I have a confession to make..

I had a slice of pie for breakfast this morning. And, in the past, I've eaten cake first thing in the morning. And once even, on a really hot day, ice cream (pre-dairy free) was my breakfast of choice.

I'm not proud of this. Nor do I recommend it, but sometimes you just eat what your body craves.

I think they do their breakfasts right in Taiwan. During my stay there most days breakfast consisted of rice porridge and a variety of greens and meats to serve with that porridge (another post on the subject with be posted soon). Traditionally, no sweets (pancakes, donuts, waffles, etc.) were served with breakfast and quite honestly that's probably the best way to do it (I noticed the ever-inspiring Sally does the same for breakfast). No sugar in the morning means you're starting your day off right without any spike in blood sugar. And that's a good way to start the day.

However, my pie this morning was homemade and I knew just how much sugar went into it, so I felt at least a little better about it. That, and it was practically calling my name.

My Grandma, the one who nicknamed me the good eatah (and who is in the background of the photo above), is also famous for her pies. Really, I went on a limb here making an apple pie that wasn't hers. At the tender age of 95 she's a bit confused about the whole gluten thing, so we made a deal for Thanksgiving this year: I'll make the crusts and bring them to her house and then we'll make the fillings together.

Apple Pie (gluten-free, dairy-free,vegatarian)

I took what I knew from making crusts with Grandma and mixed in some of my gf knowledge to come up with this:

Crust
1 cup brown rice flour (I use superfine)
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 tablespoon xantham gum
2 egg yolks
1 cup organic shortening (I use Spectrum brand)
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup cold water
dash of salt

Filling
5 apples, sliced, peeled and cored
1 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice (or cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice)
1/3 cup powdered maple syrup (you can certainly use regular sugar here, if so, I'd use 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons vegan butter-spread
1 tablespoon demerara sugar (optional)

I made my crust by hand since my glorious dishwasher disfigured my food processor bowl...

In a large bowl combine flours, xantham gum and salt and whisk together to get out any lumps. In a smaller bowl, combine the vinegar, egg yolks and water and whisk to combine. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and then cut in the shortening using two knives until the shortening is evenly distributed. Cut the dough in half and flatten into a dish and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Once you are ready to use them, take them out of the frigde and let sit for about five minutes before working with them. Place one half of the dough between two large pieces of parchment or wax paper, and roll until slightly larger than whatever size pie dish you have (8 inch or 9 inch works with this recipe). With the other half you can roll out the dough in the same manner and make a lattice, like shown below (click here on a great guide on how to create a lattice top). My mom's a master at them and created the one for our apple pie.

Preheat oven to 350.

Place the peeled, cored and sliced apples into a bowl and add the apple pie spice. Mix until evenly coated and place into the pie dish. Add the powdered maple syrup (or sugar) on top and drop small pieces of the butter-spread among the apples. Add the lattice top, or rolled out dough and place in the oven. Cook for about an hour, or until the apples are well cooked. This crust does not brown very much.