Rice Free Paleo Cassava Flour Apple Hand Pies
Warm spiced apples tucked inside a golden, flaky crust — these hand pies deliver everything you want from a classic pastry without a single grain of rice or rice-derived starch in sight. Cassava flour does the heavy lifting here, producing a dough that actually rolls out, crimps, and bakes up with a satisfying snap that can be surprisingly hard to achieve with grain-free alternatives. The filling is simple but deeply fragrant: diced apples cooked down with maple syrup, cinnamon, and ginger until jammy and glossy, with arrowroot starch stepping in to thicken the juices into something that stays put inside the pastry instead of leaking everywhere. Solid coconut oil worked into the flour with your fingertips creates those essential pea-sized crumbs that translate to flaky, tender layers once baked. The individual hand-pie format makes them easy to serve, easy to pack, and honestly just fun to eat — no slicing, no fuss. Let them cool for a full ten minutes before you bite in, because that bubbling apple filling holds heat longer than you'd expect.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
For the crust
- 2 cups cassava flour, plus more for dusting
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup coconut oil, solid (not melted)
- 6–8 tbsp ice water
- 1 large egg, beaten (for egg wash)
For the filling
- 3 medium apples (about 1 lb), peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch dice
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp arrowroot starch
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- 1
Make the filling: melt 1 tbsp coconut oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the diced apples, maple syrup, cinnamon, and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are just tender and the liquid has reduced slightly, about 6–8 minutes. Stir in the arrowroot starch and lemon juice and cook for 1 minute more, until the juices thicken and coat the apples. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely, about 20–30 minutes.
- 2
Make the crust: whisk together the cassava flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the solid coconut oil in small spoonfuls and work it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining.
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