Vegan Recipe: Hazelnut Apple Cider Pie

Made Just Right...

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Award Winning Hazelnut Apple Cider Pie
Posted by Made Just Right on Dec 2, 2011

December 2nd is National Red Apple Day! What better way to celebrate than with apple pie? This wonderful pie is not only delicious; it's so good that it's also an award winner! Created by SaraJane from VeganChicksRock for an apple pie contest at her local farmers market, this awesome vegan pie won first place!



Here are some of SaraJane's notes:

"If you don't have any hard cider, you can substitute the same amount of white wine and it'll turn out just fine. You'll want to add a bit more sugar if you're using wine unless you're using a sweet wine like a Riesling. If you're serving this to kids, you can use just plain old apple cider, but make sure it's one that's made with only apple juice. You don't want juice with added sugar or weird ingredients. It's also important to use a really firm, crisp apple. If you're not using the pink lady apples like I did, then I would suggest using granny smith, or you'll end up with mush for the filling."


Crust Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups flour
¼ cup ground hazelnuts
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cold Earth Balance® Shortening
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance® Soymilk
1 teaspoon vinegar
cold water to make ½ cup liquid

Filling Ingredients:
¾ cup sugar
1 cup hard, dry cider (like Strongbow)
4 Tablespoon Earth Balance® Natural Buttery Spread
½ teaspoon vanilla extract or half of a vanilla bean
6 large pink lady apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance® Soymilk
2 Tablespoons sugar
¼ cup finely chopped hazelnuts

9” pie plate


Directions:

To make the crust, sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut the shortening into smallish pieces and cut into the flour mixture until it resembles course crumbs about the size of peas. Stir together the wet ingredients and add a few tablespoons at a time, mixing with a fork until all of the liquid has been incorporated. Give the dough a quick knead or three, you just want to make sure all the flour has been mixed in, you don't want to actually knead it much.

Divide the dough in half and flatten into discs. Cover them with plastic wrap or a damp paper towel and place them in the fridge for 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Once the dough is cold, take one of the discs and roll it out until it's large enough to fit into the bottom of your pie dish. Make sure there is a little bit of dough overlapping the edges of the dish so you can make a nice edge after you put the top bits on. Put a piece of foil over the bottom crust and fill with pie weights (dried beans work for this, too). Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool for a few minutes and carefully remove the foil and weights from the crust.


Meanwhile, start making the filling. In a large pot over medium heat, add the cider, brown sugar and apples. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and simmer for 10 more minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Again, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Gently fold in the cinnamon and vanilla. Spoon the apple mixture into the pie plate. Cut the non-hydrogenated margarine into small, pea-sized pieces and spread them out on top of the apples.

Roll out the second half of the dough for the top crust. If you’re not making a lattice crust, cut some small holes in the top crust so steam can escape.

Now for the crust topping. Mix the non-dairy milk, sugar and hazelnuts in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for about 2 minutes and then immediately brush it onto the top crust of the pie. If you have one of those silicone brush thingies, this is an excellent use for it. The regular pastry brushes don't work as well since the sugar gets very thick. You can also use the back of a spoon to spread it around. Just make sure you work fast because the sugar is going to harden quickly as it cools and then you won't be able to spread it any longer.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let the pie cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!


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