Sweet Potato Apple Pie with Spelt Crust, Sugar Free Option

Apples and sweet potatoes are two of my all time favorite foods and did you know they make a good marriage too?

I discovered that cooked apples and roasted sweet potato blend together to make a pie that’s way better than pumpkin and so much easier to make if you want everything from scratch. This pie has body, natural sweetness and when baked in a whole grain spelt pie crust, it’s amazingly good. Spelt is an ancient grain that’s got a lower glycemic count than regular wheat, is easier to digest and edible for many people who are gluten sensitive. I like it because it tastes good. It’s nutty.

I love pie and so do the people in my life, but we are all very mindful of our health and what we are eating. If I’m not eating paleo (no grain at all), I like to find ways to cut sugar and eat as minimally processed as possible.

You could make this pie with my regular pie dough recipe, but if you’re here looking for some new ways to make old desserts, give the spelt flour a try.

I’ve been baking with spelt flour for some time, so I’m used to it and how it performs. It absorbs more liquid than all purpose flour and I wanted to make sure the crust didn’t get too tough. I replaced 1/4 of the butter with cream cheese, and the result is perfect. I throw that word perfect around a lot when it comes to pie crust, because it’s something I can make blindfolded. The good news here is that spelt dough is just as easy to work with and while it has a darker color which might be off putting, that color is what wheat should look like, so just know you’re eating food with more nutritional benefits.

See Video for spelt flour pie crust here.

The following picture is made with all purpose flour, accounting for the difference in color.

The Process

I always stick with gala apples because they remain sweet and don’t require as much sugar, but you can mix it up, as long as you adapt your recipe to the sweetness for your taste. The easiest way to get the sweet potato is to roast it at 400 degrees until it’s so done, it’s nearly breaking the skin. This way you don’t have to worry about peeling or waste. The potato just slips right out of the skin. I used coconut sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg. You can use regular sugar or brown sugar is you want. You can even use maple syrup.

To further reduce sugar and make this pie diabetic friendly, you can use Stevia in the raw. I made one version of that and it tasted just as good as the pie made with the coconut sugar.

Once cooked everything goes in the blender or Vitamix along with a liquid. You can use evaporated milk, half and half or buttermilk. They all work fine, and you can decide.

Sweet Potato Apple Pie with Spelt Crust, Diabetic Friendly Dessert Recipe

 

Author:

Angela Roberts

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Serves: 8

Prep time: 2 hours

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 2 hours 45 mins

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A great Autumn pie of apples, sweet potatoes with whole grain spelt crust, a nuttier pastry.

Ingredients

Spelt Pie Crust Ingredients

• 2 cups organic spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (see notes for options)
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 4 tablespoons cream cheese
• 6-8 tablespoons cold water

Apple Sweet Potato Pie

• 1 pie crust (you can use the spelt pie crust or regular pie crust)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 apples, peeled, sliced
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• ¾ cups half & half (see note on options)
• 4 tablespoons coconut sugar, divided (see note on options)
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ⅛ teaspoon ground fresh nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Spelt Pie Crust Instructions

1. Put cut up butter and cream cheese in freezer.
2. Combine flour, sugar, salt in food processor.
3. Add butter and mix for ten seconds.
4. Add water until dough comes together.
5. Put in plastic bag and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Apple Sweet Potato Pie Instructions

1. Roast sweet potatoes at 400 for 30-40 minutes or until soft. Skins will slip off once cooled.

Peel apples, cut into slices. Toss apples with a mixture of 2 tablespoons coconut sugar and i tablespoon cinnamon. Saute in butter until soft.

1. Put half and half, eggs, tablespoon cinnamon, ground cloves and nutmeg in blender. Add sweet potatoes and cooked apples. Be sure to include all the juices.
2. Take pie crust out of refrigerator at least 10 minutes in advance to warm it up so it will roll easily.
3. Roll out for bottom crust. Reserve the remaining crust for cookie cutter decorations.

Notes

As far as the sweetener, you can replace with stevia in the raw, measure for measure. Do taste to adjust the sweetness.
As far as the liquid, you can use evaporated milk, which has a higher carb count or you can use buttermilk.

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