I have created the perfect cheat-sheet for you to make your favorite hot apple pie with melting ice cream on top, topped with a tasty ‘caramel’ drizzle – everything SANS the sugar… and you are going to love it!!
Ok, time for a quick analogy!! – I once saw a show where the host tried a vegan burger topped with various condiments like mustard, aoili’s, ketchup, pickles etc…and he was stunned to find out that it tasted so similar to beef burgers.
Why am I bringing this up?
Sometimes the taste of the recipe is not because of presence/absence of 1 ingredient – in the case of pie: sugar, but because of the composite of all the other ingredients that remind us of apple pie.
Why I love the deconstructed apple pie:
The apple pie has all the elements of the apple pie (butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, pecans) without the sugar.
Also, I am using Gala apples (a far sweeter variety than Granny Smith apples). They are naturally sweet and crisp but not sour. If you choose a sour apple (like Granny Smith), you need sugar to balance it out.
Why I love the Healthy Ice Cream:
I already am a fan of homemade frozen banana ice-cream. It is super easy to make and reaches that yummy goeey-consistency right away. Store-bought ice creams have to be kept outside for at least 20 minutes to get that nice creamy consistency.
Sweet and delicious from the natural sweetness of ripe bananas plus the roasted cashew flavor in this recipe just puts it over the top!!.
Why I love the Caramel Drizzle:
This date- almond butter caramel drizzle is inspired from Sarah at Mynewroots. It is delicious enough to eat directly straight out of the jar.
I wish I had the patience and artistry to put it into a drizzle bottle and make a more artistic presentation. Meh – You know me…Tastes absolutely great though!! 🙂
Lack of Sugar
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Did we really not miss the sugar? Sugar traps water and makes pies moist. So, yes – The lack of sugar will make the deconstructed pie taste a little dry. But we have compensated for that with 2 items – 1) butter to roast the apples and 2) the melting ice-cream on top.
What about Ice cream? You cannot make a creamy, regular ice cream with zero sugar; let alone even reduced sugar. You know why? It’s because sugar is very necessary in ice creams to prevent icy crystals from being formed and getting rock-hard ice creams. But, with the frozen bananas; we are just blitzing the crystals right before serving – so Voila!! no sugar necessary!!
For the caramel sauce, honestly, there is no need for refined sugar. The natural sugar and creaminess in good-quality dates has all the required properties to sail you to sweet bliss!!
Recipe
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Deconstructed apple pie with ice cream + caramel sauce (zero sugar added)
Course: RecipesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes20
minutes300
kcalDeconstructed apple pie + creamy ice cream drizzled with caramel sauce (zero sugar added). So healthy, so yummy!!
Ingredients
- Apple Pie
4 Gala Apple Peeled and Chopped*
Butter – 1/4 cup
Raisins – Handful
Pecan – 1 cup chopped
Cinnamon Powdered – 1 tsp
Nutmeg – a pinch
- Creamy Ice Cream
Frozen Bananas – 2-3 roughly cut
Salted, roasted cashews – 1/2 cup
Soy milk – 1/4 cup or more
- Caramel Sauce
Soft Dates – 1.5 cups deseeded*
Almond Butter – 2 Tbsp
Lemon Juice – 4 tsp
Vanilla – a splash
Salt – a pinch
Water – 1/2 cup (or more for thin consistency)
Directions
- Deconstructed Apple Pie
- Preheat oven to 300F. Roast pecans in the oven for 5 minutes. Pecans burn easily. So, check for every minute after that until 8 minutes. Take them out, cool and chop them up.
- Chop apples into small cubes and roast on a pan with butter on medium heat for a few minutes.
- Add a handful of raisins, cinnamon powder keep stirring until it reaches a golden brown consistency. (between 5-9 minutes).
- Grate nutmeg, add chopped pecans at the end and give it a final stir
- Creamy Ice Cream
- Add frozen bananas, roasted cashews to food processor. Run the processor until the frozen banana pieces become small pebble-like.
- Add soy milk and run until you get desired creamy consistency.
- Caramel Sauce
- Grind all ingredients in a high powered blender until you reach desired consistency, adding more water if you want.
- Final assembly
- Apple pie, then scoops of ice cream, then drizzle of caramel and top it off with pecans. Serve!!
Notes
- Use Gala or any sweet variety of apple. Try not to use sour varieties for this sugar-free recipe.
- Use soft dates directly or if you have hard dates, soak them in hot water.
Conclusion
I realize that this recipe is not truly sugar-free (at a molecular level). The fruits and dates are made of fructose and sucrose, after all. But, they also contain fiber and other vitamins/minerals that sugar does not have.
I also genuinely like the wholesome taste of natural sweeteners (not just for health fad reasons, but their actual flavor). We have all been so flooded with white sugar around us, that I think we don’t stop to realize we do not need that sharp sweetness all the time.
Ok, I really hope you give this recipe a try!! At our home, we just love this recipe. Once, I kid you not, we made a breakfast out of this recipe. Cool, sweet, refreshing, full of fruits, and nuts – kids and adults favorite!!
Do try this healthy “deconstructed apple pie with ice cream and caramel (no sugar added) recipe. Please post your comments and feedback below!! I look forward to reading them!!
Post your comments here....I look forward to reading them!!