Holiday recipe: apple and pecan pie, no sugar added

For people on sugar-restricted diets, holidays can be almost an obstacle course. Usually it's a good idea to bring dessert to a dinner party, so you can have dessert instead of simply doing without while everybody's eating sweets. Here's my apple pie, with no added sugar.


Fresh out of the oven

Apple and pecan pie:
Heat oven to 400F.

In a very large bowl, mix:
8 large apples, peeled and cored, and cut into large (1/4" thick) pieces
(You might want to caramelize the apples slightly.)
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup pecan pieces. You can also use chopped walnuts.
Mix all ingredients until well coated.

Line a deep pie dish with one Pillsbury pie crust (if you make your own crust, Steve has the best crust recipe in his book Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man).

Pour the apples and pecans into the pie plate. Cut 1/4 lb (one bar) of refrigerated butter into chunks and dot the apples with the butter. Please use butter. Cover the apples with the other pie crust, seal the edges and perforate the top with a fork.

Bake at 400F for 45 minutes.

Serve warm with Vermont cheddar cheese, or with Edy's No Sugar Added vanilla ice cream. I prefer the cheddar.

Today as an experiment I mixed 1 package of Philadelphia cream cheese and two extra large eggs with 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and poured it on the bottom pie crust before adding the apples. While it tastes OK, it just doesn't "add" enough to make it worth it, but other family members liked it.

Note: While I add no sugar, if you use sweet apples the pie will be sweet. Bear that in mind if you must watch your blood sugars.
Additionally, this is not a low calorie dessert.

(technorati tags recipes Desserts apple pie)