What make this apple pie so amazing? It’s fast, delicious, and sugar-free. Don’t worry, it’s naturally sweetened with maple syrup so you’ll never guess it doesn’t have the white stuff in it.
I have to say, of all the desserts I have made “sugar-free,” this one wins.
You would be hard-pressed to figure out there was no sugar in it. The filling is sweet, creamy, and bursting with apple. The crust is flaky, buttery, and crisp on top. If I handed you a slice of this with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream, I’m pretty sure you’d be happy.
Making this pie is as simple as it gets. All you’re going to do is:
1. Make the dough.
2. Make the filling (in the cast-iron skillet).
3. Roll out the dough and place it over the filling (in the cast-iron skillet).
4. Shove it in the oven.
So easy.
If you like apple pie, you will love this.
MAKE THE DOUGH (FOR CRUST)
• 1 cup flour — I use fresh milled, but do not use self-rising
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoon butter, room temperature
• 3-4 tablespoon ice water — add 1 tablespoon at a time until dough comes together
• Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
First, make the crust dough. This will be the top crust of the pie.
Add room-temperature butter (not cold; you want to be able to smash it with a fork) to a mixing bowl. Add flour and salt and cut into the butter with pastry cutter, fork, or food processor. You want pea-sized bits of butter covered with flour. Add maple syrup and egg and stir. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together. Wrap dough disk and refrigerate.
Once the crust is made, it’s time for the filling.
MAKE FILLING (IN CAST-IRON SKILLET)
• 5-6 apples, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 tablespoon flour more or less to desired thickness
• 1/2 egg — scramble, and use half
First, peel and slice 5-6 apples. Gala and Granny Smith are my favorites for pies.
Toss the apple slices, butter, maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon into the cast-iron skillet.
Let cook on medium until the apples are getting soft.
Stir in the flour. The sauce will thicken. Remove the apple filling from heat and set aside. You are going to place your crust right on top of this filling and bake it. There is no bottom crust.
ROLL OUT CRUST and PLACE IN SKILLET (on top of filling)
Next, grab your dough from the refrigerator.
Placing a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap under the dough disk will make it easy to move after it’s rolled.
Lightly flour the surface, place your dough, flour the top of the disk, and roll out with your rolling pin. Start from the center and roll out toward the edges. To move pie crust, roll crust loosely over a rolling pin and unroll into the cast-iron skillet. Trim any excess crust off.
Cut slits in the crust to vent. Brush with butter. Dust with cinnamon. If you are not avoiding sugar, a cinnamon/sugar sprinkle on top would be wonderful!
BAKE
Bake at 350 degrees F until it’s done (about 30 minutes).
Serve warm with fresh whipped cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or by itself. You’ll never miss the sugar, promise.
Enjoy!
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– Candi
