This Dairy Free Apple Pie recipe turns an American classic into your favorite dairy free dessert! Learn how to make a completely homemade vegan apple pie from scratch!
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Apple Pies are a tradition for many American homes and others around the world. It’s the iconic and best known version of any pie. But it traditionally is made with butter making it neither dairy free or vegan. Luckily, we’ve created the best tasting and most delicious dairy free apple pie around. You are just going to fall in love with this apple pie filling!
This dairy free apple pie recipe is:
- Dairy Free
- Egg Free
- Completely Vegan
- Can be Top 8 Free Allergy Friendly
It’s not a super quick recipe and it’s not designed to be. You could absolutely take a quick route and buy a pre-made dairy free pie crust and a can of apple pie filling, but that’s not why you’re here.
You are here because you want to make something that reminds you of your grandma’s apple pie. And this recipe, if followed, will give you all those warm, fuzzy memories, while still being a completely allergy friendly apple pie recipe.
It will then be known to you as the best apple pie recipe around!
Vegan Apple Pie Recipe Ingredients
There are two parts to making this vegan apple pie recipe. The first part is the crust and then the apple pie filling. Today, we’ll get into both how to make the dairy free pie crust and how to make the apple pie filling.
In order to make the dairy free pie crust, you are going to need the following ingredients:
- flour
- salt
- vegan sugar
- vegan shortening
- unsweetened almond milk (can sub for any dairy free milk)
In order to make the best vegan apple pie filling, you are going to need the following ingredients:
- Granny Smith Apples
- brown sugar
- vegan cane sugar
- maple syrup
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- cardamom
- salt
- vanilla
- lemon zest
- lemon juice
- arrowroot powder
In total for the dairy free pie crust and the dairy free apple pie filling, there are 15 ingredients. A lot of them are spices, and nothing is really hard or obscure item that you aren’t going to be able to find at any major grocery store.
How to Make the Best Vegan Apple Pie
For the dairy free pie crust
1. In a large bowl or a food processor, add the flour, salt, and sugar. Stir together with a fork until well combined.
2. Cut vegan shortening into tablespoon size pieces and add to the flour mixture. Use a fork to combine until you have a sand like mixture.
3. Pour in milk and vanilla and stir until combined. Then, use your hands or a spatula to form a solid dough ball.
4. Lay a large piece of parchment paper down and sprinkle with flour. Place dough on top and sprinkle with a touch of flour on top. Roll dough out into a circle about 10-11 inches. Press dough down into your pie pan. Pinch or design the edges however you want.
Tip: If you desire a top crust layer, then repeat the steps again for a second pie crust layer and then you can lay on top or cut into strips or design as desired after your filling is inside the bottom layer. Place in fridge while you make your filling.
For the Dairy Free Apple Pie Filling
1. Peel the apples, then core them. Slice apples to be ⅛ to ¼ inch thick, trying to keep them all roughly the same size.
2. Into a large pot or dutch oven, add the sliced apples and all the remaining ingredients except the arrowroot powder. Stir all the ingredients around very well. Turn the heat on medium and stir occasionally for 10-15 minutes or until softened. Stir in the arrowroot powder until combined and turn off heat.
3. Pour the entire contents of the pot onto a parchment lined sheet pan and shake so the apples are in an even layer. Let cool to room temperature.
4. Scoop the apples up and place them into your pie crust lined pie plate. You don’t want all the extra juice, but the little bit from scooping is okay.
Tip: Move the apples around so there are little to no gaps. Around the outer edge of the pie crust, you can use the curved side of the apple to get more in. Gently shake the pie plate to wiggle them around.
5. If using a top layer of pie crust, place that on top and arrange as desired. If you are not doing a design and just add a solid top, cut slits in the center for steam to vent through.
Put the pie in the freezer for 15 minutes. While waiting, preheat oven to 425˚F.
If using any top layer, designs or cut outs, brush the entire top of the pie with almond milk, including the edges.
6. Place pie on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with course sparkling sugar. Bake for 50 minutes. Pull the pie out of the oven if any spots look light, brush with vegan butter gently. If you pie crust looks dark, cover with foil very carefully.
Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool to room temperature before serving. Top with dairy free whipped topping or ice cream.
Can I prep this vegan apple pie ahead of time?
Yes! This pie should be stored In the fridge for best results and will last up to 7 days ahead of time. Best served warm.
Vegan Apple Pie Recipe Variations
Can I make this Top 8 Allergen Free Apple Pie?
The Top allergens in this recipe is wheat, soy, and almond milk.
The almond milk can be replaced with any safe dairy free milk for your family.
The soy is in the vegan shortening, but you can replace that with Earth Balance soy free butter, in the red tub.
The flour can be replaced with gluten free flour in the same amount. We like this GF flour.
Vegan Apple Pie Recipe Tips
Choosing Apples – Granny Smith apples are the go to because their tartness balances the sweetness of the other pie ingredients, but also because they hold their shape well while cooking without turning to much (looking at you red delicious!). Other great options are: golden delicious, pink lady, and honeycrisp.
Choose one: Lattice, Holes, or Open – If you aren’t going to go with an open top, and instead have a top crust layer, you need to either have a lattice top or have vented holes in your top layer to prevent a soggy crust and/or your pie from exploding.
Switch up the flavors – Apple pie is great on it’s own, but don’t feel like you always have to try the same thing. Add some cherries or blackberries to the mix or even better, try our vegan caramel apple pie.
Don’t skip checking – Don’t just bypass checking the pie. Make sure you check it so that you can cover the edges with foil or a pie shield if your edges are getting done too quickly so they don’t burn.
Storing Leftover Vegan Apple Pie
Leftover apple pie should be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
You can eat leftover apple pie cold or you can reheat in the microwave by placing a slice on a microwave safe plate and heating for 1-2 minutes or until heated through.
If you cannot eat your leftover apple pie within 7 days, make sure your filling is completely cooled and then you should tightly wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Like This Vegan Apple Pie Recipe
Just because you have food allergies or preferences, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to have great tasting desserts. We’d even venture to say that these are better than their “normal” counterparts.
These are some other dairy free cake recipes that you should try:
- Easy Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Vegan Coconut Cake
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Perfect Fall Vegan Pumpkin Roll
- Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
- Vegan vanilla cupcakes
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🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Dairy Free Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the dairy free pie crust
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon vegan cane sugar
- 9 tablespoon vegan shortening
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk (sub for any non dairy milk)
- ⅛ tsp vanilla extract
For the Dairy Free Apple Pie Filling
- 6 granny smith apples
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup vegan cane sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch cardamom (1/16th of a tsp)
- 1 zest from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot powder
Instructions
For the dairy free pie crust
- In a large bowl, add the flour, salt, and sugar. Stir together with a fork.
- Cut vegan shortening into tablespoon size cubes and then using a fork combine together until crumbly.
- Pour in milk and vanilla.
- Stir until combined.
- Use hands to form a dough.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper down and sprinkle with flour. Lay dough down and sprinkle with a touch of flour on top.
- Roll out into a circle about 10-11 inches. Press down into pie pan.
- Pinch or design the edges however you want.
- If you desire a top crust layer, then repeat the steps again for a second pie crust layer and then you can lay on top or cut into strips or design as desired after your filling is inside the bottom layer.
- Set aside while you make your filling.
For the Dairy Free Apple Pie Filling
- Peel the apples, then core them. Slice them to be ⅛ to ¼ inch thick, trying to keep them all roughly the same size.
- Into a large pot or dutch oven, add the sliced apples and all the remaining ingredients except the arrowroot powder. Stir all the ingredients around very well.
- Turn the heat on medium and stir occasionally for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the arrowroot powder until combined and turn off heat.
- Pour the entire contents of the pot onto a parchment lined sheet pan and shake so the apples are in an even layer. Let cool to room temperature.
- Scoop the apples up and place them into your pie crust lined pie plate. You don’t want all the juice, but the little bit from scooping is okay.
- Move the apples around so there are little to no gaps. Around the outer edge of the pie crust, you can use the curved side of the apple to get more in. Gently shake the pie plate to wiggle them around.
- If using a top layer of pie crust, place that on top and arrange as desired. If you are not doing a design and just add a solid top, cut slits in the center for steam to vent through.
- Put the pie in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Preheat to 425 degrees.
- If using any tp layer, designs or cut outs, brush the entire top of the pie with almond milk, including the edges.
- Place pie on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with course sparkling sugar.
- Bake for 50 minutes.
- Pull the pie out of the oven if any spots look light, brush with vegan butter gently. If you pie crust looks dark, cover with foil very carefully.
- Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove, let cool to room temperature before serving.
- Top with dairy free whipped topping or ice cream.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
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This post was originally published on 3/8/2019 and updated on 10/13/2019.
I made two of these last weekend, one for home (used date sugar in that one instead) and one for work (used cane sugar and brown). I also used Earth Balance no salt butter and added salt and the crust came out heavenly. Both were delicious, but I liked the date sugar one better. Everyone at my job loved the pie. Apparently it’s the best pie they’ve ever had and they are all far from vegan.
Sounds like a huge win to us! So glad that both were a hit! Thanks for the news about the date sugar
So did you use the same amount of date sugar as cane sugar and brown together or how did you adjust?
Does anyone know the nutrition info abt this recipe??
Not sure why it wasn’t there, but it is now!