I don’t like Pie!
I don’t like Pie. I don’t. Not apple pie, not raspberry pie, not pumpkin pie. No, I don’t like pie.
Too much crust that isn’t amazing, and not enough fruit and well, I’m just not much of a pie girl…
Wait, what? Pie without a top crust? Apple? With cinnamon and sugar ? Kinda caramel-ly? Well – ughm, – maybe? What’s that yummy looking stuff on top ? Well, ok, I’ll try a little bite. Uhm, wait – uhm, yeah – can I have another bite? Well, wow, this is GOOD. Maybe I’ll have a few more bites. Just to check it out … I don’t really like pie, but what is this ?
This.is.APPLE.PIE. I guess it’s not really a pie – more of an apple crispy pie-ish or maybe a pie-like dessert, or is it apple crumble with a pastry bottom? Does that make it a pie?
Well, call it what you will, this is a darn good dessert.
Maybe I do like Pie ?
You see, a friend brought this dessert over to my house – and I was passing it by, because it looked like PIE. That is, until I was talked into a bite. WOW.
Sometimes people, and food, can surprise you – and this one did. I begged for the recipe – come to find out I actually already had it earmarked, but had never made it! Food.com for the win! Not sure where the recipe came from but joy1996 posted it – so we have her to thank!
Inaugural Pie Making of Thanksgiving 2017
I proceeded to make my FIRST pie for Thanksgiving 2017 – and it received rave reviews – for a PIE ! I don’t like pie – so why would I make them? For my first one – I fully admit – I used a pillsbury pie crust (GASP !) So know you can always save some time and get your crust at the store – but as you suspect – I’ve since figured out homemade pie crusts – because anything worth doing – is worth doing well… (and, someones grandma a long long time ago wrote down the basic pie crust recipe!)
And then there was Thanksgiving 2019…
I’d heard long ago from the King of Food Science, Mr. Alton Brown, that leaf lard makes the very best pie crusts in all the world. So if I’m going to make pie, dammit, I’m going to do it right !!! I’d been living in SoCal for a handful of years by then and the pursuit of leaf lard was met with high prices and long lead times (and some weird looks) — all of which I was unwilling to deal with… A butcher I’d found at the farmers market said they could make me some for about $24 / lb ? Say what? It’s pork fat / discard for God’s sake! I’m positive I could more easily find some pork fat and render it myself…after all, people have been doing that for hundreds of years, right ? So I called and called and found a butcher and got some fat and began rendering…
And then we have to sigh and be sad (just for a minute) and long for the days when we lived in Chicago and there was the ‘Butcher and the Larder’ literally just down the street in Bucktown, where I got my CSA box each week… Yeah, the good ol’ days… I think a tub of his lard was like $6 or so back then…
And, if you think I’m crazy for wanting real leaf lard – you can listen to the master via You Tube here. You just might be swayed.
Determine your pastry choice
In any case, all you have to do is decide whether you are taking the short route, the medium route, or the long route. Pillsbury, butter + crisco, or butter + leaf lard pie crust .
I strongly recommend making your pie crust the day before the pie making if you are going to make pie crust. It’s just so much easier – takes more than 1/2 the stress away – and you’ll just be happier as you cut apples and add cinnamon. 🙂
Making this pie couldn’t be easier, really!
Simple simple simple. Make or buy a crust. (If making the crust, make two and put one in the freezer for another time. If tightly wrapped it will save for about 3 months…)
Peel, core and slice a BUNCH of apples. I use Granny Smith.
Toss the apples with some lemon juice, white and brown sugar, a few tbl of flour, some cinnamon and nutmeg.
Then – make the crumble top – only one pie crust in this baby – which I think is TOTALLY awesome!
You’ll never guess what goes into that? Butter, more white and brown sugar and flour. Mix mix mix.
Assemble and Bake.
Easy as pie.
Dutch Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 1 Pie Crust – homemade or purchased
Apple Mixture
- 5½ C Apples – Granny Smith – peeled, cored and sliced medium thick (~5 medium apples)
- 1 Tbl Lemon Juice – Fresh !
- ½ C Sugar
- ¼ C Brown Sugar – Firmly packed
- 3 Tbl Flour
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ Tsp Nutmeg
Crumb Topping
- ¾ C Flour
- ¼ C Sugar
- ¼ C Brown Sugar – Firmly packed
- ⅓ C Butter – Room Temp
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375℉
- Peel and chop your apples – place into a big bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the chopped apples (Apple Mixture) and stir.
- Make the topping by mixing all of the crumb topping ingredients in another bowl.
- Place the Apples into your pie pan / pie crust.
- Top the apples with the mixed crumb mixture.
- Bake for 50 minutes till just slightly browned on top.
- Share with friends.
