Easy Dairy Free Apple Pie

Sharing is caring!

Easy Dairy Free Apple Pie is a delicious, simple-to-make, homemade apple pie. It is made with tart Granny Smith apples, but without milk or butter.

One would think that it is difficult to make an apple pie. I mean, it looks like it would be, right??. However, Really Apple Pie is just that – really easy.

The two lengthiest parts of this recipe are peeling the apples and making the lattice. For the apples, I use an apple peeler, so that part takes no time and all!

Don’t want to bother with lattice? No problem, just lay a sheet of pie dough over the top of the filling, cut around the edges, pinch, and cut a few evenly placed small cuts on the top for air to escape, and you’re done!

Want to add a little more design? Get some pie crust cookie cutters or molds and decorate the edges of the pie.

The edges of pie crust tend to bake quicker than the middle, so it is preferable to protect the edges with aluminum foil or pie crust protector shields.

The photo shows a pie before it went into the oven. Notice the mound in the middle? No worries. That will go flat while baking.

Prefer to give everyone their own individual, single serve apple pie? Try Easy Dairy Free Mini Apple Pies

Love apples? Try Easy Dairy Free Apple Fritters!

Don’t particularly like cooked apple, but love the taste of the spice? Easy Mock Apple Pie tastes very similar to apple pie but contains no apples! Try it!

How about that apple pie spice flavor? Want to have it in other baked goods or even your coffee? Here you go! Easy Apple Pie Spice. Yum!

And apples have nutritional value and health benefits!

If I can bake, anyone can

I am the type of person who, when she sees something that looks easy to create, will try to do just that. It doesn’t really matter what it is.

And if I don’t at first succeed, I will continue to try and try until I complete the project or until I decide that I have at least given it my best effort and have had enough.

For example, when my eldest son (I have 5) sent me a video of an apartment he was thinking of renting, I saw a painting on a wall. The canvas was completely covered with uneven clouds of various colors and a long line of white squiggled randomly over it. My first thought was why something so simple could actually be considered a work of art, and my second thought was, Hey, I totally can paint something like that, and I did (MUCH smaller, of course).

But then there was the picture with crayon drippings in various beautiful colors (I am a sucker for colors). I had a bunch of old crayons, and I tried it. However, when I heated them to melt, the colors kept dripping across one another, and I couldn’t get them to drip straight down in their own paths. The repeated attempts didn’t pan out too well, and not only did I get crayon drippings on the canvas, I got them all over the kitchen. So, THAT was one of those times where I agreed with myself to give up.

And there have been so many other projects (people like me are a thing—we will spend $80 to craft something that would cost $5.99 to buy in the store).

Anyway, so, one day after a visit to a bakery one day, I decided that I should totally try baking (I could already cook).

I started with chocolate chip cookies. While chocolate chip cookies aren’t hard to make, and they always come out tasting good (unless I forget to take them out of the oven on time and they burn), I found it a challenge to get them to come out the way I had envisioned.

Sometimes they came out too cakey, sometimes too dry, sometimes too flat, and sometimes they spread out into one another.

But every so often, they would even come out just right. And it was those times—and the fact that my kids loved them no matter how they came out—that gave me encouragement to try again. And again. And again.

My next attempt at baking was birthday cakes. I am not sure why I decided to do this since the boxed kind are perfectly fine, but whatever.

I started with a 9″x13″ pan, and those sheet cakes came out fine, but they weren’t “real” birthday cakes. You know, like a round one. With layers.

So, I baked a cake with layers.

As with the sheet cakes, it came out tasting terrific, but the layers weren’t flat and the cake came out lopsided. Like with other things, I tried over and over (we have a lot of birthdays), but the layers always came out unlevel. I solved the problem by filling out the valleys with frosting.

I knew that when this happens, the layers need to be leveled off by cutting away the excess, but that would’ve meant removing too much, and I would’ve ended up with a very short cake, so I wouldn’t do it.

Luckily, I did find out that there is a way to prevent uneven layers, which is by using baking strips. Simple as that.

I did learn a very valuable lesson while I was still struggling with the lopsidedness of my cakes, and that was NEVER to put frosting on the cake until the layers have completely cooled because if the layers are still hot, or even warm, the frosting will get runny. Not only will this prevent a nicely decorated cake, but if it is not level, everything you put on top of the cake will…slide…right…off. Seriously.

Actually, I learned another lesson as well. If you have unevenness in your layers, just cut the higher portion of the cake (the part that you would cut off to make it level) horizontally down the middle and flip the top part of that over on to the lower part of the layer, it will mostly level it off. THEN you can spread on the frosting and decorate without losing height.

Talking about height, with the issue of the uneven cake layers solved, the next thing I wanted to improve was the height of my cakes. For some reason, I didn’t think that the layered cakes that were higher were probably three-layer cakes. I just thought that my two-layer cake should be higher. So, I did what any person who didn’t bother to do ANY research would do. I doubled the recipe.

Just like before, the cake came out tasting good, but it was no longer moist and fluffy. In fact, it was kind of heavy.

I am pretty sure now that my issues with baking were because of the way that I cook because I am the type who can eyeball some of the ingredients, and the food still comes out good.

That is NOT so with baking. At least not with me.

Anyway, so back to my heavy cake.

I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and I complained to my daughter, Elissa, about how my cake wasn’t coming out like it used to, and her first question was the obvious.

“Mom, did you follow the instructions?”

I told her, “Yes, I followed the directions. But look at it!”

Elissa insisted that I must’ve done SOMETHING wrong and decided that she would make the same cake (she always follows directions) and see how HERS came out. So, I read the instructions to her while she made the batter.

When Elissa’s cake came out just as heavy as mine, she almost cried, but I felt kind of gratified that whatever was wrong wasn’t MY fault. Ha!

Then she asked to see the recipe for herself so she could see what could possibly have gone wrong, and she was surprised.

“These are half of the quantities that you read to me. You doubled the recipe. Why??”

I told her that I wanted a higher cake.

“That is NOT considered following directions. The recipe is for two pans, and you put double in each pan, so it couldn’t rise.”

Oh.

I took back my “ha” and never did THAT again.

So, I learned that I need to follow instructions better when baking. Fine.

One day, while I was in the kitchen baking something and yes, following instructions, Elissa walked in.

“Mom. You are NOT really measuring oil in the palm of your hand, are you?!”

I told her I was in a rush and didn’t want to take the time to look for the measuring spoons in the baking drawer, it was only a tablespoon, and I certainly know what a tablespoon of oil should look like, even in my hand. At least I wasn’t trying to measure a cup.

Sheesh.

Sometimes, when someone is very familiar with a recipe, they might be able to make little adaptations to some of the ingredients, but overall, it’s a good idea to remember to follow instructions and measure properly when you are making cakes or cookies or whatever it is you are trying to bake.

Even while trying to master some level of decent cake, I shied away from attempting baking any kind of pie.

However, after we bought an apple pie from a local bakery that cost around $25, I decided that I would learn to make one.

Although I honestly didn’t have much faith in my abilities, I figured what was the harm in trying? If I failed, it would at least justify the $25 I would have to pay for one.

Much to my surprise (and probably my family’s as well), it turned out to be very simple and utterly delicious (so I am told – I don’t like cooked fruit 🙂 ).

A litte bit about Apples

There are many different types of apples. There are sweet red apples, such as Delicious, Fuji, and Gala and you have the tangy green ones, like Granny Smith.

Apples are the most widely consumed fruit worldwide and are commonly used in everything from cakes to pies to muffins. They are sliced into cold cereal and oatmeals, made into jellies, jams, and juices, and pureed into smoothies.

Apples are relatively low in calories and contain some anti-oxidants.

A little bit about Apple Pie

Apple pie is a pie with the main ingredient being…you guessed it…apples! Any apple can be used, but it seems that the most popular are the tart Granny Smith apples, which are used intros Easy Apple Pie recipe.

Apple pie is considered by Americans to be synonymous with patriotism, thus the term “as American as apple pie” and the saying by American soldiers during World War II, “fighting for Mom and apple pie”.

However, apple pie actually originated in England at least as far back as the 14th century and was only later brought to America.

Since apples were not accessible in the American west, however, settlers would make “mock apple pie” using crackers and spices. Even today, one can find recipes for mock apple pie using buttery flavored crackers and no apples at all.

One can use any apple in this Easiest Apple Pie recipe, however is seems that the most popular apple for use in apple pies is the tart Granny Smith apple (shown in the photo above with the pie), which was named after Maria Ann Smith.

Granny Smith apples were first cultivated in New South Wales, Australia. There are different versions as the discovery of Granny Smith apples, however they seem to be an accidental cross between an orchard apple and a French crabapple.

Baking Pantry Essentials

I never know when someone in my family is going to want a dessert at home, to bring to a friend’s house, or need for an event, so I like to make sure I can bake anything with very short notice. To that end, I keep a variety of supplies and ingredients in the house that will allow me to do just that. 

I can’t tell you how many times I was glad to have whatever I needed within reach for the last-minute visitor or for when one of my kids went to a friend or had a school event without much prior notice.

I have slowly collected things over the years as I needed them (or if I found a good sale) and like to keep more than one of the smaller items, in case I don’t want to wash dishes in the middle of baking.

My basic “equipment” includes:

• a stand mixer, which I use mostly for dough and, sometimes whipping
• a hand mixer (for things that aren’t dough and I don’t want to mix manually)
• a small scale
• different sizes and shapes of baking pans, including loaf pans
• mixing bowls (or just large bowls—I have plastic, glass, and metal)
• cookie sheets 
• pie dishes
• dry measuring cups
• liquid measuring cups
• whisks
• rubber spatulas (really good for when you don’t want to leave anything in the bowl)
• rolling pins
• a baking mat for rolling out dough
• baking strips
• a good supply of baking (or parchment) paper (also round for layer cakes)

I can certainly get by without a lot of the above, but it makes baking so much simpler when I just have whatever I need at my fingertips.

In addition to the equipment, there are the baking ingredients that I try to keep in the house at all times: 

• flour
• white granulated sugar
• brown sugar (light/dark—I usually keep dark)
• confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
• salt
• baking powder
• baking soda 
• cocoa powder
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg
• ground ginger
• ground cloves
• baking chocolate
• chocolate chips
• instant dry yeast
• vanilla and/or vanilla sugar
• cooking oil/cooking spray
• margarine or butter
• eggs
• honey
• instant coffee
• various extracts (real or imitation)

I also make sure that I have the following on hand to be able to make a variety of fillings, frostings, and toppings:

• whipping cream
• powdered pudding mix
• powdered sugar
• a good chocolate spread

Then, there is the following to make last-minute quick desserts:

• packaged pie dough or ready-made pie crusts
• puff pastry dough

Lastly, it’s not a bad idea to keep fun toppings, such as chopped walnuts, raisins, and the oh-so-important container of sprinkles.

Notice how pretty much all of the ingredients to make Easy Apple Pie (with the exception of a ready-made-pie) would be at your fingertips if you had such a pantry of baking essentials.

So, enjoy making your Easiest Apple Pie ever and enjoy eating it even more!

Continue to Content

Yield: 8-10 slices

Easy Dairy Free Apple Pie

Print

Homemade tart apple pie, without milk or butter.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 8 medium green Granny Smith (tart) apples, peeled and sliced thin
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup flour
• *2 teaspoons brown sugar (optional)
• *2 teaspoons vanilla extract or flavoring (optional)
• 2 deep dish pie crusts (homemade or store bought) or one crust and pie dough for the top if you are going to create a lattice top as show in photo.

Instructions

1. Place sliced apple pieces in a large bowl.
2. Add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and salt (and brown sugar or vanilla).
3. Mix well.
4. Pour mixture into one pie crust.
5. Create a lattice top with pie dough or just top with second pie crust, pinch edges together, and cut off excess dough.
6. Cut slits into the top.
7. Cover the edges with aluminum foil or other protector, so they don't cook sooner that the middle and end up too dark.
8. Bake in an oven that has been pre-heated to 425°F.
9. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until top is a golden brown.
10. Let cool before slicing.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 272Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 313mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 2g

Sharing is caring!