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Cinnamon-less Apple Pie
My husband and I love apple pie. But my husband is deathly allergic to cinnamon. Is there a recipe for apple pie that doesn’t ask for cinnamon? Thanks for your help.
--Janet Powell
Hi Janet,
Well, cinnamon and apples is a classic flavor combination, so most sweet apple recipes call for cinnamon. Indeed, I just checked all of the apple pie and tart recipes on the site, and every single one of them uses cinnamon!
But do not fear! You can simply substitute another spice for the cinnamon in a recipe – or just omit the cinnamon altogether. Good substitutes for cinnamon are nutmeg and allspice. You could also use ground ginger, cardamom, or ground cloves, although those will provide a flavor that is further away from cinnamon than nutmeg and allspice. No matter what you use to substitute cinnamon, start with about half the amount of the substitute, then add more to taste. This is because cinnamon has a more mellow flavor than the other spices. You don’t want to overwhelm the recipe with the spice.
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What Others Have To Say
Allspice is not a mixture of spices. It comes from the allspice berry. It was named because it has the taste of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, but it does not contain them.
Spices you can use to replace cinnamon in any recipe:
Mace: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-spice-called-mace.htm Mace is made from the outter coating of the nutmeg seed of a nutmeg tree. It has a more subtle flavor than nutmeg itself with a hint of a peppery taste. It's great in all kinds of dishes per your taste.
Allspice: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-allspice.htm Allspice has NO cinnamon but is from the berry of the pimento plant and tastes like a combination of cloves, cinnamon, pepper and juniper but is not a very hot spice like hot peppers are.
You can use either of these spices to take the place of the cinnamon in a recipe but due a taste test of them while adding them. Both have a stronger aroma then cinnamon so less will be needed to give your food a good taste. You can add them to the recipes for apple pie along with your cloves, nutmeg and ginger and make any pie or dessert or food you make have just as good a taste though the taste won't be a cinnamon one. Most cooks start with half amount of the allspice when substituting it for the amount of the cinnamon but others don't change the amount at all because they like the taste it creates.
Some people will tell you that allspice is a spice created from all the variety of spices and that is a farce. There is absolutely NO CINNAMON in allspice and it got its name due to the fact that it imitates the taste of so many spices and not because it had so many different spices in it.
[...] some many people allergic to cinnamon! I had this very question a couple of weeks ago, but about Cinnamon-less Apple Pie. The advice there holds true for pumpkin pie as well: You can substitute another spice (like [...]
It a common misconception that allspice is a mixture of spices. It merely tastes like a mixture of spices.
Wow! I'm so glad to hear that others are allergic to cinnamon. (not glad you are, just glad to hear there are others) My daughter is allergic to cinnamon and we get the funniest responses to her allergy. I'm allergic to ginger, which is also odd. We make apple pie and other desserts and just leave out the cinnamon. It is just as good without it. Cinnamon rolls can also be made without the spice...we just use brown sugar. Enjoy!
I believe mace is the dried husk of the nutmeg. You're right about the allspice berry.
My Husband didnt like cinnamon so I added brown sugar instead with butter. Every one liked it. try it some time.
Allspice is the dried fruit of the West Indian Allspice Tree, also know as the Jamaican Pepper Tree. It is NOT cinnamon! The fruit when dried contains the flavors of cinnamon,cloves and ginger, making it a great substitute. The outer covering of the fruit also died, is a spice called Mace, which is very good with peaches and apricots.
Hope this helps.
I'm allergic to cinnamon and you CAN NOT use all spice because it HAS cinnamon! FYI!
Many thanks for the recipe, I'm also allergic to cinnamon, and I love Apple-Pie tart.
Very difficult when I try to explain it to other people.
Apple pie "must go with cinnamon".....