Apple Pie w/ Pecan Crust and Maple Cream Cheese Topping

   Move over America's favorite, there's a new pie in town. A pretty tasty new pie. A healthy pie. A so damn- good- you- can't- believe -it's- healthy apple pie. I will never go back to flour crusts again for my apple pies. And after trying this recipe, I'm positive neither will you!

   I used pecans, coconut oil, organic brown sugar, and cinnamon for the crust. I then sliced the apples very thinly and tossed them with lemon juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The topping was whipped with cream cheese, maple syrup, almond milk, and cinnamon. In the ingredients you will notice that when I say I used sugar, it was a whopping 3 Tablespoons. No more, no less and entirely delicious. It passed the rigorous taste test of some seriously picky eaters (think old and very stuck in their ways) and they even went back for seconds.

Recipe:

Crust:

8 oz or 1/2 lb Pecans
1/2 cup melted organic unrefined virgin coconut oil( (I use Spectrum)
1 Tbsp Almond Milk
1 Tbsp Organic Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Organic All Purpose Flour

Filling:

5 Cortland Apples, peeled, cored and sliced in half thinly (see picture below)
2 Tbsp Organic Brown Sugar
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
3 oz Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Topping:

8oz Organic Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
3 Tblsp 100% Pure Maple Syrup
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


Directions:

In a food processor, combine pecans, melted coconut oil, cinnamon, almond milk, and flour until nuts are finely ground. Spray a 9 inch glass Pyrex Pie dish with Coconut Oil Spray and mold nut mixture into pie dish. Bake on 375 degrees in oven for 15 minutes to allow crust to set.

While crust is setting, wash, peel,core, and cut the apples into thin slices. Toss with lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar. Remove crust from oven and layer apples accordingly into plate. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 350 and bake in oven for additional 45 minutes.

Remove pie from oven and pour almond milk over apples so it is evenly disbursed. Allow pie to cool at room temperature. In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, maple syrup, almond milk,  and cinnamon. Top pie with cream cheese mixture and lightly sprinkle with cinnamon.

Pie should be refrigerated and is best served cold.