Gluten Free Apple Cobbler

Tis the season for fresh apples harvested from the tree only a few hours, minutes or days before we get to consume them, which is not the case for the remainder of the year. I learned this year that different apples come on at different times. I guess if I'd thought about it, I'd have known this, but having never had an orchard this was a new one for me. 


While on our fall vacation, my hubby told me that cobbler and pie is by far his favorite dessert. He'd said this a number of times before, but happened to be enjoying a bowl of mixed berry cobbler at the Inn and Spa at Cedar Falls, Logan, Ohio, on this particular occasion. Being newly gluten free (GF), I had the flourless chocolate cake, but I truly coveted his cobbler. So, I guess that's why it came to mind today as I was looking through my kitchen to determine what we had on hand in the pantry and fridge that needed to be used up as I set to prepared Sunday dinner.


Fortunately, our toddler happens to love apples and, therefore, as soon as local orchards began to harvest their apples, we were on their door step ready to purchase different varieties along with the perfect apple cider. Our first stop this year was Adrian Orchard on the south side of Indy. We brought home three varieties this first visit and found that some we liked more than others. What to do with those that we didn't care to eat out of hand? Make apple cobbler, of course!


In the past, this would have been a much simpler undertaking, but due to my new GF status, I had to do a little research. The recipe below was derived from a variety of sources, as well as past practice from my own kitchen. If you maintain a gluten free lifestyle, for whatever the reason, it's an easy one and uses things that are often found in a GF pantry. If you don't and just want a recipe that allows you to vary the grains and flours your family consumes, then it's a good one to try. 


As with most GF recipes, the gluten free flours are interchangeable, but do keep in mind that some work better than others in combination. This was my first use of quinoa flakes. I recently learned, through experience, that I can no longer tolerate oats. Or, at least, I have to purchase gluten free oats (which simply means that the oats are processed on equipment that processes only gluten free foods). I love quinoa as a grain, but in past uses have found the flour to have a very distinctive flavor that can permeate the overall flavor of your finished dish. Through this recipe, I found that by using quinoa flakes (like oatmeal, but made from the quinoa grain) and combining them with Almond Flour/Meal (made of ground almonds), the almond flavor offset the undesirable residual flavor from the quinoa nicely. This was also my first foray into using almond flour and I found it to be a nice addition to this recipe. I'm not sure I'd use it in all recipes that I convert to GF, but for baking, it may become a staple. 


GF Apple Cobbler
Prepare an 8x8 glass baking dish by coating it lightly with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place an oven rack on the middle rung of your oven.


Filling
Combine the following in the baking dish:

• 5 smallish apples any variety you like, washed and cored, chopped into 1" pieces
• few pinches of ground cinnamon, or to taste I like Frontier or Watkins
• small pinch of ground ginger
• fresh grated nutmeg to taste or a pinch of ground
• pinch of ground all spice
• 1/4 cup agave syrup you can reduce or eliminate this if your apples are sweet enough; you can also sub the syrup for any other sweetner you like
• 2 tbsp minute tapioca   
• 3/4 cup apple cider, reduced to 1/4 cup
• pinch of salt

Prepare the apples, adding them to the baking dish as you cut them. Add the spices and tapioca, including salt, and mix to combine. Add agave syrup and cider reduction and stir apple mixture once more to ensure even coating. Set aside while you prepare the topping.


Topping
In a small mixing bowl combine the following:

• 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
• 1 cup puffed rice cereal
• 1 cup almond flour 
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• pinch of salt

Add:

• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp butter, softened

Stir flours, cereal and salt to combine and distribute the salt. Add the vegetable oil and stir again to distribute oil. The flour mixture will begin to look like grains of sand. Add the softened butter and, with clean hands, cut the butter into the flour mixture until large clumps form. 


Retrieve the apple mixture and place clumps of the topping on top of the apples. Pat the clumps of topping to cover the entire top of the baking dish. Your topping will likely look more wet than a traditional crust, but will dry and form a crust when baked.


Bake the cobbler for ~30 minutes, checking after 25 minutes. Adjust baking time as necessary for your oven to create a golden crispy crust. The dish is finished baking when the crust looks like a traditional pie crust - golden and delicious with a nice crispy texture.


Serve alone, warm or room temp, or with vanilla ice cream. My darling hubby also likes his with a bit of whole milk or, gulp, half and half (few tablespoons) if he's in the mood to splurge. Reheat for a few seconds in the microwave for subsequent servings. 


This makes a great fall dessert, a good breakfast or a tasty snack. 


~Enjoy