Vegan Gluten-Free Apple Hand Pies

• Vegetarian

• Produce

  • 1 Granny smith apple

• Baking & Spices

  • 136 g 1 cup + 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
  • 1 2 cup i]white[/i] rice flour (80 g
  • 1 4 + 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, fine
  • 1 tsp Apple pie spice
  • 1 Filling
  • 11 tbsp Palm sugar
  • 1 Pie dough
  • 1 Topping
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract

• Nuts & Seeds

  • 1/4 cup Pecan pieces

• Dairy

  • 1/2 cup Pecan butter, raw

• Liquids

  • 6 tbsp Water, HOT
  • 1 tbsp Water

Found on thevegan8.com

Description

Ingredients

• Pie Dough
• 1/2 cup raw pecan butter (see directions)
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons tapioca starch (136 g, other starches do not work here)
• 1/2 cup i]white[/i] rice flour (80 g, performed better with both taste & texture than brown rice flour, I used [this one )
• 7 tablespoons coconut sugar (63 g)
• 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 (youll need about 1 1/4 cups of 1/2 inch cubes, 130 g)
• 4 tablespoons coconut sugar (36 g)
• 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 (the raw sugar gives a wonderful presentation and crunchy, sweet bite, but you can just use coconut sugar if you dont want the extra ingredient, but we LOVED the raw sugar)
• 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. Its 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 its 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.
• APPLE SPICE BLEND: If you cant find the apple pie spice, then just combine 3/4 teaspoon quality cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions

• 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. Dont fret, it only takes 10 minutes. Storebought does not work, its 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 its not oily enough, then it wont 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 thats 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 its 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 dont want it any thinner or the dough can break. You also dont want the dough too thick, or you wont 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 youve 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. Dont 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 dont 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.