Apple Crumble Pie

When it’s cold and rainy outside, the only thing I want for dessert is a warm, delicious slice of pie. Pie is good all of the time, let’s be real here; however, I love having a warm slice of pie with the cold ice cream melting all around it. It’s the perfect thing to hold on to, while covered in blankets on the sofa.

Pie is kind of a superior dessert to me for multiple reasons. One, there’s like a bazillion different versions of pie: sweet pies, savory pies, mini pies, hand pies, etc. Second, not too many desserts out there allow you to combine two different desserts into one, but pies practically encourage you to add ice cream on top. I mean how wild would it be if someone handed you a nice slice of tiramisu and you added a scoop of ice cream on top?! That would just be egregious. Thirdly, pie pans are so adorable. It’s totally acceptable to serve your pie in the pan you baked in! You don’t even have to fiddle with removing it from the pan! You just pop it out of the oven and there you go!

This pie stands out from the other apple pies because of the unapologetically large layer of crumble on top. Crumble is a little piece of heaven on earth, probably because of the large amount of butter and sugar in it, but that’s neither here nor there. If I could just eat handfuls of crumble, I totally would. But if I eat the apple part too, at least I can say I’m being healthy. You know, they specified what kind of apple a day keeps the doctor away. In my case, it’s an apple that’s been coated in sugar and cinnamon, then topped with a butter crumble. Totally healthy. I’m pretty sure that it’s at the top of the food pyramid.

One trick that I love with this recipe is using pumpkin pie spice! What?! Pumpkin pie spice in an apple pie!? What has the world come to!?

I know it’s crazy, but here’s the thing; pumpkin pie spice has most of those warm, sweet spices you would add to a typical apple pie. It has the cinnamon, the nutmeg and the ginger that make apple pie so warm and cozy. Plus, it has allspice which is just a fantastically warm spice, too. So, instead of having to go out and buy a bunch of different spices, you can buy one and save yourself some money! If you really love the spicy kick of cinnamon, feel free to add a couple of dashes of plain ole’ cinnamon into the pie!

Another fun trick to this pie is to bake the filling ahead of time! This pie would be perfect for Thanksgiving because you can get the filling all taken care of the day before and just assemble the pie that day. Another added bonus of making the filling ahead of time is that you can really taste the flavors of your pie before baking it off. I mean, who doesn’t want to eat just buttery, sweet apples?!

I have also noticed that my pie filling seems thicker! By adding the cornstarch slurry and and fully cooking the apples, I have already thickened the filling and can control the liquid content before I add it to the crust. This helps with two problems! One, you don’t have to be as concerned about a soggy bottom crust, and two, you don’t have to wait as long after the pie has cooked to cut into it. A win-win in my book!

A quick little note, if you don’t have enough time to cook the apples the day before, make sure that the filling is completely cooled before adding it to your pie crust! If you add a hot mixture to the pie crust, the heat will start to melt the butter in the crust before it goes into the oven, which can cause the crust to get a little wimpy in the oven, unlike the crispy pie crust we all know and love!

Ingredients:

1 premade pie crust (You can use the ones that come in the metal tin or the ones that are rolled in the refrigerated aisle)

4 tablespoons of butter

5 apples, peeled and sliced

The juice of half a lemon

1 tablespoon of corn starch

1 tablespoon of water

1 and 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Crumble:

1 cups of flour

1 sticks of butter, melted

1 teaspoons of cinnamon

1/2 cup of sugar

2/3 cup of brown sugar

To begin, let’s cook the apples! Peel, core, and slice up the apples! In a large pan, add the butter and begin to melt. Once the butter is melted, add in the apples. Cook the apples in the butter for about three minutes or so. Then, add in the juice of half a lemon, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir everything together and cook for about ten more minutes! While the mixture cooks, make a slurry for the apple mixture, this will thicken up the apples! Combine equal parts cornstarch and water in a small bowl, and then stir it into the apple mixture! Allow the cornstarch mixture to cook into the apples for a few minutes and then set aside to cool!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out the pre-made pie dough, and gently place it into your pie pan. Take a fork and add a couple light pricks to the bottom of the pie crust. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes!

While the crust is in the oven, assemble the crumble. In a separate bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Once butter is melted, add in the flour, cinnamon and both the sugars. Mix to combine. It should form a loose crumb that holds together if you squeeze, kind of like moon sand if you have kids and understand that reference.

After the five minutes are up, remove the crust from the oven. Add in the cooled apple mixture. Just scoop them right into the pie crust! Then add the crumble. Generously spoon the crumble over the apple mixture. I noticed that my crumble seemed to form a little mountain peak on top, so I just used my hands to lightly press the crumble down to a more even level. You want to make sure that the top of the pie all browns equally at the same time.

Place the pie on a baking sheet and then put it into the oven, bake the pie for about 45 minutes! The pie will be done when the crumble is golden brown and the edges of the pie crust are all golden brown and crisp.

I like to wait about 30 minutes before cutting into the pie, just to give the juices to settle!

Slice and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream!