This low-carb apple pastries recipe makes delicious treats that are everything mini apple pies should be. It’s hard to believe they work for low-carb, diabetic, ketogenic, Atkins, LC/HF, gluten-free, grain-free and Banting diets.
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This low-carb apple pastries come with a warning: they are addictive! The first time I made them, I ate four of them, my husband ate three and Harper ate three. I think the only reason we stopped eating them was because they were gone. I know what you’re thinking and you’re right. Yes, we are gluttons, or at least we behaved like we were.
You may think we are gluttons, but we have an excuse for our gluttonous behavior. These little pies are bursting with apple cinnamon flavor–even the crust is flavored with cinnamon. The gooey apple filling boasts cinnamon as well as a touch of nutmeg and cloves. Yep, it’s just THAT kind of dessert.
I have been craving apple pie for some time now, but hesitated to make a recipe for it because apples are fairly high in carbs and I didn’t think I could make the macro-nutrients work for our site. In an effort to satisfy my apple craving, I tried to make an apple crisp one day and substituted zucchini for the apples. It was worth a try, but it just didn’t taste like apples. Gee, I wonder why.
These little pastries are made with real apple and no zucchini at all. The recipe uses only one medium apple. Seriously, one apple abundantly fills ten biscuit-sized pastries. Because the carbs of one apple are divided by ten, each pastry only has a handful of carbs. Of course, if you eat the whole batch, the carbs add up.
If you want to make these little pies extra special, try them with some low-carb vanilla ice-cream and a drizzle of low-carb caramel sauce. Yes it puts them over the top, but why not?
Enjoy!
-Annissa

Low-Carb Apple Pastries
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 apple about 6 ounces, peeled and chopped into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup stevia/erythritol blend
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- small pinch of nutmeg
- small pinch of cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
For the pastry
- 2/3 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup stevia/erythritol blend
- 1 1/4 teaspoon grain-free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese shredded
- 4 1/2 Tablespoons butter
For the top
- 1 small egg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon stevia/erythritol blend
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Insulated cookie sheets like this one
work best for this recipe, but other sheets are acceptable. Have a rolling pin, parchment paper and biscuit cutter available.
For the filling
- In a small bowl, combine apple pieces and lemon juice. Stir to evenly distribute lemon juice.
- Place sweetener, xanthan gum, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a separate small bowl. Whisk to combine thoroughly. Add blackstrap molasses and whisk in.
- Pour the dry mixture over the apples and stir to evenly coat the apples. Set aside.
For the pastry dough
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, stevia/erythritol mix baking powder and cinnamon using a whisk.
- Break one egg in a small bowl. Add vanilla extract and whisk briefly. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and combine using a spoon. The mixture will appear mealy and egg will not mix in completely.
- Melt the mozzarella cheese and the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat stirring constantly. Don't worry if they do not combine.
- When melted, remove from heat and add the dry ingredients to the cheese and butter, stirring vigorously.
- Place dough on a piece of parchment and kneed together until it resembles bread dough. Divide dough in half. Shape half of the dough into a disk shape and sandwich between two pieces of parchment. Roll dough until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Remove top parchment. Using a biscuit cutter, cut dough into circles. Place circles on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Kneed the bits of dough that weren't cut into circles, together and roll out. Cut additional circles. In the end, you should have 5 circles on each sheet.
- Repeat this procedure using the second half of the dough. These circles will form the tops of the pastries. Place them on a piece of parchment.
- Spoon the apple filling onto the centers of the dough circles on the cookie sheet, dividing it equally among the 10 circles and keeping the filling about 3/8 inch from the edges.
- For the tops, place a circle of dough in the palm of one hand and squish it gently to stretch it slightly. Place the circle over a circle with filling. Gently press the edges of the two circles together, first with you fingers and then using the tines of a fork. Repeat for remaining tops.
- Cut steam holes in the top of each pastry using the tip of a sharp knife.
For the tops
- Break egg in a small bowl and whisk briefly.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the sweetener and the cinnamon.
- Using a pastry brush, lightly brush a bit of egg over the top of the pastries. Sprinkle lightly with sweetener and cinnamon mixture.
- Place pastries in the the preheated oven. Bake for 16-19 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Watch carefully as these pastries will burn quickly.
Recipe Notes
Per pastry:
Calories 155
Fat (g) 10.8
Carbs (g) 11.3
Fiber (g) 5.5
Protein (g) 4.5
Net Carbs (g) 5.8
These sound so delicious! And I love that they are low carb. Beautiful photos!
Omigoodness, yum!! I am definitely making these! Thank you for the recipe!
These look so good! I love apple anything!
These low carb apple pastries look amazing! It’s hard to find healthier desserts that are yummy. Great to know this one is a winner! I love the low carb ice creams and the carmel sauce is my fave, so i think i’m in trouble. Ha!
This looks so good! I’m always looking for recipes like this around the holiday season. Can’t wait to make it and taste it for myself 🙂
I love how these are low carb. Perfect for the holidays! They look delicious.
Oh wow, these look BEAUTIFUL! I love even more the fact that they are gluten-free!!! I’ve still got soooo many apples that I need something to do with, so this is the perfect recipe. Thanks for sharing <3
I love that these are low carb! I try to watch my carbs but love sweets so this is a great option!!
Yum! These look so delicious. I can’t wait to try my hand at making them!
These look soooo yummy – and your photos are beautiful!
Your photos are making me hungry. I’ve not tried to make a dough like this before. Is this what they call “fathead” – with all the mozzarella? They look delicious!
Yes, it’s a version of “fathead” dough
-Annissa
This looks so good! I love that it’s low carb!
Apples are never a bad food, and these little pastries look delectable! Great photos, too!
Thanks!
Oh my goodness!!! So yummy without all the guilt!!
I can’t believe these are Gluten Free! This recipe will be added to our must make list!
Hi,
These look so yummy but what could I use instead of xanthan gum?
Thanks
Joanne
I think it would be okay to leave it out of this recipe. The crust might not rise as much, but I don’t think leaving it out will cause the recipe to fail.
What can be used in place of molasses and the stevia/erythritol blend?
I’m not sure what you have available. Maybe allulose? If you use this you will want to double the amount. Swapping out sweeteners can be risky as they don’t all act the same.
-Annissa