Deep-Dish, Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler

It was time to use the rest of my peaches, or freeze them. I did freeze quite a few plastic freezer bags full, but I had a request (by my husband) to please make a peach cobbler. Normally, it would have been easy -- buy pie crusts, cut up some peaches, add sugar, flour and butter and bake.

The only problem is that I can't use flour or butter now. So I had to put on my thinking cap and try to come up with something that would make everyone happy. This cobbler was the result.

I started out by making a crust for the top only. I think this is best when making a gluten-free pie. If one is put off by the taste or texture of the crust, they'll love the peaches baked in sugar inside which makes up most of the pie.

I used a deep-dish stoneware casserole dish, sprayed it with cooking spray and then cut up enough peaches to fit my dish (This dish holds almost as much as a 9 x 13 dish because of the height of the dish.) It took about 6 large peaches to fill the dish. The peaches will shrink a bit so I made sure they were mounded over the top. Then I transferred my peaches to a bowl. To this, I added 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of tapioca flour, which makes a great thickener. I then dotted the top with about five teaspoons of non-trans fat margarine. Some like to add cinnamon but I don't care for cinnamon with peaches. I save the cinnamon for apples. The cobbler was then ready for the crust.

I then made my crust, using the recipe below.

Gluten-Free Pie Crust

There are so many pie crust recipes out there so use one you prefer. (You can also purchase gluten-free crusts at Whole Foods.)

1-1/2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup coconut oil (Coconut oil is solid rather than liquid.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons agave nectar or maple syrup
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

In a small mixing bowl, using a pastry knife, mix the coconut oil into the rice flour. Add salt, agave nectar and ice water, one tablespoon at a time until it all works together into a smooth dough.

Roll out the dough for the size of the pie top onto a sheet of parchment paper, using a rolling pin dusted with rice flour. Flip the parchment and rolled out dough onto the top of the pie and use the excess around the sides to make it thicker. The sides will become a bit browner and it is nice to have a thicker crust there.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 40 minutes longer or until cobbler is golden brown. Allow to cool. Serve alone or with whipped topping or ice cream (if you have a problem with ice cream try coconut milk ice cream.)

Is this a healthy alternative? Probably healthier than a normal cobbler but there is still a great deal of fat and sugar. I am just trying to minimize allergic symptoms and give alternatives. It was very good.