Our vegan apple pie without sugar is especially delicious due to the combination of apples and polenta dough with a subtle hint of cinnamon. What could be better than the smell of freshly baked apple pie? The sour-sweet applesauce makes the cake wonderfully moist and also gives it a natural sweetness. Instead of spelt flour for the dough here is a version with fine polenta (corn grits – is gluten-free). We use xylitol (birch sugar) instead of refined table sugar.
What is xylitol?
Xylitol, also known as “birch sugar”, is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol that can be formed in both plants and humans within the sugar metabolism. Xylitol is preferable to refined table sugar, cane sugar, agave syrup, honey and synthetically produced sweeteners such as aspartame. Xylitol has the same sweetness as table sugar and has a neutral taste.
Apples are in season in this region from August to the beginning of November, which is why the cake is very ideal for the fall. Some apple varieties, called winter apples, are harvested late in the fall and then stored for another month or two until they are ripe. So you can still bake the vegan apple pie in the winter without having to use apples from overseas.
Ingredients for the Vegan Apple Pie without Sugar
- 4 apples e.g. Boskop or Braeburn
- 1 lemon
- 100 g coconut oil
- 80 g xylitol (birch sugar)
- 320 g applesauce
- 200 g plain coconut yoghurt
- 60 g rice syrup
- 150 g ground almonds
- 150 g fine polenta (corn semolina)
- 15 g corn starch or corn flour
- 3 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch of sea salt
Preparation of the Vegan Apple Pie without Sugar
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees top/bottom heat. Line the bottom of a 24 cm springform pan with baking paper, grease the edge of the pan with liquid coconut oil.
Step 2
Grate the zest of one lemon and squeeze out the juice.
Step 3
Wash the apples, remove the core and cut them into thin slices. Sprinkle the apple slices with lemon juice. This way they will not turn brown so quickly.
Step 4
Blend 100 g soft margarine, 80 g birch sugar and the grated lemon zest in a bowl until creamy. Add 320 g applesauce, 200 g coconut yoghurt and 60 g rice syrup and stir everything into the mixture.
Step 5
Mix 150 g polenta, 150 g ground almonds, 15 g corn flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 pinch sea salt and stir everything well into the liquid ingredients.
Step 6
Put the dough into the baking pan and spread the apple slices slightly overlapping (like roof tiles) on the dough.
Step 7
Bake the apple pie for about 45 minutes at 180 degrees top/bottom heat. Take it out of the oven and let it cool down.
Tip:
If you like, you can dust the apple pie with powdered sugar made from xylitol and a little bit of cinnamon.
