Just Apple Pie

"Could solve all of the problems of the world that pie"….Joe, Waitress

Fall is in the air and while I do hate the departure of long sunny days there are a few things I welcome about the change in season. There’s a cool crisp in the air, football, pumpkins, and apples to look forward to among other things! Well, my mom and I were excited…perhaps a little too excited to jump into apple picking season when we realized it might be a little early for the best the local farms would have to offer. So instead, we ended up taking a field trip to Trader Joe’s instead to pick up some apples and the ingredients for Tone It Up’s Dutch Apple Pie Recipe. For those of you not familiar, Karena and Katrina are trainers who started their own company looking to help women improve their lives through health, fitness and making positive lifestyle choices. Hmm…very similar to the very reasons I recently started my blog. You can check them out at toneitup.com

This recipe intrigued me because it basically substituted organic protein power for flour which I did not realize you could do in baking. I had experimented making muffins previously, but the end result was a little lackluster. So I was curious how this would be since I was switching in the protein powder and decreasing the sugar significantly with swapping in some stevia. However, being in an adventurous frame of mind, and of course wanting to find a guilt free resolution for my craving for apple desserts, I decided to give this a whirl.

Here is the recipe:

5 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced (I actually used 7)

¼ cup sugar (half stevia/half organic sugar) (I used half Stevia in the Raw and half Organic Maple Sugar)

¼ cup organic light brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

3 packets or scoops of Perfect Fit Protein (click here if you want to purchase perfectfitprotein.com)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (I probably used closer to 2 tablespoons so you can modify it to your taste preferences)

3 tbsp natural applesauce

Crust:

The recipe calls for a  pre-made whole wheat crust which would have been simpler, but Trader Joe’s did not have any…so, I googled a recipe on how to make crust and it was very simple. All you do is combine whole wheat flour and butter and you are ready to go. Hopefully you have a rolling pin on hand…which we did not. J

 

Topping:
I did not use the recipe for the topping as I had a lot of crust left over so I chose to make a lattice instead. If you are interested, here is the recipe suggested for topping:

4 scoops or packets Perfect Fit Protein

 ¼ cup sugar (half stevia/half organic sugar)

¼ cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)

1/3 cup vegan butter substitute

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F

Combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, protein power, lemon juice and applesauce in a bowl. Mix well to coat the fruit.

Fill pie plate with the apple mixture.

Sprinkle topping mixture evening over the apples in the crust.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and filling is boiling.

The end result was delicious. I really loved the pie and did not taste any of the substitutions in the recipe. You could serve with a little vanilla frozen yogurt or whipped topping. I happen to be a big fan of Trader Joe’s House Whip. Yum!