An easy keto apple pie with a rich low carb pastry is delicious served with a side of cream or low carb vanilla ice cream. It's a great low carb and gluten free dessert for the holidays or a Sunday afternoon.
I served a slice of this sugar-free apple pie to the Chief Taster without telling him what the filling was. Once he had eaten half of his slice, I revealed that the filling was zucchini. He looked shocked but continued eating his slice! The zucchini filling was a success!
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Carbs in Apples
The downside of enjoying a slice of apple pie is that apples have 11g net carbs per 100g serving. A slice of "traditional" apple pie is about 42g net carbs a slice, whilst this mock apple pie just has 8g net carbs a slice.
This keto apple pie filling is not made with apples as they are too high in carbs but with zucchini. This mock apple pie uses zucchini in place of the apples for a low carb alternative as they only have 2g net carbs per 100g serving.
Another low carb apple pie filling alternative is chayote squash which is often used in other low carb recipes, such as our keto apple crumble recipe.
Ingredients
We use an almond flour pie crust to make this mock apple pie but you could use our coconut flour pie crust recipe too.
The rich pastry is made with a combination of almond and coconut flour. A dash of xanthan gum helps bind the pastry in the absence of gluten. I've used a combination of butter and cream cheese for a buttery crust.
Zucchini is used for the filling but must be peeled for a mock apple taste. I used a mix of green and yellow zucchini but either will work too. Once chopped, they are cooked in butter and a combination of spices.
For the sweetener we used brown monkfruit but any other low carb sugar substitute can be used.
How to make keto apple pie
The keto pie crust and filling could be made ahead, then assembled when you are ready to bake.
Make the pastry dough in a food processor.
Cook zucchini slices in apple pie spices and low carb sweetener.
Line a pie dish with the pastry and add the zucchini filling.
Decorate the top crust to your liking and bake.
Recipe Tips
The pastry dough must be kept cold and needs to chill just like regular pastry.
The crust may burn if not covered. After about 25 minutes of baking, remove the pie from the oven and quickly cover the crust edges with foil. Place the pie back in the oven and the edges should stay golden.
The zucchini needs to be cooked thoroughly before being baked in the pie. Try to evenly slice the zucchini and check that they are fairly soft (but not mushy) when cooked in the spices.
Storage
Keep the apple pie covered and in the fridge. It should last 3 to 4 days. We have not tried freezing this pie as it gets devoured when served!
More keto fall desserts
Keto Apple Pie
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Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¾ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup butter
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 medium egg
- 3 tablespoons allulose or other low carb sweetener
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 2 lb zucchini
- ½ cup Brown monkfruit or other low carb sweetener
- ½ cup butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg ground
- ¼ teaspoon ginger ground
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
Egg wash
- 1 small egg beaten
Instructions
Make the pastry
- Place the almond & coconut flour, butter, cream cheese, xanthan gum, sweetener, egg and salt into a food processor and blend until you have a soft mixture.
- Scrap the mixture out of the processor and form into a ball.
- Cover the dough ball with parchment paper and place in the fridge. Chill for 45 minutes to firm.
Make the filling
- Slice off top and bottom of zucchini and peel.
- Cut into thin slices about ¼ inch thick or small chunks.
- Melt the butter in a large shallow pan on a medium heat.
- Add the spices, salt, vanilla extract and lemon juice and stir until mixed.
- Toss the zucchini slices into the pan and mix into the spiced butter.
- Cover and cook on a low heat for 15 minutes until the zucchini is tender.
- Add the xanthan gum and cook for a further 15 minutes without the lid. Stir occasionally to ensure that the sauce and zucchini do not stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Pie Assembly
- Remove the pastry dough from the fridge and cut the ball into two pieces (one for the base, the other for the pie lid)
- Use a rolling pin to roll out one of the dough balls in between two sheets of parchment paper to a size to cover an 8-inch pie dish. Begin rolling out from the center of the dough.
- Gently place the pastry in the bottom of a pie dish.
- Spoon the filling into the pie dish and place in the fridge to keep cool whilst you prepare the top of the pie.
- Roll out the 2nd piece of pastry to make a lid. You could roll it out as a pastry lid or use a cookie cutter to make shapes. Perhaps cut the rolled pastry into lengths to make a lattice.
- Place the pie crust/cut shapes/lattice on the top of the pie.
- Brush the top with egg wash.
- Bake at 180C/375F degrees for 30-40 minutes until the crust is golden.
- If the pie edges are becoming too dark, cover the edges with foil to prevent burning.
- Once cooked, remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.
- Serve with whipped cream or low carb vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
