Last Updated on August 21, 2026 by Deliciously Organic Editor
Thanksgiving rapidly approaches and if you’re like me, you’re already thinking about what to serve for your holiday meal. I thought we’d kick off the month with a pie. Last year, I shared my gluten-free pumpkin and pecan pies so it’s apple this year. My favorite gluten-free apple pie delivers a flaky crust, soft sweet cinnamon-wrapped apples and a lovely crunchy topping with just a touch of sea salt to balance out the sweetness.
A few things to keep in mind when you’re baking a gluten-free pie:
- Almond flour can brown quickly. To prevent this, you can put thin sheets of foil over the crust or use a pie shield.
- A classic, glass Pyrex 9-inch pie dish is the best. It heats evenly and is the perfect depth.
- When you make your crust, you want to see little bits of butter in the dough. These little pockets of butter will help give the crust a nice flaky texture.
- Keep it cold! Chilling the crust before baking is a very important step.
- If you like to bake pies, keep some pie weights or beans specifically used as pie weights on hand. I’ve used the same 2 cups of beans as pie weights for years. I also reuse the parchment paper I line the pie dough with and store it all in a container in the pantry.
- And lastly, enjoy! There’s a bit of a learning curve with pie baking, but don’t let that get you down. If the crust crumbles a bit or it’s an extremely humid day and your topping is a little moist, it’s ok! We’ve all had little mishaps in the kitchen and honestly, no one minds a mishap when you hand them a plate of warm pie with a bit of ice cream or cream poured overtop.
Gluten-Free Apple Pie
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Units
For the Crust:
- 2 cups finely ground almond flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour (I test all of my recipes with Bob's Red Mill coconut flour for consistency)
- 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon unflavored grass-fed gelatin
- 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter or 6 tablespoons ghee, cold, cut into tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee
- 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
- 4 Pink Lady or Gala apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
- 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 1/2 cup coconut milk or heavy cream
- 1 cup finely ground almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour
- 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 1/3 cup organic cane sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee
Instructions
- Place almond flour, coconut flour, sea salt, sugar and gelatin in the bowl of a food processor. Process 2-3 times to combine. Add the butter and pulse with 10 one-second pulses and then let the food processor run until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Pour dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap then press the dough into a 9-inch disk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 ºF and adjust rack to middle position. Remove plastic wrap from the dough. Press dough onto bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch buttered pie dish. Crimp edges of crust. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Place a piece of parchment on the bottom of the pie crust and cover with pie weights or beans. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove pie weights and parchment and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes until just turning golden brown.
3. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add apples, sugar, cinnamon and sea salt. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until apples release their moisture and sugar is melted. Pour coconut milk or cream over apples and continue to cook, stirring frequently until apples are soft and liquid has thickened, about 5 minutes.
for the topping
- Place almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot, gelatin and coconut sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process 2-3 times to combine. Add butter. Pulse with 10 one-second pulses and then let the food processor run until the mixture just comes together to form a dough (you want it to be a crumbly mixture). Spread crumbs onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Carefully remove sheet of parchment with hot crumbs to the counter and place the pie crust (still in the pie dish) on the baking sheet. Pour the apple filling into the crust and then top with hot crumbs. Place strips of foil or a pie shield over the edges of the crust to avoid burning. Bake for 10-12 minutes until topping is just turning golden brown . Cool for 30 minutes. Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 8
I’ll take a hot apple pie mishap any day! Much love to you and blessings for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday centered on gratitude for all our Savior has given through His grace to us! Blessings in Him, Kelly
Can any part of this recipe be made or prepped a day prior to baking/serving? Yum!
You could have the crust and the topping prepared ahead of time. I would make the apple mixture the day-of, since apples can turn color when exposed to the air for too long.
I am allergic to gelatin. I can’t even cook my broth too long or I will have a reaction. Do you have any suggestions for a gelatin substitute?
I’ve heard agar agar is a great option.
Use chia seeds. Just grind them up into a fine flour in a coffee grinder. I do that to make myself jam and it works great. Use a tab and I would think that would be better for you.
Good luck. Also flax ground up with a small amount of liquid will gel up.
Do you think that coconut oil would work in place of ghee? I know that ghee is supposed to be safe for the dairy-allergic, but I’m too nervous to try. Thanks! And thanks for the wonderful recipes 🙂
I don’t think it would work well for this recipe. I’ve see many use palm shortening from Tropical Traditions. That might be a good option.
Amazing! I’ve been waiting for this since you posted on instagram :o)
I don’t have coconut sugar, could I use maple sugar instead?
Maple sugar would work great too!
One more question, when do you use fine verses coarse sea salt? the link you have above is for coarse. I have both I am just curious if there is a “rule”, thanks!
I’ve been using coarse sea salt in much of my baking b/c I love those little bits of salt, but you could use either in this recipe.
Hello! Your pie looks delightful! I’ve recently started eating grain free and was just curious why gelatin is needed in a crumb topping and pie dough. This is all new to me! Thank you!
I use gelatin to bind the flours together. It also gives it a texture closer to baked goods made with grains. It’s also incredibly good for you. Here’s a post I wrote about why I use gelatin: https://deliciouslyorganic.net/coconut-panna-cotta-dairy-free-gaps-paleo-grain-free/
Could I use stevia or some other natural sugar free sweetener in place of the coconut sugar? and also can I use himalayan salt instead of sea salt?.
I haven’t tested stevia, but it might work. Himalayan salt will work fine.
I was curious about your choice in Honeyville almond flour. The price is great and seems to be a highly recommended brand but I’m nervous that it is not certified organic. Do you know anything more about this brand? I’ve been reading about the high pesticide use on almonds and that the US is starting to allow GMO almonds (haven’t verified the source)…I’m ok buying non-organic if they don’t use pesticides (or GMO almonds?) but would feel more comfortable if it was organic.
This looks awesome and my Boyfriend absolutely loves pie, however, he is allergic to eggs. Is there a possible sub for the egg yolk??
You can make this crust without the egg yolk, but the crust be be a bit more crumbly than intended. But, it will still taste great! 🙂
I don’t see egg yolk in the ingredient list. Am I missing something? My crust is really mushy and it doesn’t look right.
I’m not sure I understand, I don’t see egg listed in the directions.
This is very close to what I am looking for but alas I am intolerant to almonds. Any suggestions?
Im alllergic to almonds, is there something else i could substitute it with?
I haven’t tested it, but hazelnut flour or pecan flour should work well. And if you don’t need to eat grain-free, here is a link to my gluten-free pie crust: https://deliciouslyorganic.net/organic-real-food-on-a-budget-peach-and-blackberry-pie-recipe/
Thank you, i will try that i cant have any nuts of any kind, they make me sick. Ill try your gluten free recipe, thanks!
(Meaning almond flour)
I’ve seen both canned coconut cream and milk. What is the difference and what happens if you use cream instead of milk?
Coconut cream is the cream that is skimmed off of the coconut milk. I haven’t tried this recipe with coconut cream, so I’m not sure what the outcome out be. If you only have coconut cream, I would try diluting it in a bit of water so it has a similar consistency to coconut milk.
Solid recipe! I felt like my crumble wasn’t “crispy” like normal crumbles that use traditional flour and butter, but the flavor was great nonetheless. I added some brandy-soaked raisins and prunes to sweeten it up a little bit more. I can only imagine how AWESOME it would taste with a nice scoop of paleo vanilla ice cream on top!!!
Do you have to use coconut milk or heavy cream? I am lactose. Any suggestions for substitutes?
Coconut milk doesn’t contain any lactose so that would be a good option.
I only have Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour will that work?
For all of the flour, or you needing to know if Bob’d Red Mill will work for the coconut flour called for in the recipe?
Yes, that will work.
Just for the coconut flour. I have the almond flour you recommend. I’m new to this type of baking and have read coconut flour brands can differ.
I see. I have used Bob’s Red Mill and Nutiva to test this recipe and they both turned out great.
Thank you I can’t wait to make this. By the way I made your stuffing for Thanksgiving and it was absolutely amazing!
Yay! Thanks for the feedback. I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! 🙂
I just wanted to say thank you for this recipe. I made it last night and it was amazing! My husband and three year old son (picky eater ) gobbled it up. Made exactly according to recipe. So good. 🙂
This pie was amazing. I usually hate when people say that and then proceed to tell about how they adjusted the recipe, but I DID skip adding cream to the apple mixture because I like my regular apples, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice mixture and don’t want to mess with it. Otherwise, I did as directed and it was wonderful. I was afraid of the crust being to almond-y. I like almonds, but I don’t LOVE them and oftentimes gluten-free, grain-free crusts with almond meal are so overpowering. This was the perfect flavor and texture. Thanks so much for this great gluten-free crust!
Hi there! I have never baked an apple pie before. My 5 year old son & I are going to make our first together! I’ve looked at a handful of recipes and will use yours, so I have a couple of quick questions. With the pie filling, can I just skip the step of heating it all and a skillet and just mix it all together then throw it into the pie crust and then oven? Also, although this time we are just using your apple filling recipe (I bought a pre-made gf crust already). I would like to make a a healthy wholesome crust from scratch, but my son has a severe nut allergy, so I was wondering what other grain free AND healthy alternatives I could use in place of the almond flour. I am brand new to baking and to cooking.
Thank you so much,
Ani
P.S.
Do you have a recipe for very easy pumpkin muffins? I tried the boxed cake (using Pamela’s gf cake mix) + can of pumpkin recipe from the internet last year. I tried making these muffins 3 different times and each time they were awful! Strangely chewy and dense, flavor not quite right……
Anyhow, after that baking experience I don’t have a lot of confidence so any advice/help would be great!
If you skip the cooking of the apples, the crust will be very soggy, so I don’t recommend it. I’m currently working on a nut-free/grain-free crust recipe and will post it within the next couple of weeks.
Here’s my recipe for grain-free/nut-free pumpkin muffins. I think you’ll be very pleased with this recipe. 😉 https://deliciouslyorganic.net/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins-grain-free/
I’m allergic to all tree nuts and coconut also. What other types of flour are available and would you recommend?
Can I use honey in place of the coconut sugar in the filling and/or topping? Thanks!
This looks awesome! I’ve never been very successful with gluten-free baking, but I would LOVE to give this a shot!
I featured this post in a Thanksgiving round-up today. I hope you don’t mind!
Hello Carrie,
Your story is very interesting to me. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s 5 years ago. Twenty years ago, I had a molar crowned and the dentist, in fitting it, ground it down to the metal base. Do you have any idea whether that could cause health issues?
I can’t say for sure, but I have read that intensive drilling on a tooth can cause damage to the nerves and surrounding tissues and as a result can cause health issues. I learned that the nerves of each tooth are connected to different parts of the body (Google – tooth meridian chart to see what I’m talking about). The tooth I had worked on is directly related to the thyroid (go figure!). I am now very careful when choosing a dentist (I’ve learned the hard way that it’s worth-while to pay a bit more to avoid future health issues) and I always have a long consultation before having any dental work done. If the dentist isn’t open to discussing all aspects of the procedure, then I will not allow them to work on my teeth. I hope that helps!
I’m making this as we speak and had a question. The recipe says after adding the cream (I used heavy cream) it should thicken. Mine is very runny even after letting it simmer for 10+ minutes. I’m worried it’ll make the crust soggy so I’m thinking of draining it a bit but don’t want the pie to be dry either. Any quick thoughts would be great. Thanks!
I ended up simmering just the liquid a little longer to thicken it and in retrospect should’ve just left it. It ended up being a little on the dry side but still delicious nonetheless and with cream I’m sure would fair just fine! Also since the topping and crust had already been browned I think next time I’ll loosely lay parchment or foil over the whole pie to prevent further browning in the final baking step. I like it a little less browned so just personal preference. When all is said and done though this really was delicious so THANK YOU for posting!
Sorry I didn’t get to your question when you were making the pie, but I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I just wanted to thank you for probably the best almond crust I have ever tried. The only tweak I made was a trick from my mother. After peeling the apples , she seasons them with the usual cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice and sugars and then pour the apples into a colander for an hour. Apples are slightly cooked with a small dash of butter. The liquid from the drained apples and the liquid from the cooked apples are simmered together until almost gone and then the cream and butter is added to make a small caramel like sauce. Apples are put back into caramel mix. I baked the pie shell first until lightly golden brown, placed the cold apple mix onto the cooled crust then put the crumble on top and back in as per direections. What can I say, best ever. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake! I love your idea of cooking the liquid to make a small caramel sauce. I’ll have to give that a try!
I know this is old but can you tell me if I can make the filling ahead of time and freeze it until I’m ready to use it? I have bunch of apples and would love to make bunch of fillings now. Thanks.
I haven’t tested it with frozen apples, so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!