Apple Crumb Pie

Apples are an under-appreciated fruit in my opinion. Sure, you can buy them almost anywhere. And yes, sadly, the grocery stores only sell a few varieties. But for me they are one of the most versatile and delicious fruits. They are great to snack on anytime of the day and also make the most elegant desserts. Nothing beats a warm slice of apple pie, whether its for breakfast or for a late night snack, or anywhere in between.

When making apple pie I usually stick to my mom's recipe. But I was in the mood for something that took a little less time than making my own crust and was a little bit different. I found a recipe for an apple crumb pie made with an almond crumb crust by Martha Stewart. Yummy! This pie is delicious! The crust is almondy and crispy, while the apples are warm and tart. I even got to use my new apple peeler. Trust me, if you don't have one of these and you use apples a lot in cooking then you need to get one. They will make your life so much easier, especially around this time of year.

Apple Crumb Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewarts Baking Handbook
For the filling I used my mom's recipe

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup plus 1 2 tbsp almond meal (or used ground almonds)
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks of butter, really cold and cut into small pieces

1) Whisk together all of the ingredients except the butter. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it it is crumbly. Then with your hands squeeze the dough together until it starts to come together a little bit.

2)Press a little more than half of the filling into a 9-inch pie pan then freeze for 15 minutes.

3) Follow instructions for making the filling
4) Add the filling to the pie and then dot with a few tbsp of butter from apple pie recipe, then cover with remaining dough crumbs

5) Bake in a 350 F oven for about 1 hour, then let cool and enjoy!

My Mom's Apple Pie

Apple pie is one of the best desserts that my mom makes. Since I don't live in the same state it makes it kind of hard to have her make it for me once Autumn hits. So I called her up and asked her what she put in and how to assemble the pie I pieced together some memories of us baking them together and got to work. I was in kind of a rush so I didn't have time to make a nice crust, but I enjoy a rustic looking crust anyways.

Mom's Apple Pie
Enough pie dough for 2 crusts (I use an all butter pie dough recipe -see sweet potato pie recipe for crust recipe)
5 Granny Smith apples
4 sweeter apples (I had honeycrisp in the fridge)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (plus more for crust)
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. flour
Couple of tbsp. butter
Milk for brushing

1) Preheat oven to 350 F
2)Peel and slice apples to your desired thickness
3) Coat apples in lemon juice then toss with all other ingredients, except butter
 

4) Taste an apple to see if sugar is to your liking
5) Prepare a pie pan with the crust and then pour the apples into the pan, top with some slices of butter then seal with other pie crust
6) Cut 4 slits on top of pie then brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar
7) Bake for 1 hour
8) Let cool and enjoy!