From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Ingredients

Crust

• 1/2 cup Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix
• ¼ cup almond meal/almond flour
• ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ¾ stick (3 oz.) butter, cold
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract (optional)

Filling

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 2 teaspoon cornstarch
• ¼ cup sugar
• 3 Granny Smith Apples (or similar crisp apples), peeled, cored, thinly sliced and cut into eighths—not huge chunks

Topping

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• ½ to 1 cup sliced almonds, chopped pecans or other nuts (I like a crispy, crunchy top, so I use a lots of nuts for the topping)
• 1 to 2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place crust ingredients in mixing bowl and, using electric mixer or by hand, rub in butter until mix resembles moist, golden breadcrumbs, but does not form a dough. (This is why the butter or substitute should be cold.)
3. Press crumbs onto bottom and halfway up sides of 9″ pie plate.
4. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until the crust is slightly shrunken and tinged brown. Remove from oven.
5. While crust is baking, and in same mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, egg substitute, vanilla, cornstarch and sugar until well-blended and creamy looking. Mix in apples.
6. Spoon apple mixture into partially baked crust. This will have a very full appearance and will be over the height of the crust, but it won’t overflow or rise too much.
7. In small non-stick saucepan or in the microwave, melt butter over medium heat. Turn the heat off and stir in brown sugar, almonds and cinnamon until they are evenly coated. If it cools too rapidly, then the nuts will start clumping together, so just warm through on low heat. Gently spoon over apple mixture.
8. Bake at 350°F for about 55 minutes.
9. Remove and let cool before enjoying! For an extra bit of sweetness, try drizzling caramel over the top.