Grain Free and Vegan Apple Crostata
Apple crostatas have been a part of my life for many years. I had a roommate who first introduced them to me about 12 years ago. I’ve never tried to recreate one though since going gluten free last year! But I saw Against All Grain make a vegetable galette the other day that looked like the apple crostata my roommate used to make and I just had to try it out!
I also didn’t set out on making this vegan, it just turned out that way! I was pretty much out of butter so instead, I substituted Nutiva’s palm shortening and it worked out great! Definitely made for a flaky and tender crust! I think next time though, I may tweak the flour ratios because I think it was a little too crumbly. Less almond flour would probably be better.
This recipe didn’t take very long to put together and was fairly easy. I just threw it all in my food processor and it came together in no time! You could also use a VitaMix to blend your ingredients together if you’d prefer. I’ve done that before. I wouldn’t use a Kitchenaid or hand blender though. It doesn’t blend the dough together enough and the dough might fall apart more. I used three different kinds of apples; green, opal, and pink crisp but that was only because my momma had just bought me several kinds while they were on sale at Sprouts. You don’t have to do this, just Granny Smith’s would work out beautifully as well. That’s usually the apple I use to make my apple desserts. I love the taste of almond extract with my apple pie but again, that’s optional. Feel free to leave that out as well if you don’t have any on hand or you don’t love almond.
Here’s some of the products I used to create this dessert:
- 1 cup finely ground almond flour
- 1 ½ cups Paleo flour mix (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
- 2 T Tapioca starch
- 1 T Coconut flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey
- 6 T coconut shortening
- .
- For the filling
- 3 large apples, peeled and sliced (I used a combination)
- 1 T tapioca starch
- 2 T coconut sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Coconut oil spray
- Combine all flours and starch in a food processor and mix for a couple of minutes.
- Add syrup and continue to process until slightly crumbly.
- Add shortening and pulse a few times until crumbly. Remove from food processor and pack dough with your hands until a ball forms. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of water to get it to come together. Wrap in parchment paper and chill in refrigerator for about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all filling ingredients together (except cooking spray).
- Roll out dough on a silpat baking mat to a 14-in disc shape. Arrange apple slices around middle, leaving a two inch border all the way around. Fold the sides of the dough up around the apples.
- Transfer silpat mat with crostata onto a cookie sheet. Spray edges with coconut spray. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.