Whole Food Wednesdays and “Better Than Apple Pie” Apple Pie

 

Welcome to Whole Food Wednesdays! You’re invited to come and share your real food recipes using the Linky below. We’re excited to see what yummy things you’ve been creating and what great informational posts and videos you’ve got for us!

It’s not often that I post dessert recipes on BTP. It’s not because we don’t love them, because we do, but to be honest, I haven’t been super successful changing out processed ingredients with real food ingredients when it comes to sweets. The texture is off, or the palm sugar didn’t dissolve leaving a granular texture, or it darkens too quickly because the honey caramelizes at a lower temperature and/or the flours are all so different which changes the taste or texture.

Another Risky Dessert Test Pays Off

When I told my sister I was remaking a Best of Bridge recipe into a whole food recipe her response was “good luck with that” in a sarcastic tone. She’s not wrong. If a person is going to try and healthify a recipe, starting with the Best of Bridge might not be the best plan of attack. Too late now. The desert was already in the oven. She had me believing that this was going to be yet another dessert flop.

Phew!

This is NOT one of those. I can’t tell you how relieved I was that this turned out so well. First, I was relieved because it was the dessert I was bringing to a friends house when they invited my husband and I to dinner. Nothing like experiencing a flopped dessert when you’re trying to impress.

Embarrassing.

Secondly, it’s always heart breaking when it doesn’t turn out because its an expensive mistake. We end up trying to eat our way through it because we don’t want to waste but don’t really enjoy it either.

Not only did this one taste delicious but it also presents beautifully. Wouldn’t you agree?

A Kid Approved Whole Food Dessert

It even past the kid test. My friends children asked for seconds! I didn’t tell them it was made with spelt, maple syrup and contained no refined sugars. The best part is I doubt they would have cared anyway.

What’s Next?

Now how am I going to burn that piece of pie off? With a challenge of course.

I’m starting a 30 day yoga challenge on Monday, May 7th. I just started using this great online yoga streaming website called My Yoga Online and love it. For $10 bucks a month, I can practice as often as I want and for however long I want. There’s hundreds of classes to choose from, taught by a variety of instructors (find a few you like) and of all different lengths of time, that you stream right to you computer.

The last time I did a yoga challenge it was with Bikram style yoga (aka hot yoga). The challenge was 30 days in a row (an hour and a half each time) in a 104 degree room! I’m not ready for that intensity again, but I am challenging myself to a minimum of 30 minutes a day for 30 days.

One of the most common complaints about yoga is that it is expensive. If you have to go to a studio to practice (especially if you’re not advanced enough to practice on your own), it absolutely can be. With technology where it is these days, that’s no longer necessary, which means becoming a yogi just got affordable. If you’re interested in joining me in my challenge, here’s the site to check it out.

The site is super user friendly, with tons of different styles of yoga practice to choose from, as well as first time beginner to advanced classes.  I’ll post a bigger write up about it on Friday, but I wanted to give you a heads up in case anyone wanted to do the challenge with me. The more people that do it the more accountable we all are to follow through!

“Better Than Apple Pie” Apple Pie

The Base

• 1/3 cup palm sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 1 cup sprouted spelt flour
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 450F. In a food processor, add the palm sugar. Process the sugar until almost powdery. Add the other ingredients and process until it is uniformly crumbly.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. If the mixture sticks to your hands, use a piece of parchment paper to get a uniform layer.

The Filling

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 6 dates
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Add the cream cheese and the dates to a food processor and blend until smooth (or mostly). Add the egg and vanilla and process until well combined. Spread the mixture over the crumb layer using a wet spatula.

The Topping

• 5 apples
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Peel, core and slice the apples and place in a large bowl. Add the maple syrup and the cinnamon and toss to coat. Arrange the apples in a fan pattern and drizzle with any of the remaining syrup that has dripped to the bottom of the apple bowl. Bake for 10 minutes at 450F. Reduce the temperature to 400 F and bake for 25 minutes. Because the maple syrup is fairly runny, don’t be alarmed if it looks like there’s liquid around the apples after 25 minutes. It’s just the syrup and it will set nicely once it has cooled.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Run a wet butter knife around the edge of the pan before removing the sides. Serve at room temperature.

The Rules:

• 1. Follow Beyond The Peel on Facebook,  Twitter, and Pinterest.  It’s very easy to do and there are also buttons at the bottom of this page to do so.
• 2. Introduce yourself, your blog, and what you’re about in the comment section and a small blurb about what you’re sharing. This way people can get to know you a little bit right off the hop and hopefully follow you as well.
• 3. Be sure to add a link in your post back to this post. Simple linky etiquette. This allows your readers to find other posts that may help them on their journey.
• 4. If you’re sharing recipes, the only requirement is that the ingredient list be comprised of real food only, that means non-processed food items. That being said, we are all in different places on our real food journey, some more advanced than others. I invite all of you to share, no matter where you are on your journey, but I ask you to stay mindful when sharing your recipes that this is a whole (real) food blog. This means, no ingredient lists that include edible oil products (velveeta, frozen whip topping), protein powders, ketchup, white flour or white and brown sugar.
• 5. Less of a rule but more a suggestion: Retweet,  Stumble, or Pin this post so EVERYONE gets more exposure and traffic. It’s win-win for everyone.
• 6. Don’t have a blog? That’s ok, we’d still love to hear from you. Write your recipes or tips in the comment section so we can get to know you too!
• 7. Please visit some of the links below. After all, that’s how we’ll get to know each other!

 

Now it’s your turn to share your whole food recipes and ideas!

I’m sharing this with Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, A Little Birdie Told Me, Fat Tuesday,  This Chick Cooks, Cast Party Wednesday, Allergy Free Wednesday, The Tasty Alternative, What’s Cooking Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Friday Food Flicks, Freaky Friday, Fight Back Friday, and Foodie Friday.