Low Histamine Recipe: Breakfast Apple Pie (Sugar Free and Gluten Free)

I was planning on waiting to post this, but I kept on getting inbox messages and honestly am so excited about it that I had to drop everything to bring you the recipe for a breakfast pie that’s so delicious it will change your life! (And possibly digestive health)….

Recently, I wrote a post on the benefits of stewed apples on histamine intolerance. As explained in my other post, preparing apples in this way actually has the power to modify gene expression, inflammation, bacterial balance, estrogen responses and cell cycles, all through a fantastic biological mechanism involving aryl hydrocarbon receptors. (If you’re interested in the scientific breakdown behind all of these benefits, you can read about them here.)

But, let's just say that the gist of it is we are now understanding more and more how the gut acts as an epicentre for our health. Stewed apples have an excellent impact on gut health, the gut microbiome and so much more as I mentioned briefly above.

Stewed apples can therefore make your tummy happier and your overall health - including histamine intolerance and histamine intolerance symptoms - feel dramatically better.

Here’s Why You Should Eat This Delicious Low Histamine Pie Every Day

Due to discovering all of the amazing benefits involved from daily consumption of delicious stewed apples, I decided to incorporate this into my daily routine and see how it goes (the verdict so far: delicious).

But the taste was so reminiscent of apple pie filling that pretty soon I was dying for a slice of delicious pie with every meal. Being the mostly gluten free nutritionist that I am (I'm absolutely pro enjoying your life and going off course on occasion as long as your body can handle it and symptoms don't go crazy), I decided it was time to invent a guilt-free pie that I could monstrously devour in one sitting, while scientifically considering it a health-enhancing therapy. Now that’s what I call a win-win. And I'm super pleased with the outcome. 

To expand on the above, enjoying some of your favorite foods even if they are considered "unhealthy" can be a healthy act in itself, if your body can tolerate it. For example, if your closest friends or family gets you a surprise birthday cake on your special day, the stress of refusing to eat it due to the ingredients it contains can be worse for your health than just enjoying a slice and having a good laugh. Letting go of the occasional off-plan food can also take the anxiety out of build up to these occasions. In fact, you'll be far less likely to react to small intakes of off-plan foods if you're less stressed, as your digestive system works best when you're in a rest and digest state. 

Of course, this is not to be taken out of context. If you are severely gluten intolerant or celiac, for example, then of course the physical damage of consuming that cake would be way worse than avoiding it, and even cause additional stress. So, I'm not saying eat the cake and pay for it later, I'm definitely encouraging you to only do it if you feel like it's something you can tolerate and actually enjoy on occasion. 

And I would hope if you are gluten-intolerant or celiac, your friends and family would know about it and think to get you a gluten-free cake instead :)

But, in any case, there are benefits to experiencing the pleasure of treating ourselves once in a while. What we may not always realize though is that many of these treats can be made in a way that's just as delicious and incredibly nutritious, that we can feel like we are having treats way more frequently without adding a physical stressor into our lives. 

We can experience the pleasure often alongside of the health benefits, rather than feeling like we are stuck in a constant battle of having to pick between the two things, and that's what this recipe is all about!

So, although a slice of this pie makes a great dessert, I’ve also designed this recipe to be a stand-alone meal, with well-rounded nutritional and caloric considerations to keep you feeling full throughout the day.

And before I get into the recipe, let's take a look at the low histamine ingredients. 

 

 

Your New Favorite Low Histamine Apple Pie Is Also Highly Nutritious

The ingredients are simple. 

We start with coconut, which is a great source of healthy fat (1). This low histamine flour option makes a lovely, flaky pie crust with that sweet, nutty coconut flavor to add to it. 

I do use egg in this recipe, which I always get asked about. It's really only raw egg white that people don't tolerate when it comes to histamine intolerance, but baking this pie crust will ensure the egg is cooked all the way through. If you know you don't tolerate eggs at all, you can try to use just the egg yolks (adding an extra yolk and thinning it out with some coconut milk), or try substituting with a vegan butter option. 

We add a little vanilla extract (alcohol-free of course) to add a little sweetness (2), and then we round off the ingredients with apples. And if you've ever heard the saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away, it's just another reason to nosh on this nutritious apple pie as often as you like. Even with the higher content of fruit sugar in apples, the fiber they contain help to stabilize your blood sugar. The fiber also feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut, which makes it an excellent way to improve digestive function (3). There are also compounds in apples called polyphenols that helps to mitigate bad cholesterol, keep your blood pressure in check and reduce inflammation. Need more convincing? I thought not! 

Below I've provided you with the variety of apples that I would generally use, knowing that their nutritional value is the highest out of all apples, but you can use any variety you choose. 

And that's it! 

Let's get straight into my "keep-you-full-all-morning, immune regulating, digestive health improving, low histamine, delicious tasting" breakfast apple pie:

Low Histamine Apple Pie: The Recipe

Ingredients (makes one 8×6 inch baking dish):

Crust

• 5 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Filling

• 2 apples of your choice (Bramley or Granny Smith have the highest polyphenol content to maximize the digestive benefits)
• ¼ cup water

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Mix all ingredients for the crust together in a bowl. It helps to melt the coconut oil for a few seconds in the microwave if your house is cold and the coconut oil is solidified.
3. Press the dough into the baking dish to cover the bottom and go up the sides.
4. Place the pie shell in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. While the pie shell is baking, peel and core the apples, and cut them into thin slices.
6. Add the apples and water into a heavy-bottomed pot and cook on medium-high for 10 minutes, or until the apples form a soft pulpy mass no longer discernible as individual apple slices. Set aside.
7. Once the pie crust is cooked and cooled, pour the pie filling into the crust.

Voila! Delicious apple pie. I encourage you to try eating this every day for 2 weeks, and see if you experience digestive improvements! Wishing you all happy taste buds and happy tummies! 

 

 

References:

1.  Hewlings S. Coconuts and Health: Different Chain Lengths of Saturated Fats Require Different Consideration. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. 2020;7(4):59. Published 2020 Dec 17. doi:10.3390/jcdd7040059
2. Bertelsen, A. S., Zeng, Y., Mielby, L. A., Sun, Y.-X., Byrne, D. V., & Kidmose, U. (2020). Cross-modal Effect of Vanilla Aroma on Sweetness of Different Sweeteners among Chinese and Danish Consumers. Food Quality and Preference, 104036.
3. Wassermann, B., Müller, H., & Berg, G. (2019). An Apple a Day: Which Bacteria Do We Eat With Organic and Conventional Apples? Frontiers in Microbiology, 10. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01629