Gluten Free Apple and Cranberry Pies

Gluten Free Apple and Cranberry Pies

We've used our stored Bramley cooking apples together with some dried cranberries and some warming winter spices, all baked in hazelnut pastry cases and topped with stars for a Christmas Sparkle!


Makes 12 little pies. You will need a 12-hole tartlet tin, a pastry cutter slightly larger than the holes, and a star cutter slightly smaller than the holes.


Ingredients for the pastry:

  • 150g Shipton Mill GF All Purpose flour
  • 50g ground hazelnuts or ground almonds
  • ¾ tsp xanthan gum
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 50g cold butter, cubed
  • 1 medium egg, beaten
  • 2 tsp cold water
  • White rice flour for dusting
  • Icing sugar for dusting

Ingredients for the filling:

  • 250g peeled, finely chopped Bramley cooking apple
  • 60g dried, sweetened cranberries
  • 1 large, rounded tbsp culinary coconut oil (odourless)
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp runny honey or agave syrup
  • 2 cloves
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp mixed spice

Method for the pastry

Weigh the flour, ground hazelnuts or almonds, and the salt into a bowl.

Rub the chunks of butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips, or use a food processor to speed it up.

Add the beaten egg and cold water to form a sticky dough.

Shape into a flattened disc using rice flour to dust, wrap in a re-useable plastic bag and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.


Method for the Filling

Put the finely chopped apple, the dried cranberries, coconut oil, water, honey and spices into a saucepan, and simmer very gently over the lowest heat until they start to soften.

Turn off the heat and let it stand for 10 minutes.

Mash gently before removing to the fridge to chill until cold.


To assemble and bake the tarts:

Pre-heat a fan oven to 170℃.

Roll the pastry out to roughly 2mm thick between 2 sheets of baking parchment using white rice flour to prevent it from sticking.

Cut 12 circles for the bases and position them in the tin.

Cut 12 stars for the tops.

Fill the tarts sparingly – you don’t want them overflowing.

Place the tops on the pies and press lightly.

Bake for 20 minutes in the centre of the oven.

Remove from the oven, cool for a few minutes before placing on a wire rack and dusting with icing sugar.


NB with your left-over pastry and filling you can either make more tarts, or free shape small fruit pasties!