Apple Pie with Crumble Topping

Happy Saturday, everyone! I've been super busy, as the end of the semester is fast approaching and the island is becoming more alive and populated. I took one exam last night and another this morning; so far, everything is going well. The two most difficult ones are saved for last... I'm about to really knuckle down with my studying for the next one, but I wanted to first share my apple pie experience with you.

Chuck loves apple pie. I have known this for quite some time and while he may have hinted several times that it is one of his favorite desserts, I have never made it for him. Sure, I have bought the frozen apple pies which require no effort whatsoever, but store bought desserts are always trumped by the fresh homemade ones. This week, I decided I was going to finally make him an apple pie. It only took four years...

I don't have a go-to prized apple pie recipe and neither does my mother, so I relied heavily on Google. I found a recipe that used store-bought crust so that I could cheat a little, and head to the grocery store to get Granny Smith apples.

I carefully peeled, cored, and cut the 3.25 pounds of apples that the recipe called for. I defrosted the pie crust. I added in the additional ingredients for the pie filling. I soon realized that whoever wrote this recipe had no idea what a deep-dish 9" pie pan could actually hold and that they had never actually used this recipe or that they had a serious typo in stating how many pies this recipe would make.

I should have known better. It should have been clear to me that 6 very large apples couldn't possibly fit into one pie pan, but I'm a stickler for following directions (mostly), so I didn't question the recipe. I couldn't even fit half of the pie filling into the pie shell. Thankful that I cheated and bought the pie crust already made (because it came with two shells) and that I didn't only make one from scratch, I turned my apple pie into two apple pies. I guess this makes up for my lack of apple pie baking over the years... The crumb topping was the same way (definitely not for just one pie), only it could have easily been enough topping for four pies. Remind me to never use a recipe from a source that is not tried and true!

After all the pie drama was over and the pies were in the oven baking, the kitchen was filled with the amazing scent of cinnamon, apples, and buttery goodness, and I was in heaven. Because I only used Granny Smith apples, it was a little more on the tart side, but it was still very good and in my humble opinion, much better than the frozen ones.

So, if you're wanting to make an apple pie two apple pies, here's how to do it:

Apple Pie with Crumble Topping

For the filling:

3 1/4 pounds Granny Smith apples (or a mix), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4" thick
2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350* and thaw two-9" deep dish pie pans as directed on the package.

Mix all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl and coat the apples. Add the filling to the pie crusts and bake for 40 minutes. (Cover with foil if the crust is browning too much.)

While the pies are baking, prepare the filling. You can either add the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse, wet sand, or you can use a pastry cutter to get the same results.

Remove the pies from the oven and sprinkle the topping (as much or as little as you like) over the pies. Return pies to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the apples are very tender and the topping is golden brown. The filling should be bubbling at the edges.

Cool until warm, about one hour.


Do any of you have stories of following recipes that didn't turn out as planned? Was your recipe ruined or did it turn out well?