Today’s guest post is from Canadian Food Blogger, Megan of Let’s Beat the Wheat. Stacy found the adorable Megan on Instagram, where she even posted about harvesting the ingredients this very recipe! Megan;s awesome recipe is for a dairy-free, Paleo Apple Pie Cheesecake. No, srsly. APPLE. PIE. CHEESECAKE – what a perfect addition to your Holiday Pinterest Board for this Thanksgiving! We just went apple picking a couple of times recently, and are loving finding ways to use up all the local, organic, seasonal produce. This another great Apple Recipe to add to our collection!
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Hi everyone my name is Megan from Let’s beat the wheat, and I am so excited to be guest posting on Paleo Parents! In 2007, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, which is an autoimmune disease affecting the gastrointestinal tract. After having my third baby in November 2013, I realized it was time to change the way I ate in order to improve my health. I was eating horribly in general, and while I was pregnant, I ate even worse because I had no Crohn’s flare-ups (during pregnancy the woman’s autoimmune system shuts down). I felt great even though I ate whatever I wanted, but that changed quickly once my baby was born. My flare-ups got really bad very quickly, and I felt quite desperate for a solution that did not involve taking medication. I heard about the Paleo diet in January 2014 and decided to go for it. I quit dairy, grain, wheat and refined sugar immediately; I went cold turkey and I am so thankful for it because I saw results within the first couple of weeks. Although I struggle with relapses due to food sensitivities, the Paleo diet works for me.
I wanted to share this recipe with you because Thanksgiving is upon us – it’s next weekend in Canada and next month in the USA. Plus I love the fall! The smell in my house when we cook the turkey and all the other good stuff that goes with it is amazingly delicious! My family all gathers in the kitchen just to smell the food and pick away while we cook.
The best part is the dessert; we always have pumpkin pie so this time I have created something a little different. This recipe is an apple pie cheesecake and it’s dairy free. It is not hard to make and it’s perfect for Thanksgiving. In my opinion, it’s AMAZING, and I hope that you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as I do!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of almond flour
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- ½ cup of coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup of palm shortening
- !Cheesecake
- 2 ½ cups of cashews (soak the cashews for 2 hours or longer)
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 tsp of lemon juice
- 3 tbsp of coconut milk
- !Caramel
- 1 cup of honey
- ¼ cup of coconut sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1/3 of a cup of coconut milk
- !Topping
- 4 apples peeled
- 2 tsp of cinnamon
- 2 tbsp of water
- 1/3 of cup of pecan pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 345 degrees. Mix the crust ingredients in a stand up mixer until the palm shortening is blended into the sugar and flour and it looks crumbly. Pour the mixture into a 9x9 spring form pan.
- Pat down the crust mixture until flat and the bottom of the pan is covered. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until slightly brown. Take the crust out of the oven to cool.
- Keep the oven on and slice the peeled apples into quarters (I used an apple slicer) place the apples in a dish with the cinnamon and water. Mix them up with a spoon and place in oven for 15 minutes until the apples are soft.
- In the meantime make the cheesecake filling. Drain and rinse the cashews and pour them into a blender with the vanilla, lemon and coconut milk. I recommend using a spoon to mix it up a bit because you don’t want the mixture runny. Blend the ingredients until they are mixed, and the cashews are fully ground. Pour the cashew mixture onto the crust and spread evenly. Place in the freezer while you make the apples and caramel.
- Once the apples are cooked, drain the left over water and set the apples aside.
- To make the caramel, pour the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a medium boil. Boil for seven minutes until you start to see a thick texture. Simmer for ten minutes. Take the caramel off the heat to cool for five minutes.
- Take the springform pan out of the freezer and spoon the apples onto the cashew mix in a circle design and then pour the caramel on top in a drizzle design. Sprinkle the pecan pieces on top.
- Place in the freezer for two hours to set. When you are ready to serve, slice with a flat knife and store in the fridge for up to two days. Enjoy!
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://paleoparents.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Meagan-Square.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]My name is Megan Redden and I live in Ontario, Canada with my three children, my husband Michael and our dog Joey. Although my children and husband do not eat fully Paleo, they enjoy my Paleo recipes and they do their best to support me in my journey to fight Crohn’s. I love to cook and I love my home; I am a homebody but also love to go to the cottage, hike, swim and have outdoor adventures with my family.
Connect with Megan: | Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest |[/author_info] [/author]
