While making this Paleo and Gluten-Free Vegan Rustic Pear Galette the other day, I had a passing thought about the crust possibly working really well for some apple pockets. Well that thought never left my mind, especially since I'm swamped with apples galore from our wild apple trees. We've literally been having apple pies, apple crisps, apple butters, apple sauce, and baked apples on a daily basis. So today I thought of finally giving this apple pockets idea a go and ended up with something super delicious as a result! These gluten-free vegan and paleo shortbread apple pockets have the perfect combination of moist sweetness and tartness on the inside and a shortbread-like shell. And being made of all very simple real food ingredients, they of course got gobbled up in a jiffy by some friends I had over for dinner! I only wish I had some vanilla ice cream on hand for the occasion, as these would pair really well with that -- highly recommended :) .
P.S. These would make an amazing breakfast or lunch box treat!
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Shortbread Apple Pockets
Prep Time: 30 minutes- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 7 apple pockets
Category: Hand Pies
Method: Baked
Cuisine: Dessert
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Pin RecipeDescription
Gluten-free vegan and paleo shortbread apple pockets: the perfect combo of moist sweetness and tartness on the inside and a shortbread-like shell outside!e shell
Ingredients
Crust:
- ¾ cup coconut manna (coconut butter), warmed/softened
- ½ cup coconut oil, liquified or very soft
- ¾ cup maple syrup, at room temp.
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup tapioca starch
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ⅛ tsp cloves
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
Filling:
- 7-12 tablespoon apple butter (I used my homemade recipe. Unsweetened store-bought apple butter would work well too)
- approx. ½ an apple, cored and thinly sliced
- approx. ¼ cup maple syrup
- approx. 7 tablespoon raisins
- Some cinnamon for sprinkling
Crust Wash:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, combine the coconut manna, coconut oil, sweetener, vanilla, and water. Add in remaining crust ingredients and knead by hand until a sticky dough forms. Form it into a ball. Then separate and form the dough into 7 smaller balls.
2. Line a rolling out surface with a small piece of parchment paper. Place a dough ball on the parchment paper. Press down the dough ball a bit to flatten into a disc. Cover with a second same-sized piece of parchment paper on top and carefully roll out the dough to a circle with a diameter roughly the size of your hand, and to a ¼″ thickness. Don't worry if it's not a perfect circle or if the edges are a bit jagged at this point.
3. Remove the top layer of parchment. Spread approximately 1 - 2 tablespoon apple butter over one half of the circle, leaving a 1" clean rim. Top with a few thin slices of apple. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon raisins and with some cinnamon. Drizzle a bit of the maple syrup (approx 2-3 tsp) on top. Note: you're working with just half of your dough circle right now -- keep the other half clean.
4. To fold the dough over, lift up the parchment paper from underneath on the side that's clean (where there's no filling in the circle) and fold it over the side with the filling. Press down lightly and then peel away the parchment paper from the top. Use your fingers to press down the edges of the apple pocket to close the pocket shut and to even out the shape into a semi-circle. Also gently fix any tears or breaks. Use a fork to press down the edges a bit to seal them more and to create that pretty pattern around the edges. Transfer the apple pocket by lifting it up along with the parchment paper underneath it and place it on a cookie sheet.
5. Line your rolling out surface with a new small piece of parchment paper and repeat the process (steps 2-4) for the remaining 6 dough balls.
6. Once all the turnovers are on your cookie sheet, use a butter knife to cut a few slits in each apple pocket (I made a little criss-cross pattern on top of mine). You can place them quite close to each other by the way, as they don't change size or leak (if you sealed them well, that is).
7. Prepare the crust wash by mixing all the wash ingredients together in a small bowl. Brush each pocket with the wash using a pastry brush.
8. Place the entire tray of apple pockets into the fridge and refrigerate for approximately 20 minutes. In the meantime pre-heat the oven to 375F.
9. Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 23 - 25 minutes until the edges are lightly golden. Remove tray from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool off a bit. They may look a little cracked at first, but they settle as they cool and regain their prettiness :) . Enjoy these warm or room temp, ideally with a side of vanilla ice cream!
This is a nice website, thank you for taking the time to write the article.
You only use 1/2 apple for all 7 pockets?
Hi Patricia. Yes, that's correct. A lot of the apple flavor here comes from the apple butter, which is a concentrated baked apple mixture. The 1/2 an apple just gives the filling a bit more texture.
Hi, this looks delicious! What can I use to replace the coconut manna/butter?
Thanks!
Hi Su,
It's an essential part of the dough because it adds both fat + texture. You can make your own coconut butter / manna by blending down shredded coconut (in a food processor or a power blender -- it takes a about 10 mins, but is very simple).
This has "fall" written all over it. They look so delicious, and I bet your house smelled like heaven after baking these beauties! Thanks for linking up at Natural Living Monday!
Thanks Margaret Anne! The house did smell amazing! :) That's the best part of fall, isn't it? The aromas can be mesmerizing...
These look beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing this on Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, I’ve pinned it : )
Thanks Danielle! Happy to share ;)