Gluten & dairy free apple tart

Yes, it's possible, and it's delicious too! I’ve been gluten and dairy free for many years...about 11 year to-date, but I’m honestly not counting.  I’ll never go back; those foods just don’t make me feel good on any level.

To be clear, I’m not saying that gluten and dairy should be shunned by everyone (though recently it's increasingly common to avoid gluten, even if you don't know what it is (!) - if you haven’t seen Jimmy Kimmel’s piece on gluten, I highly recommend taking < 4 minutes to watch this). There are definitely some cases where it should be avoided, but that’s material for another post…I was introduced to the original recipe from The World’s Healthiest Foods while I was in the throes of Bauman College’s Natural Chef training course.  I admit that the idea of eating a raw apple tart initially grossed me out!  However, I was proven wrong, it was delicious.  Now, every time I make this dessert it is literally devoured, with delight, by everyone at the table. The only changes I recommend making to the original recipe are as follows:

• Halve the recipe for the base. Note, I halve it and it fits perfectly within my 7” Nordic Ware spring-foam baking pan.

• Consider lightly toasting the walnuts in advance to enhance their flavor (just make sure you allow them to cool before combining them with the dates).Note, you can also substitute with any other nut you prefer. FYI - another favorite of mine for this recipe is toasted pecans.

• Eliminate the raisins and the honey (in my opinion they make it too sweet)

• Make sure you choose a freshly squeezed apple juice with no sugar added (it already contains sufficient natural sugars), and start the recipe by adding just ¼ of the apple juice - I find that’s enough to get a caramelized liquid to brush over the top of the sauteed apples

• I love to serve this with either homemade coconut whipped cream or 1 small scoop of coconut bliss ice-cream