DEEP DISH CARAMEL APPLE PIE


This pie is DELICIOUS. I have ample evidence of this thanks to the fact that it was hastily devoured by the crowd at a vegan potluck I co-hosted last month. It's sweet, decadent, cinnamon-y and made with 100% good-for-you ingredients. I'm talkin' about nuts, oats, chai spices, fresh apples and dried fruit. I figured the perfect dish to celebrate Apple Month (aka this month) and locally-grown apples is an apple pie because everyone loves it and it's a comforting treat in the fall. Highly recommend you chow this down with some coconut vanilla ice cream.

I've made a recipe similar to this before but never published it on my blog, UNTIL NOW. It's inspired by one I saw in the Gorilla Food cookbook, written by local raw food lover Aaron Ash. Basically I just made a rich coconut almond date syrup (caramel!) and smothered a bunch of thinly sliced apples in it. Then I filled a pie crust with the caramel-y apples and nirvana was reached. It never ceases to make me smile how putting together a few simple plant foods in their (mostly) whole form can create such mouth-watering dishes. Speaking of simple eating, let's talk apples. In British Columbia - aka my neck of the woods - we get a massive variety of berries and tree fruits like apples, cherries peaches, plums and more. Many of these goodies are grown by BC Tree Fruits in the Okanagan Valley. BC Tree Fruits is a cooperative of around 500 farming families seriously dedicated to growing the best quality fruits possible. They sent me a box of apples to use in a recipe and I ended up eating most of them before I made this pie, because they were sooo good on their own. Crisp, juicy, sweet and tart all at once. I love when local farming collectives get in touch with me because more than anything - on this blog and in my recipes - I wanna promote eating whole foods. So here's to apples grown close to home! And apple pie made with them. If you live in the gorgeous BC area, look for the leaf sticker (the BC Tree Fruits logo) when you hit up the grocery store. It means you're gonna go home with some drool-worthy natural goodness in your grocery bag. If you wanna find more ideas to celebrate Apple Month, check out BC Tree Fruits on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Fruit is just the best; I could write poems about fruit. Actually, I think I have. Anyways: I hope you try out this apple pie and dig it. Have a fabulous week, y'all. xo


DEEP DISH CARAMEL APPLE PIE

Crust:
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1 cup oats
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
2 cups pitted dates
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Pinch Himalayan salt

Caramel:
1 cup pitted dates
Pinch Himalayan salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
3/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Scant 1/4 cup maple syrup
Scant 1/4 cup almond butter
Scant 1/4 cup coconut oil

6 medium apples (I used a mix of Gala, Ambrosia and Spartan from BC Tree Fruits)

To make the crust: grind the walnuts, oats and flax seeds into a crumbly flour in a food processor. Add the rest of the crust ingredients and process until it lumps together in a sticky mass; it should be able to hold its shape when pressed between two fingers. Press into the bottom and sides of a lined tart tin or 9" springform pan and put in the fridge.

To make the caramel: blend all the ingredients together until smooth; it should be thick like yogurt.

Cut the apples into halves and core them, then slice thinly on mandoline slicer. The slices should be thin enough to bend without breaking. Throw the caramel onto the apple slices in a big bowl and rub the caramel into them until they are all evenly coated. You may have leftover caramel. Let them sit for 30 minutes to soften. Fill your crust with the apples and let sit in the fridge overnight. Enjoy!

Notes: the pie might be a little messy to cut so the sharper your knife, the better. Alternatively you could make mini deep dish tarts! Way less messy.

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This post was a partnership project between This Rawsome Vegan Life (that's me, Emily) and BC Tree Fruits, a local farming cooperative.