Apple Crumb Pie

I am so super excited that the holidays are now upon us!!  I love getting together with family and friends, the radio and TV full of holiday music and movies, and most of all FOOD!!  This time of year I love to cook and bake and it all starts on Thanksgiving.



For a while now my sister and I always do dessert for my Mom's Thanksgiving Day dinner.  She does the Pecan Pie and I do the Apple Pie.  I am a lover of the Apple Crumb so if you ask my husband he could probably tell you that I have tried a lot of recipes for Apple Crumb pie.  This one is by far my favorite.  It is so gooey and so good!! 

I decided that I was going to try and make a homemade pie crust this year to go with my favorite pie.  My brother's girlfriend gave me a really great recipe for an amazing pie crust, but sadly I did not have any Vodka.  I know that it sounds crazy, but trust me when I tell you it makes an unbelievable pie crust.  So since I had no Vodka I went searching for a recipe that I did have all the ingredients for. 

Recipe in hand I started to make my own pie crust.  I made them the day before to give myself more time to get things ready the next day.  Once they were all made and placed in the fridge to sit till morning I was feeling pretty good.  The next day I go up and following the directions, allowed the dough to come up to room temperature.  I got everything else ready for the pies and then began to roll out the dough.  Much to my horror the entire thing fell apart.  Total crumb!!  I was so upset.  The only thing I could think of is that maybe I did not add enough water to the dough causing it to fall apart.  It was either that or the universe is out to get me, since me and homemade pie crusts have a strong hatred for one another. 

Luckily I always have a back up plan.  To many years of not having one has taught me to know better.  So as much as I hated to, mainly because I have visions of homemade everything, I pulled out my trusted frozen pie crust.

With the pies in the oven and getting three kids ready for a trip to Nana's and Pop's, I realized that even though the pie crusts were not homemade, they would still be amazing; and guess what.......they totally were!!  I have not given up on perfecting the homemade pie crust.  I will concur it, but this day was not meant to be the day.

Here is what you need:
3 pounds of apples sliced (I used Fugi and Granny Smith)
2/3 cups sugar
Lemon juice
4 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon Flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I used cocoa nutmeg)
pinch salt
Pie Crust

Crumb Topping:
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F for 30 minutes.  Then turn the oven down to 375 degrees F.

Peel, core and slice the apples about 1/4 inch thick and toss with the Lemon juice in a large bowl.  Add the sugar and mix to coat the apples.

Heat the butter in a large skillet and add the sugar coated apples.  Cook the apples stirring until they are tender, about 10 minutes.  Add flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and cook until thicken, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Mix the Crumb topping by combining all the ingredients and mixing with a fork until well combined. 

Pour the apple mixture into the pie crust and top with the crumb topping.  Carefully place on the baking rack and bake for 1 hour.  Allow to cool. 

I have to give credit to my brother and his girlfriend for taking the picture of the slice of pie for me.  In all the craziness that was going on, I forgot to get a picture.  You two are the best!!!

Happy Baking and ENJOY!!