Apple Crumble Pie
This Apple Crumble Pie is definitely a family favorite and Fall MUST. Once it’s apple picking season, my kids and husband start dropping hints about going apple picking and making this Apple Crumble Pie. Every Thanksgiving, I make two of these pies and bring one to my sister’s and one to my husband’s family’s house – there are never any leftovers, even after eating Thanksgiving Dinner.
This Apple Crumble Pie is the marriage of two amazing things: apple pie and apple crumble. The homemade crust adds some work, but it’s really worth it because it’s so flaky and delicious. Plus, you can make it ahead! I like to make my crust ahead of time, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, put it in a Ziploc bag, and freeze it until I’m ready to make my pie. The night before I make the pie, I take it out to defrost on the counter for a bit and then put it in the fridge overnight. You can also make the topping 1-2 days ahead of time and keep it in a Ziploc bag in the fridge. I always make my apple mixture the day of because I’m afraid it will get soggy if I prep it ahead of time. Where there’s a will, there’s a way! If I stopped making this Apple Crumble Pie I’m pretty sure I’d see some tears on Thanksgiving, so prepping parts of it ahead of time is the only way I manage to get it done with the three kids.
I hope you try this Apple Crumble Pie on Thanksgiving this year – everyone will love it… and just don’t even try calculating how much butter is actually in there 😬.
Apple Crumble Pie
Ingredients:
Pie Crust
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed and very cold
- 1/3 cup shortening (i.e. Crisco)
- 1/2 cup ice cold water (literally put ice cubes in it while you prep the rest of the ingredients
* Note: this recipe technically makes enough for a 10″ pie crust top and bottom, but I like to use it because I make a big, thick braided crust – so if you want a thin crust, you could halve the recipe
Filling
- 6 large apples (Jonagold, McIntosh or Cortland are good choices)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Topping
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup Quaker Oats (I like to use the old-fashioned oats more than the quick oats)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
Directions:
Pie Crust
- Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture.
- Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.
- Add the cubed butter and shortening.
- Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.
- With the machine running, remove the ice from the water (make sure it’s just 1/2 cup) and pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.
- Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Filling
- Peal and core all of your apples and slice them up into thin 1/2 wedges (if you slice the apple horizontally, you want to quarter each slice) and place them in a large mixing bowl.
- I use this apple peeler and saves a lot of time.
- Add the lemon juice to the apples and stir – this will keep them from browning.
- Add in both sugars and stir the apple mixture well, coating everything evenly.
- Combine the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
- Sprinkle the flour mixture over the apples, coating them evenly.
- Place the apple mixture aside until you’re ready to use it.
Topping
- Soften the two sticks of butter on very low power in the microwave (be careful not to melt it – do it for 30 seconds, power 5).
- Combine the flour, salt and cinnamon first, then add in the oatmeal and both sugars.
- Cube the softened butter and add it to the topping mixture – again, using your hands to mix it up!
- This mixture should be moist yet crumbly.
Putting it all together...
- Take your pie dough out of the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface – you want to roll it out to be pretty thin, but thick enough to handle and transfer into the pie dish (about 1/8″ thick).
- Drape the rolled out dough over an ungreased pie dish and use your fingertips to press it down onto the dish.
- Pour the apple mixture over the dough.
- Cover the apples with the topping mixture – again, use your fingertips to pack it on there (this is the best part, so you’ll want to use all of it).
- Now, to make this pie look pretty – trim the edge of the dough off with kitchen shears leaving enough over the edge to either pinch or roll up into a beautiful crust.
- Bake at 400°F for 50 minutes covered (with aluminum foil) and uncovered for an additional 10 minutes – everyone’s oven works differently, so just keep your eye on this to make sure it doesn’t burn!
- I always have the best results when I let it cool for at least 20 minutes, then enjoy!
Pie Crust Source: Ina Garten's Perfect Pie Crust