~Tiffany Sosa~

I have found an awesomely delicious, slightly different from your mom’s, apple pie. It’s an apple CRUMB pie. With an ALMOND CRUST. Yummm!! It’s so easy. No rolling pin necessary.

Please forgive the crappy pictures. Obviously I need to work on it.

Now, I am PICKY when it comes to apple pie. I won’t eat the stuff out of the store. For me, it has to be HOMEMADE. I also hate that apple pie filling in a can. It’s disgustingly sweet and if you’re going to make a homemade pie, and it’s this easy, why not take a few extra minutes and cut your own apples. One of my favorite places in the world to go is Crane’s Orchards back in my home state of MI, so this was just an obvious, but now that I live in NY I went to my local grocer and bought some apples.

Here’s the trick to a good apple pie. APPLE TYPE MATTERS. You don’t want an apple that’s too watery, like the Macintosh. Those are good for applesauce, and I don’t particularly care for the overly tart green apples. This time I chose to try out Cortlands and I really enjoyed it. They were only slightly tart, how I like, and they definitely held their shape. I actually wouldn’t mind a little more soft of an apple, but these were great.

Now, make sure you read the recipe all the way through FIRST. Believe me, it’ll help you when you’re following the instructions. Also? If you’re a non-baker or beginner baker and are already intimidated by making an apple pie from scratch, don’t worry about a few steps. It’s easy. 

You can make the crust ahead of time if you’d like. Just pop it, covered, in the refrigerator, until you’re ready to use it.

So here’s what you need, 

Almond Crumb Crust

*1 1/2 C (cups) all-purpose flour

*1 C plus 2 tbsp. (tablespoons) almonds, finely ground

this means measure the almonds FIRST, then grind them. You can do that in your food processor, blender. Heck, if you really need, a plastic bag and a rolling pin. Just get them as fine as you can.

*1/2 C plus 2 tbsp sugar

*1 tsp (teaspoon) salt

*1 1/2 sticks or 3/4 C UNsalted butter, ROOM TEMP., cut into small pieces

Here’s what to do….don’t worry, remember, it’s EASY

In a large bow, mix together the flour,ground almonds, sugar, & salt. If you have a pastry blender, grab that, otherwise you can use two knives and cut, or I used a whisk and “mashed” the butter until it looks like course crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining. Now, use your fingers and squeaze the mixture together to make pea size pieces. You can refrigerate this now, if needed

I know….beware the crappy pictures. Sorry!

Otherwise…. preheat the oven to 350 degrees and let’s keep going!

Now take a little more than half of the crumbs and press them into a 9-inch pie plate on the bottom and up the sides.

Toss it in the freezer for at least 15 min. while you do the next part, which is……

Preparing the Apples! Yummm!!

*3 1/2 lb. apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced. You can use different kinds, which I love to do, or you can use all the same ones. As I mentioned before, Cortlands are great, so are Macoun, Jonagol, Empire, and rome

*1/3 C sugar

*3/4 tsp. ground nutmet (YUMM)

*1/4 tsp salt

*2 tbsp. UNsalted butter, cut into small pieces

You can toss the apples with around 2 tbsp. lemon juice to stop the apples from going bad.

In a bowl mix the sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Then add the apples, and toss together to coat the apples. Now grab your pie crumb shell and pour the apples in it, mounding them slightly in the center.

Dot with butter. 

Sprinkle the remaining crumbs and clumps over the apples to completely cover it.  Now, also pretty important.

Put the pie pan on top of a cookie tray to catch if anything drips, and that goes for any pie baking you do. Once you’ve done that you can pop it in the oven. You want to bake it for 1 hr, rotating it half way through so it bakes more evenly. I do this when I bake pretty much anything. The best way for me to remember is to set the timer for the half way point, in this case 30 min., rotate it, then set the timer for another 30 min. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

ENJOY!

Oh, the pie can be kept at room temp for, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for up to 2 days.