To me, September and Fall means one thing: APPLE PICKING!

Oh, and my birthday…. and I guess my wedding anniversary too…. but mostly APPLE PICKING!

I have not missed a year in my entire life. I even had an apple picking birthday party one year. My parents rented vans and drove 20 of my friends to a local apple orchard in New Hampshire. We each picked a bag of apples, brought them back to my house and had an apple pie making contest. NO RECIPES ALLOWED! (this was WAY before cell phones or internet, so there really was no cheating). My mom put out bowls of flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, honey, butter and an assortment of other strange but potential ingredients. We got into pairs and we concocted and created. And destroyed the kitchen. We then had slices of each others’ pies and a panel of official judges (probably my dad and brother) selected a winner in an unbiased blind taste test.

It was a true representation of so many things I love – friends and family, food as art and creativity, sharing meals with others, making huge messes, being in nature, picking fruit and eating it right from the tree, supporting local agriculture, a little friendly competition (I didn’t win, for the record!), apples and cinnamon…. I can go on and on.

But, I digress… Back to the PIE.

We went apple picking the other day. It was as wonderful as always. And we came home with 20 lbs of freshly picked apples. We each ate 3-6. And then, it was time to make a pie.

But, Olivia recently went gluten free. (another blog for another time) And I know my family… we don’t stop at one slice. And 6am has no meaning for 2 and 3 year olds. This pie was going to be asked for immediately and in 30 minute increments until it was all gone.

So, we do what we always do – we HEALTHIFIED IT and make it EMBODY Wellness Company approved. Surprise: IT WAS DELISH!

Id call this more of a crumble than a pie… but that is just semantics. Here’s the recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Crust:

1.5 cups almond flour
0.5 cups coconut flour
2-3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp water
1/4 tsp sea salt

* reserve 1/2 cup of the crust mixture for the crumble topping
* press the remaining mixture firmly into a greased pie pan and bake at 350 for ~15 minutes until golden brown

Apples:
4 apples, peeled and chopped
generous sprinkling of cinnamon
2-3 tbsp maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp coconut oil

* Pile the apples onto the pre-bakes crust

Topping:
reserved crust mixture
1/4 cup shredded coconut
2-3 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

* cover the apples in the topping. press down firmly. Bake at 350 for 25-30 mins until the apples are soft and the topping is golden brown and crispy!