I had pie for breakfast today. I mean, I didn’t *only* eat pie. But pie was definitely present. Maybe topped with a couple of tablespoons of coconut ice cream.
There are several reasons for this. First: Monday. Second: it’s “healthy” pie, filled with plums! (I keep telling myself this.) Third: pie reminds me of Alaska–and as you know, I love Alaska. Alaska may have been where I baked my very first pie, and it’s certainly where I’ve baked most of them. This is because of the berries. Alaska produces an extraordinary abundance of berries (there is even an entire fabulous cookbook dedicated to them!).
Blueberries …
salmon berries …
highbush cranberries …
lowbush cranberries, watermelon berries, cloudberries, crowberries, nagoonberries … on and on and on. We used to spend hours out crawling around on hands and knees, filling our bellies and ziploc bags full. Back at the homestead, we would proceed to bake and make: jams, muffins, breads, pancakes, and many, many pies.
Today was a very Alaska summer day here in Montana. It was cool (highs in the upper 40s to low 50s) and rainy (snow above 7500′!), curtains of clouds rising and falling over the mountains. It was a day that called for pie–for breakfast.
Paleo Plum Pie
Almond crust: 2 C almond flour 1/4 t sea salt 1/4 t baking soda 1/4 C coconut oil, melted 2 T maple syrup 1 t vanilla
Filling: 2 lbs plums, pitted and sliced (leave the peels on for beautiful color!) 1/3 C maple syrup 1/2 C tapioca flour 1/4 t salt juice & zest of 1 lemon
Crumble topping: 1/2 C almond flour 1/2 C raw almonds 1/2 C quartered, pitted medjool dates 1/4 C coconut oil 1/4 t salt 1/4 t cinnamon
Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, salt & baking soda.
In a small bowl, stir together the coconut oil, maple syrup & vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir to combine. The dough will still be a bit stickier than a wheat flour dough, but you should be able to work with it.
Press the dough onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9 1/2″ pie pan or fluted tart pan. Prick the bottom of the crust a few times with a fork.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes. The crust will puff up substantially (this is okay!) and turn golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Filling:
While the crust is cooling, whisk together the filling ingredients: maple syrup, tapioca flour, salt, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir in the sliced plums to coat.
When crust is cool, pour the plum filling mixture into the pie pan.
Crumble Topping:
Place all of the crumble ingredients into the bowl of a food processor.
Pulse until the dates and whole almonds are coarsely chopped, and the ingredients have formed a loose crumble.
Spoon the topping on top of the plums, leaving about an inch of space between the crumble and the crust.
Baking:
Before baking, cover the exposed crust with a pie crust shield or aluminum foil.
Bake in a 350-degree F oven for an hour. After 15 minutes, check to see if the top has browned. If so, cover the pie loosely with foil for the remaining time so that the crumble doesn’t burn. If not, continue checking every 5 minutes or so and cover with foil as needed.
The best part:
Top a slice with a scoop of ice cream, and enjoy any time of day (it makes a great breakfast!)
