Berry Pear Pie with Cinnamon Almond Crumble (Grain Free)

Some of my most serene memories involve wild blackberry picking with family or friends. I was quite young during the first trek into the woods with my aunt and uncle in beautiful northern Michigan. Having short stubby legs and arms at that age was actually an advantage in blackberry picking, as I was able to easily avoid being jabbed by a plethora of pickers and get into the heart of the bush with ease. Even now that I'm grown, I tend to get overly excited while harvesting them which usually ends in a few sharp jabs and an ouch. But it's all worth it once I dip my hands into a basket full of fresh picked organic berries and pop them into my mouth. Nothings better than straight from natures source.

Pairing my favorite fruits in the first pie I've baked in literally years seemed more than appropriate. But it couldn't be just any ordinary fruit pie. Lately I've been relying a little too heavily on alternative grains in my diet, namely brown rice. While it's great for health, I'd been eating it upwards of twice a days some days--probably not so healthy. I can't deny my love and draw to all foods starchy, carbohydrate laden, and comforting. Enter the quick fix: Almond Flour.

I went for an entirely grain-free pie by using Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour, which yielded a wonderfully rustic almond crust and cinnamon almond crumble topping with lots of texture. To be honest, the slices came out slightly crumbly too, but it really didn't detract at all from the end product. Since I'm also limiting my overall sugar intake, the natural sugars of the fruits are the star sweetener in this pie which is surprisingly sufficient, minus a small drizzle of agave nectar in the crust and the crumble topping. This is best enjoyed slightly warmed. We shamelessly devoured half the pie in one sitting straight out of the oven.

Berry Pear Pie with Cinnamon Almond Crumble (grain free)

(This recipe is free of gluten, grains, soy, peanuts, dairy, eggs, legumes, yeast, and processed sugar).

For the Almond Flour Pie Crust:

• 1 and 1/2 cups Almond Flour
• 3 tablespoons melted Olivio Coconut Spread (or butter replacement of choice)
• 3/4 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon, or to taste
• Drizzle of agave nectar, or up to 2 tablespoons sweetener of choice.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together and add melted butter, vanilla, and sweetener if using. Mix with hands or a fork until well incorporated, then press into a 9 inch pie pan with hands.


For the Berry Pear filling:

• 1 ripe Pear, peeled and thinly sliced into bite sized pieces
• 1 container Blackberries (if using wild picked berries, about 25-30 good sized berries)
• 1 container Rapsberries (if using wild picked berries, about 25-30 good sized berries)
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract, or 1 tsp scraped fresh vanilla pod
• Optional: Add a small amount of very fine almond flour, coconut flour or if not needed to be grain free, a small amount of brown rice flour to help soak up the juices that will run out of the fruits while baking.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Pour into pie shell and make sure fruit is evenly distributed.

For the Cinnamon Almond Crumble Top:

Follow the recipe for the Almond Flour Pie Crust above. Dust a hard clean surface and rolling pin with ground cinnamon (or if not needed to be grain free, some brown rice flour). The dough will not roll out in one piece easily, but that's the whole "crumble" idea. Roll out small sections of dough and gently lay them over the top of the pie, leaving a small amount of mixture left to drop in crumbles over the top. When it bakes, the top of the pie bakes up more like a sweet cobbler topping.

After assembling the pie, bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Be careful to check often after 20 minutes to make sure the almond flour isn't getting overly brown or burned, as it can get overcooked pretty quickly. Cool for 10 minutes before enjoying.

Y has gone Gluten-Free for the month of August! We'll be periodically updating on his gluten-free experience throughout the month here and on the facebook page. I've been trying to blow his mind with all the wonderful gluten-free options there are out there and this recipe was thankfully a big hit! He wished to be quoted as saying "This pie is impressively super delicious." And that's from a usually gluten-eating perspective!

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