Gluten Free Apple Pie in a Bag

This Gluten-Free Apple Pie in a Bag is one of our absolute favorite apple pie recipes. And yes, it really does bake inside a parchment paper bag! The pie starts with a flaky gluten-free bottom crust, then gets piled almost unbelievably high with five pounds of tart Granny Smith apples. Don't worry when you see that mountain of apples, they cook down beautifully as the pie bakes. Instead of a traditional top crust, this pie gets little pieces of a buttery, sweet topping scattered over the apples. (Can we say YUM?!) Baking the entire pie enclosed in parchment helps hold in the moisture while everything cooks together into an incredibly delicious apple pie. It's especially wonderful served warm!

Ingredients

Gluten-Free Pie Crust

• ½ recipe The BEST Gluten-Free Pie Crust
  You'll only need enough dough for one bottom crust, so halve the recipe rather than making the full two-crust batch.

Apple Filling

• 2270 g Granny Smith apples (about 5 pounds), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

• 110 g packed brown sugar (about ½ cup)

• 15 g Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour (about 2 tablespoons)

• 2 g ground cinnamon (about ¾ teaspoon)

• 2 g ground nutmeg (about ¾ teaspoon)

• 1 g ground ginger (about ½ teaspoon)

• 30 ml lemon juice (2 tablespoons)

• 10 g gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (about 2 tablespoons)

Topping

• 60 g Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour (about ½ cup)

• 115 g butter, softened (about ½ cup)

• 100 g superfine sugar (about ½ cup)

For the Parchment "Bag"

• 2 pieces parchment paper, approximately 12 x 30 inches each

• Stapler, optional but recommended

Instructions

1. Prepare the crust.
Prepare half a recipe of my Gluten-Free Pie Crust and place it into your pie pan. You only need a bottom crust for this recipe.

2. Make the apple filling.
In a very large bowl, combine the sliced Granny Smith apples, brown sugar, 15 g (about 2 tablespoons) gluten-free flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and lemon juice. Stir until the apples are evenly coated and set aside.

And yes, five pounds of apples really is correct! Your pie is going to look extremely full when you assemble it, but the apples will cook down considerably while baking.

3. Make the topping.
In a separate bowl, combine 60 g (about ½ cup) gluten-free flour, softened butter, and superfine sugar. Mix until a sticky, moist dough forms.

4. Assemble the pie.
Sprinkle a light, even layer of gluten-free graham cracker crumbs across the bottom of the prepared pie crust.

Add the apple mixture, piling the apples high into a mound.

Pinch off small pieces of the topping mixture, flatten them slightly between your fingers, and distribute them randomly across the apples. Try to cover as much of the apple filling as possible.

5. Preheat the oven.
Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).

6. Make the parchment bag.
Place two approximately 12 x 30-inch pieces of parchment paper in a cross shape on your work surface. Set the filled pie in the center.

Bring the parchment up and over the pie, leaving enough room that the paper does not touch the top or sides of the pie.

Fold and crimp the parchment securely to create an enclosed bag around the pie.

Our preferred method: I find that stapling the parchment closed works best. If you use staples, make sure they stay securely in the parchment and count/remove every staple when opening the bag after baking so none can accidentally end up near the pie.

Place the parchment-wrapped pie on a baking sheet to catch any potential drips.

7. Bake....without peeking!
Bake for 1 hour at 425°F.

Resist the temptation to open the parchment while the pie is baking. Keeping the bag sealed is part of what makes this recipe work.

8. Open carefully and cool.
Remove the pie from the oven and carefully open or tear away the parchment. Watch for hot steam as you open the bag.

Allow the pie to cool before slicing. We especially love this one served warm!

Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

A Few Tips From My Kitchen

Don't panic about the quantity of apples. Five pounds looks like way too much when the pie goes into the oven, but that's intentional. They shrink considerably as they cook.

Granny Smith apples work especially well here because their tart flavor balances the sweet topping, and they hold up nicely during the long bake. However, I've used many types of apples for this recipe and they all work great!

And don't skip the gluten-free graham cracker crumbs on the bottom.

It's a small amount, but they're there to help with all those juicy apples while adding another little layer of flavor.