Mc Quick Apple Pie

This is the apple pie for diet weeks and clean-eating runs. There’s no pastry, no added sugar, and barely any fat. Half a cup of crushed Grape Nuts cereal scatters across a covered casserole dish to form a wholegrain ‘crust.' Six thinly sliced apples toss with thawed apple juice concentrate, cinnamon, and coriander, then mound over the cereal and bake until tender.

Coriander is the unexpected spice that distinguishes this from any other healthy apple pie. The seed’s subtle citrus-floral note pairs beautifully with cinnamon and the sweetness of apple juice concentrate, adding complexity without adding sugar.

Apple juice concentrate handles all the sweetening. The cooked-down concentrate carries enough fruit sugar to taste like real pie filling without needing white sugar. Any sweet apple variety works; tart Granny Smith would need a touch of extra sweetener.

Bake covered first to soften the apples and absorb juice, then uncover for the last 10 to 15 minutes to brown the cereal and concentrate the juices. The Grape Nuts on the bottom soak up some of the apple liquid and turn into a chewy-crisp ‘crust’ with a granola-like character.

Pro Tips

• Slice the apples thin (⅛ inch) and uniform. Thicker slices won’t fully cook through during the 45-minute covered bake.
• Use the lid that came with your casserole dish, or improvise tightly with foil. The covered phase is what makes the apples tender; without it they stay crunchy.
• Sprinkle additional cinnamon on top before serving if the spice level seems light. The cereal absorbs some flavor as it sits.
• Serve warm with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt for a higher-protein finish, or sugar-free vanilla ice cream for a lighter dessert.

Variations

• Swap apple juice concentrate for orange juice concentrate for a citrus-spiked version.
• Add ¼ cup raisins or dried cranberries to the apple mixture for chewy bursts of sweetness.
• Top with toasted almonds or chopped walnuts before baking for a healthy crunch.