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 for this apple pie, 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-farm boy. 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 (such as Granny Smith) & half sweet (such as Cortland or Honey Crisp)
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 TBSP butter, cut into small squares ("butter dots")
- ¼ c flour
- ¾ c sugar
Crumb Topping:
- 1 stick of softened butter
- 1 c flour
- ½ c brown sugar
- 3 TBSP of uncooked quick oats, if desired
1 9” Pie Crust Crust (recipe below) or store-bought
Directions:
- Prepare pie crust, place in pie pan, 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, brown sugar, and oats, then work in 1 stick of softened butter with your hands, forming small balls of the mixture and set aside. To do this, I firmly press together all of the ingredients and then crumble it as it falls through my fingers; repeating this process for 2 to 3 minutes until it resembles small balls.
- To assemble: add 1/3 of the filling mixture on top of the pie crust. Layer 1/3 of the apples on top of the mixture and scatter a few butter dots. Continue layering in this order until all apples and filling mixture are used (it will be mounding quite high).
- Top with the crumb mixture, gently pressing it onto the pie so it sticks together, but not so much that the little balls lose their shape.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375°F for 45 minutes, with a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any spills. Then, peek in the oven to check the crumb topping color; if the topping is quite brown at this point, loosely tent it with foil and bake for another 15 minutes. The end result will be a hot, bubbly filling and golden brown topping.
Pie Crust
Ingredients (Yield: 1 pie crust)
- 1 stick butter (grated, cold)
- 3-4 TBSP water (cold)
- 1 ¼ c flour
- ¼ tsp kosher 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.
Note: I typically make this pie crust in my Kitchen-Aid mixer using the paddle attachment and make several at a time to freeze.