Paleo Apple Pie with a Hazelnut Crust

Everyone loves apple pie! This Paleo Apple Pie is so good, they won’t know it’s paleo! Buttery hazelnut crust is made with cold lard and is flaky perfection. The filling is sweetened with dates, spiked with vanilla bean, and cooked to tender perfection.

Paleo Pie For The Win

After Thanksgiving last year, the neighbors decided to have a leftover potluck. Only thing was, I didn’t really have leftovers. I wanted to share some of the awesome pumpkin pie I made, but I had eaten the last piece (don’t judge). It was the perfect excuse to make this paleo apple pie – it’s delicate, crumbly, flaky, and delicious. The recipe follows traditional pie rules. It’s old school. It’s nostalgic. Tastes like home.

Ingredients for your Paleo Apple Pie

This pie is made with simple and real food ingredients. The benefit of baking with paleo ingredients is that you get an amazing flavor without ingredients that make you feel icky. This paleo apple pie is perfect for your holiday table.

• Hazelnut flour – don’t let this ingredient stump you. It’s just finely ground up hazelnuts. You can buy them whole and grind them yourself in a food processor or grab a bag of Bob’s Red Mill’s Hazelnut Flour. It’s so fatty and makes a super flaky crust that totally makes this paleo pie amazing.
• Dates – are a great whole food sweetener. They’re high in antixodiants, which help lower inflammation. Perfect for all sorts of baking, but making a date puree works amazing in this healthy apple pie.
• Cold Lard – makes THE best pie crust, especially paleo pie crusts. However, if you can’t find it, or don’t eat it, you may use cold butter too.
• Tapioca Starch or Arrowroot Flour – you may use either for the paleo apple pie crust! I find that if you are sensitive to cassava you will also be sensitive to tapioca, so go with arrowroot.
• Gala Apples or Fuji Apples – these are my favorite types of apples. Fuji apples are especially sweet and so perfect for apple pie!

Step by Step Healthy Pie

• Let’s start by making the hazelnut crust, grab your ingredients, and food processor. This paleo apple pie is a labor of love, but totally worth it. You’re going to love sharing this amazing pie with your family.

• Sift your flours into the food processor.
• Add the cold lard in chunks. Pulse, adding in water until it creates a dough.

• It will get sticky at first, keep pulsing.
• You want it to create a ball or look like wet sand.

• Use a spatula to transfer all of the dough to a piece of plastic wrap. Create a ball, wrap tightly and chill for 30 minutes.
• Then on a dusted surface flatten the ball into a disk. Roll out, using parchment paper if needed.

• Transfer the dough circle to your pie dish and cut the excess off. Save it to decorate the top.
• Use wet fingers to fix any cracks. Use a fork to poke holes in the dough and bake until golden.
• Now let’s make the filling.

• Start by peeling and coring all of the apples.
• Then slice the apples in half moon slices.

• Grab your soaked dates and blend them in the food processor to make a paste.
• Make sure they are pitted! If you want to skip this step you can use Date Lady Syrup instead.

• In a pot, melt the coconut oil.
• Add in the date syrup and mix until well combined.

• Add the sliced apples to the pot and cook, gently mixing. Add in the vanilla bean, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
• Once the apples are tender and aromatic, remove from the heat. Fill the pie crust.

• Save the pretties apple slices for the top and make a nice pattern with them. Then use your dough scraps to create festive shapes. I made hearts, you can make apple cut outs or whatever you want.
• Bake until golden brown! Serve warm or at room temperature.