I now have the honor of baking this pie every year for FIL's birthday. My FIL is diabetic, and he generally avoids all sweets. He looks forward to this pie each year, and it makes gift giving so easy! (Dads are so hard to find gifts for because they tend to have everything they want.)
I apologize for not having any nutritional information, but people don't tend to copy that stuff down when getting a recipe from someone. I don't know the origins of this recipe.
The key to a sugarless apple pie is to start with Red Delicious apples. Very important, as they are so much sweeter than the Granny Smiths that are usually used for baking pie.
Sugarless Apple Pie
6 ounces apple juice concentrate
1 Tbls. margarine or butter
2 Tbls. corn starch
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
6 cups peeled, sliced Red Delicious apples
Bring apple juice to boil in pan. Combine margarine, cornstarch, and spices in bowl. Add enough juice to dry mixture until well blended. Pour this back into juice in pan. Pour all this over apple to coat all slices. Then pour this into pie crust. (This recipe assumes you have pie crust already. I use the store-bought kind, as I find it easier than making my own.)
Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, then at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
A few pictures of the process:
Using a pie shield during the second half of baking is essential if you don't want a burned crust.
6 comments:
What a beautiful pie!
Substituting the apple juice concentrate for sugar does make the recipe healthier, as the calories aren't just empty of vitamins. I'm sure your father-in-law loves this every year!
I wanted to add, though, that it's a misconception that a sugar-free recipe is okay for every diabetic. Nutritionists teach you that all starch breaks down to sugar in the body--and a sugar, even from apple juice, is still a sugar to your insulin system.
Out of curiosity, I ran this recipe through my nutritional calculator. Because of its double pie crust, Red Delicious apples, and apple juice concentrate, 1/8th of this pie would have about 45 grams of carbs, or 10 more carbs than a Krispy Kreme chocolate glazed cruller.
I wondered about the crust and the natural sugars in the apples and juice. My dad is diabetic, too, but he prefers to just cut back on some other starch and eat a slice regular apple pie.
I don't know who gave my mom the recipe years ago, but I think it was someone who was either diabetic or had a diabetic child.
Because my FIL eats too much of this pie when I make it (I'm sure his blood sugar soars when he eats half a pie!), it's only a once-a-year treat for obvious reasons!
Oh, I knew *you* would have thought about that already.
I just wanted to add that for all the thoughtful relatives who Google for a sugar-free pie recipe.
My husband hates to disappoint someone who goes to the trouble of making a sugar-free pie that will make his controlled-by-diet diabetes soar.
Oh, excellent point. Now that I think of it, I get the most hits on this site from people googling for a recipe for strawberry cake (posted a recipe a couple of months ago that has organic ingredients and no jello or whipped cream).
My husband always feels a little guilty when we give his dad this pie because it's hardly any better for him than regular pie when he eats so much of it! But it makes him so happy...
What is a nutritional calculator, btw? Is this something you own, or do you access it on a website or what? Sounds like something I'd be interested in using.
The apple pie looks so good! Yum!!
hi there., i just dropped into ur blog and saw your recipe and it looks delicious! and it looks healthy too..
thanks,
sparco
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