Up until I met my then-boyfriend, now husband I don't recall ever making a pie; however, in the last 16 years, I have made more than I can count. The very first pie I made for him was this one, which his mom suggested (and provide the recipe for) when I called her from my dorm room in desperate search of Christmas gift ideas for this hard-to-shop-for-farmboy. Despite using an aluminum foil roast pan (I couldn't seem to find a deep-dish pie pan at the time) and a 2-L bottle of 7-Up as a rolling pin, it turned out just fine and I've been 'practicing' ever since.
Ingredients:
Filling: 6 c thinly sliced apples-half tart & half sweet, ½ tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 TBSP butter dots, ¼ c flour and ¾ c sugar
Crumb Topping: 1 stick of softened butter, 1 c flour, and ½ c brown sugar
1 9” Pie Crust Crust (recipe below)
Directions:
Prepare pie crust, place in pie dish, and set aside. For the filling, combine the nutmeg, cinnamon, flour, and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. For the crumb topping, combine the flour and brown sugar, then work in 1 stick of softened butter with your hands, forming small balls of the mixture and set aside. To assemble: add 1/3 of the filling mixture on top of the pie crust. Add 1/3 of the apples and scatter a few butter dots. Continue layering in this order until all apples and filling mixture are used and top with the crumb mixture. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375°F for ~1 hour. Cover with foil for the last 15 minutes if the topping is getting too brown. Consider placing a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any spills.
Pie Crust
Ingredients (Yield: 1 pie crust)
- 1 stick butter (grated, cold)
- 3-4 TBSP water (ice-cold)
- 1 ¼ c flour
- ¼ tsp salt
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add in the grated, cold butter and mix either with your hand or a fork until well blended (this can take a few minutes to achieve). Slowly add in the water and mix until you are able to form a disc. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Roll out on a lightly floured surface. Place in pie pan (flute edges if desired) and chill again for another 30 minutes.
Notes: I typically make this pie crust in my Kitchen-Aid mixer and make several at a time to freeze.