens!
I love pecans just about as much as you do! I have them in both my pumpkin pie and another recipe coming soon. They are just the best little nut ever! I bet they make these little pies to die for!
Yeah, well I’m sure you can tell by all the numerous recipes on my blog that I’m a huge pecan addict, lol! Yes, they were magical combined with the flours I chose that made this like the best rollable pie dough ever!
You can roll me in that dough any day 😉
Hello Brandi,
I don’t know if you remember me…I’m Emanuela and I used to have the food blog “On the Falvor Road”. I am the one who made the vegan pancakes without bananas for you <3!
I moved back to Italy and I started studying Holistic Nutrition and I started a new food blog. All my recipes are whole foods plant based now! No meat, fish, eggs or cheese anymore! I feel great now!
Your pies are just amazing! And the pecans butter secret is great! I'll keep it in mind.
And I'll try to make your pies for sure!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!
I wish you all the best!
Emanuela
Yes, hi Emanuela!! So great to hear from you! Thank you so much! I’ll need to check out your blog! Hope you are well!
I am very well thanks :)!
Let me know what you think about it, if you have the cajole to check it out 🙂
Have a nice day!
Emanuela
Incredible!! I was dreaming of finding a healthy, delicious, non-boring apple pie recipe and this was just perfect! I doubled the crust recipe to have both a top and bottom crust and I used four and a half golden delicious apples. I love knowing that every recipe you make is going to taste amazing 🙂 Thank you for this one!
Wow, thank you so much Melinda for the awesome feedback! You made my day! I’m so glad you made these, I know we were discussing on Facebook you making them and I’m so happy to hear you loved these so much! Thank you!
Hi!
I am currently making these and I am at the step where I added the flours and pecan butter together in the food processor with the water and the vaanilla. My dough looks a bit dry. I know you wrote that we may be tempted to add flour to our dough but mine looks like it needs water! Do you have any suggestions? Mine does not look like your picture..it looks more crumbly. Please let me know! Thanks
Samantha
Hi, did you add the 6 tablespoons of hot water yet?? It looks really dry until you add that and then it comes together perfectly and should look like thick, stiff peanut butter after that. As long as you used accurate weight measurements, it should work out perfectly! I’ve made them many times.
If you measured the tapioca and rice flour accurately and then dded the 1/2 cup pecan butter, 6 T hot water and vanilla, it’s impossible for it to be dry, as it gets VERY sticky and doughy, it should not be crumbly at all. The hot water solves that. If yours is crumbly, then my only guess is you got too much flour in there or not enough of the pecan butter (1/2 cup) and the water. Also, was your pecan butter super soft and creamy and runny like an oil?? If it was too thick/stiff, then that will affect the dough coming together too. It should be very very smooth.
These are just divine and yes the pastry is amazing! Next time I make them and this will be any day now:) I will make the top pastry slightly larger than the bottom to accommodate for the “lump of apples” and so I can get a nice fork edge like yours in the picture. Thank you for wonderful and delicious recipes. Happy Thanks giving to you and all your followers.
Thank you so much Amanda! I’m so happy you loved these so much!! I used about a 3inch cookie cutter which was just perfect to cover the tops easily, just have to make sure you aren’t adding too much filling (about a tbsp), but you can use a larger size too if you want! Thanks for the wonderful feedback!
I made this for Thanksgiving and they all loved them! They are absolutely delicious! Thanks Brandi!
Thank you so much Silvana, I’m so happy to hear that!!
Love love love this recipe Brandi!!! I used your pastry to make some mince pies this week (I bought some mince pie filling from Meridian to fill them), and the pastry was so crisp and buttery. The pies were great and perfect for the holidays. I can’t wait to make some more!!! 😀 Thank you for sharing such a fabulous recipe! <3
Thank you so very much Harriet for making these beautiful mince pies! I absolutely loved your photos on Instagram and I’m so happy you loved them so much!
These look wonderful!
Seriously, when a home nearby opens up for sale, I WANT TO MOVE CLOSE TO YOU! JUST in the off chance you need the occasional tester!
You are making my transition to vegan SO much easier and tastier. Thank you.
Hi April! Hahahaha, so funny! I will gladly take test testers when I write a cookbook! I’m so happy to hear my recipes are helping your transition, that is why I blog, to help others! SO, thank you for the feedback!
These look amazing! Do you think I could make them with regular wheat flour? Would the combined amounts of tapioca and rice flour be the amount to use of regular flour? We don’t have any gluten issues here and we live in Costa Rica and can’t get tapioca flour. Thank you!
Hi Jane! Honestly, I have only tested it with the above flours, so I can’t say what the exact results would be. You can certainly try it and let me know how it turns out. The tapioca does help a lot with it browning and becoming crispy, so not sure how it will be without it. But yes, I would try just subbing both the flours for all wheat and see. It will leave a wheat taste though, so keep that in mind. Let me know if you try it!
Brandi! These photos are absolutely incredible!!! I love seeing those gorgeous shots of the preparation…. What a great post!!!
Aww thank you so much Ambra, you are way too sweet!! So glad you love the photos!
The recipe says it makes 1 hand pie. How large are the hand pies?
Oops, that is fixed now. It makes 10 hand pies about 3 inches wide, I have each step notated very detailed about size and everything so it should be very helpful!
I made this recipe on a whim and it was completely worth it! I did take a risk a substitute Spelt flour for the white rice flour (it was what I had on hand) and, while I can’t compare it to the intended recipe, the dough exceeded my expectations! They were absolutely delicious and I was extremely impressed with how they actually could be held in your hand to eat. The crust held up beautifully. They even passed the test with my husband (who ended up taking 5 of them in to work the next day to share with his office…sad day for my belly). Definitely a recipe I will be repeating in the future!
Awesome Anna! I’m so happy you loved these, thank you so much for the review!
I can’t believe how delicious these are, especially since they’re gluten & oil free! The crust is magic–thanks for another amazing recipe! <3
That is so awesome to hear Penny, thank you so much for the amazing review!
I just made these today and they are amazing! I didn’t have white rice flour so I used brown rice flour, and I think maybe because of that my dough was a little more delicate, but these still turned out fantastic. Thank you Brandi!
So happy to hear that Elle, thank you so much for the amazing review! Yes, brown rice flour will make things much more crumbly.
Is there any way I can make this not gluten free? Maybe with spelt flour or whole wheat? Looks delicious!
Hi Karina, I’m so sorry I’m just now seeing this. I have only ever tested it with the above written flours, so I honestly can’t tell you how much regular flour to use or how it would work. It would probably be easier to find an already written regular pie crust on the internet since there are so many, so you don’t take a chance on getting it wrong here. I am hoping to post a regular wheat pie crust soon though.
Looks really good but this is just way too much work. I would never have time to do something like this.
Yes. This is not an everyday recipe like 90% of the recipes on my blog. But a special occasion recipe designed for the holidays for people who love to get their baking on! It’s not for everybody for sure. But my readers who’ve made it so far have loved and appreciated the non-traditional Oil-free pie recipe!
I can’t believe your timing with this!! I was actually thinking of asking you for a GF apple tart recipe that I could make for my daughter! You and Estee read my mind. My (adult) daughter was diagnosed this year with some food allergy issues. She had to cut out gluten and also rice. I’m going to give this a go and see how her system handles it, even with the white rice flour. Yay Brandi! Thanks for your creativity!
Thank you kindly Julie for being so sweet and appreciative for this recipe! I really hope it’s a hit with you all!!
Just made these for the first time and they are wonderful. The crust is terrific — best gluten free crust I’ve ever made — and the filling is delicious. Just one question — have you (or anyone else) ever tried making the pies, then freezing them unbaked so you can simply defrost and bake when you’re ready to serve them?
Yay, really thrilled to hear that Colleen! Thank you so much for making them! I’ve actually never tried that personally freezing, no, but I imagine it would work. I would give it a shot!