Apple Crumble Pie
I think I have said before that I am not the biggest fan of fruit pies. But this one, this one is good. The salty flaky crust with the spiced apple slices and that delicious crumble top make this a winner. Who doesn’t love a crumble, even if you pick around the fruit and eat the crust and crumble…I mean who would do that…:)- This pie is a crowd pleaser because it has something for everyone. Add a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream on top and you are golden. This recipe is very easy to make vegan as well. Just use vegan butter in the crumble and crust. Both vegan butter (my favorite brand is Trader Joe’s Vegan Butter) and regular dairy butter work beautifully in this dish.
For the Crust:
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp or 1 stick of butter- if you use salted butter, omit the salt from the recipe. Vegan or non dairy butter works here as well.
2 tbsp coconut oil, I prefer refined but use what you have. You could also use vegetable shortening if that is what you have.
2-4 tbsp cold water.
Recipe:
Combine the flour and salt together in a bowl. Cut the cold butter into slices or cubes.
Add the cold butter into the flour and use a pastry cutter (or just use your hands) to cut the butter into the four. I use the pastry cutter and then switch to my hands. The consistency should be like wet sand. No large chunks of butter left and you can kinda stick the flour together when you squeeze it in your fists.
Add in 2 tbsp cold water then work it in with your hands. If it is still dry and not coming together into a ball, add 1 more, etc. It should be pretty dry, not sticky. (Generally when using dairy butter you will need 3 tbsp cold water and for vegan butter only 2 tbsp.)
Wrap it up with plastic wrap or parchment paper and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour. However, a couple hours to overnight it better.
When you are ready to roll out. Generously flour your work surface. Start in the middle of the dough ball and roll out, turning the dough as you go to make sure it is not sticking.
Roll the dough up over the rolling pin to help you to transfer the dough to the pie dish. I use a 9.5 in pyrex pie dish. Patchwork as necessary to make sure the crust is even thickness all around and crimp the edges as you like. I am pretty organic and not fussy about how my crust looks. Prick the bottom of the pie a few times with a fork before adding the filling.
For the Filling:
Ingrediens:
5 medium apples thinly sliced and cored
1/4 cup sugar
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 tbsp apple pie spice blend or cinnamon if that is all you have.
1 tbsp tapioca flour or corn starch
Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Combine everything together in a bowl and toss to coat.
Pour the filling into the pie dish containing the crust.
For the Crumble Topping:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup quick oats (If you have rolled oats, just blitz them in a blender or food processor for a few seconds to break up the oats)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
Recipe:
In the same bowl you mixed the filling in, combine all the crumble ingredients except the butter, making sure to stir throughly. Then add the butter and use your hands to incorporate the butter. You should have a sandy mixture that easily clumps when you grasp a handful of the mixture and squeeze it.
Crumble the topping over the apples making sure to completely cover the apples.
Bake the pie at 375 F for 28-30 minutes until the crumble top is browned and crust is golden. Allow to cool a bit before slicing to serve.
