I love making gluten free crusts with almond flour. This gluten free flour is super easy to use, high in heart healthy protein and fats, and of course delicious.

If you wish to experiment and try to make a gluten free pie crust out of this tart crust, feel free. Just be sure to stop back by and let us know how it works.

I am anticipating that I will receive a lot of questions about substituting the egg in this crust recipe; to this I answer: not sure. Again, if you find an adaptation or substitution that works in this gluten free pie crust recipe please let us know how it goes. As for me, I'm very happy with how this turned out as it is a wonderful Paleo tart crust, that will be front and center on my Paleo Thanksgiving menu.

The above is a brand new tart crust recipe. I experimented with it numerous times until I was entirely happy with the outcome. In my tests, I made it with a pecan pie filling. Here are some other filling recipes that you can experiment with:

Chocolate Cream Pie
Mousse Cloud Pie
Chocolate Peanut Tart

What will you fill your tart crust with?

Note: for those of you looking for pecan pie filling, please see the recipe in The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.

Here's a lovely seasonal treat --gluten free apple crisp that's simple and easy to make with very few, and very healthy ingredients. This recipe for Granny Smith Apple Crisp is particularly low carb because I use the low glycemic sweetener xylitol.

Since so many people have written to me to tell me they do not use agave, I thought it would be nice to research a variety of alternative sweeteners and experiment with them. Hence the use of xylitol (a low glycemic sweetener) in this recipe. My children couldn't taste the difference and my doctor highly recommends xylitol for those that can digest it --it is not as easy to digest as agave for some people.

As always, use the ingredients that suit you best, and take the time to experiment with substitutions, as I cannot answer your (or my own) substitution questions without actually testing them in real life in my real kitchen.

As you can see from the note above, this recipe was a major hit with my older son. He left me a note on the dessert that said, "Mom, please do not let ANYONE eat the crisp. I want to eat it. TKS (Thanks)."

Every fall when I begin baking fruit desserts in earnest, I have the same internal dialogue --what is the exact difference between a crumble and a crisp? And every fall, without fail, I pull out my well worn copy of the Joy of Cooking and look this up again. I thought I would share what the good book says with all of you:

"For a crisp, the flour, butter, and sugar are mixed together like pie dough before the liquid is added, and the mixture scattered over the top."

"A crunch is fruit sandwiched between two layers of sweetened, buttered crumbs; it is served cut into squares, like bar cookies , but is more fragile...Crumble is the British name for a crisp or crunch with oatmeal in the topping."

Here are some more healthy gluten free recipes using apples:
-Cinnamon Apple Cake
-Caramel Apples
-Fennel Apple Soup

There's nothing like baked fruit desserts in summer.  With seasonal, fresh, luscious ingredients, this gluten free Apple Blackberry Crisp is the perfect healthy and scrumptious, warm weather delight.  When finished off with a high protein almond flour topping, baked treats such as this are superfood in the form of dessert.  Now what's better than that?

Our summer started last Thursday when the boys finished school, and we are having an excellent time thus far.  Our house has been the setting for lots of sleep overs, lunches, snacks and water balloon fights for the boys and all of their friends.

Today we've been deeply involved in preparing for the Mapleton Hill Rummage Sale which takes place this weekend.  The boys plan to have an organic lemonade stand where they will sell high protein brownies, cookies and other treats, Saturday morning.  Who knows, they might even be selling Apple Blackberry Crisp.

Here are some more fruit dessert recipes you may like from other food bloggers:
-Irish Cream Gluten-Free Pear Crisp For Two from AndreAnna of Life as a Plate
-Peach Blueberry Cointreau Crisp from Lori of Gluten Free Best Friends Forever!
-Cashew Crème Pear Tart (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free*) from Alisa of Go Dairy Free
-Grilled Peaches with Ricotta Cheese from Alice of Savory Sweet Life

This new and improved gluten free Peach Crisp was a lot of fun to shoot and even more fun to eat.  I'm loving (rather than dreading) taking pictures ever since I took the Food and Light Photography Workshop.

Why another Peach Crisp?  Well, a number of you had left comments on my "old" Peach Crisp recipe, mentioning that the topping seemed wet.  So, I went back and tried the recipe myself.  I wrote that recipe 2 years ago and I guess my tastes have changed --and hopefully my cooking skills have improved.  I like this crisp much better than the old one.

What's different?  Well, I reduced the amount of oil in the topping, cut out the baking soda and reduced the salt by half --now it's more to my liking.  When I made the old one last week, I took it to a baseball potluck (we've had a ton of those this year!).  I served it with ice cream to mask the salt, though nobody seemed to notice it was too salty (or gluten free for that matter) people were psyched to have a warm dessert with fresh baked fruit.

Anyway, to those of you who made my overly salty Peach Crisp with the runny topping and did not find it to your liking --my apologies, and I hope you enjoy this one, now that we are at the height of peach season.

Peach CrispNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
6 large peaches, sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar

1. Place peach slices in a large bowl, sprinkle with lemon juice, vanilla, and arrowroot; toss to incorporate all ingredients
2. In a smaller bowl, combine almond flour, salt, grapeseed oil and agave for topping
3. Place peach mixture in a 3 quart baking dish
4. Crumble topping over peaches
5. Bake covered at 350° for 45 minutes, until peach juice is bubbling
6. Remove cover and bake a few more minutes if topping is not yet browned
7. Serve

As some of you can imagine, and some of you have even mentioned to me (ahem Lillian!) I am a fairly meticulous person, and very detailed.  I usually test a recipe 5 or 10 times before it is posted on this site and spend weeks developing various dishes that my lucky (poor) family has to eat (over and over again).

When it comes to my recipe development for books and magazines, imagine tripling the above process.  So, it's best to look at this website as a developmental piece.  With all of this cooking, my cooking has (hopefully) improved.  On that note, I encourage you to use the more recent recipes on the site, though some of you may have some old favorites that work out quite well.

One thing I have learned from my readers is that I like salt --a little too much, and more than the average person.  So I've definitely cut down on the salt in my recipes over the last year.

Have you noticed that anything else has changed?  Is there anything that bugs you?  Do you have any favorite recipes from the archives that you make over and over again?  Leave a comment and let us all know!

I chose to go with a messy "action" photo of this crumble to demonstrate just how much my husband liked it!  He came home from work and devoured the section you see missing above.  I was somewhat surprised since it was another one of my experiments making a purely fruit sweetened dessert.

While this crumble is not as easy to make as my usual desserts, it's super healthy and also deliciously satisfying.

A couple of notes about this gluten free, purely fruit sweetened crumble.  First, the topping may be more "cakey" than crispy for this dessert.  That is due to using the dates which I have been experimenting with quite a bit of late; still, it's amazing that this dessert is naturally sweetened --my husband couldn't tell the difference.

Next, this recipe was inspired by a delicious looking dessert from the lovely Karina of Karina's Kitchen.  Although we cook with somewhat different ingredients, I think our ethos around food is quite similar and just about everything she posts makes my mouth water!

Finally, for today's Friday Freebie, I will be giving away a 5 pound bag of blanched almond flour, courtesy of Honeyville.  Leave a comment and you will be eligible for this delightful and valuable prize.

The boys' school is selling organic peaches.  I ordered two cases (about 40 lbs.) for my family; we will be getting our luscious Colorado fruit this Friday at 3 pm.

In the meantime, I am readying my peach recipes.  Of course, my all time favorite is peach crisp.  It is perfect for fall, which incidentally arrived a few weeks early here in Boulder.  We are presently in a cold spell and warm cooked fruit desserts are ideal for this wet, chilly weather.

This easy gluten free dessert can be prepared in a jiffy.

Peach Crisp (UPDATE: TRY MY REVISED PEACH CRISP)Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
6 large peaches, sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar

1. Place peach slices in a large bowl, sprinkle with lemon juice, vanilla and arrowroot; toss to incorporate all ingredients
2. In a smaller bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, grapeseed oil and agave for topping
3. Place peach mixture in a 2 quart Pyrex baking dish
4. Crumble topping over peaches
5. Bake covered at 350° for 1 hour, until peach juice is bubbling; remove cover and bake a few more minutes until topping is golden brown
6. Serve

Serves 6

This lightly sweetened, gluten free peach crisp is delicious on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  The boys each had a huge helping today, heaped with homemade banana ice cream --completely decadent!

If you live in Boulder (or there abouts) and want to buy peaches for your own delectable crisp, call David Kennedy at 303-449-4213.  The 8th grade class teacher, he's a great guy, one of my favorite people at the school.  His class is sponsoring the fundraiser in order to raise money for their trip this spring.  What a win-win situation --get yourself some good organic, local fruit and help the children raise funds for their adventure.

Saying no. Sometimes this is the only thing to do. E (my 7 year old) was home with a bit of a flu this week. He has actually been lying on the couch whining and whimpering for several days. Today was the first day he felt better and he asked me to make him an apple crisp, which I gladly obliged.

However, when he asked if he could help me prepare it, I told him, "No, people who are not feeling well get to rest and not put their little paws in other people's food." I had paused for a moment before this, considering his request, as baking with my children is one of my favorite activities in the world.

Sometimes we all need to slow down --saying no can be the best way to say yes. My encounter with E reminded me of this. Of the need for boundaries, quiet and rejuvenation. This can be especially true in the winter when we want to go inside and hibernate for a few months.

On another note, I have found that we really are of no use to others unless we take care of ourselves. Hence, the old airline adage --put on your own oxygen mask first, before helping others. This is what I was modeling for my son, saying yes, by saying no.

Gluten Free Apple CrispNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
2 cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
⅓ cup grapeseed oil (formally ½ cup))
¼ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 medium apples, peeled, sliced, then chopped in half width-wise

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg
2. In a smaller bowl, combine oil, agave and vanilla
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry
4. Place apples in a 7x11 inch Pyrex baking dish (a 2 quart Pyrex baking dish or an 8x8 inch Pyrex baking dish)
5. Sprinkle Crumble topping over the apples
6. Cover and bake at 350° for 50 minutes on low rack
7. When apples are soft and their juices bubble, remove cover and bake 10 more minutes to brown crisp
8. Serve warm

Serves 6

This gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan apple crisp is great all year round, though especially soothing in fall and winter. One of my family favorites, children seem to love this healthy dessert dish --my boys and their friends gobble it up time after time.

Gluten Free Pie CrustNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
1½ cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a small bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry
4. Pat dough into a 9½-inch glass pie dish
5. Bake at 325° for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown

Chocolate Cream Filling
2 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk (14 ounces) (thanks Jennie!)
pinch celtic sea salt
¼ cup arrowroot powder
½ cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate chips

1. Bring coconut milk and salt to a boil in a medium pot
2. Sift arrowroot powder into the pot, whisk vigorously by hand or with a hand blender for 2 minutes
3. Whisk in agave and vanilla
4. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 minute
5. Add chocolate, stirring vigorously until completely melted
6. Chill in refrigerator for ½ hour until cool
7. Place in cooled pie crust
8. Serve

Serves 12

The idea for this delicious gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate cream pie recipe was inspired by Heidi of 101 Cookbooks. Although her recipes are not gluten-free, this site is currently my favorite food blog as I find Heidi's recipes completely innovative and her photos mouth watering.

The gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan pie crust recipe above can be used, of course, for any pie, not just the chocolate cream pie. Enjoy!

I think my older son loves to make this pear clafouti recipe with me, just so he can say the word clafouti over and over again.

While I make the batter, he peels the pears, slices them and then takes the peeler and carefully extracts any remaining seeds from the slices. So much love, care and respect for the food he prepares. All the while happily chanting, "clafoutis! clafoutis! clafoutis!" Here it is.

Note: "As the clafouti cooks, the fruit that sat at the bottom will rise up as the batter surrounds the berries. The fruit will also soften and release its wonderful juices into the batter, infusing it with wonderful, bright flavor. The end result is a beautiful, golden dessert. Its consistency will lie somewhere between a custard and a cake," according to chef extraordinaire Eric Ripert.