Apple Pie

In Nov. '09, I bought a Julian Apple Pie from a friend for her son's preschool fundraiser. I've had Julian apple pie a couple times while driving through the quaint, little town of Julian, CA so I knew the pie would be good. I was in for a BIG surprise with my fundraiser pie. I baked the pie in my 'new-at-the-time' Oster Countertop Convection Toaster Oven. It turned out better than the pie I've had IN Julian. Seriously. The sweet apple pie filling was cooked to perfection, the flaky crust was crisp and the crunchy topping was satisfying. It was SOOO good! I'm sure it was a perfect pie because it was baked in the convection oven vs my regular standard oven. 

I've never baked a pie before so I thought I'd give it a try. I came across this recipe on recipezaar. It seemed easy enough but I modified it just a bit as I do with most of my recipes. We shared the pie with my in-laws and parents. They LOVED it!

The very TALL apple pie.

DELISH!

Amazing Apple Pie

Ingredients:

for pie...
crust (homemade or store bought)...I made a "no roll crust".... recipe towards bottom of post.

• 1/2 c sugar
• 3 tbs flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 6 c apples, peeled and sliced thin

crumb topping...

• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 c quick cook oats
• 1/2 c butter

final topping if desired (I omitted as pie is sweet enough and Alex is allergic to nuts)...

• 1/4 c caramel topping
• 1/2 c pecans, chopped

Directions:

Prepare crust.

1. In large bowl, mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.
2. Add apple slices and toss till coated well.
3. Transfer apple mixture to pie.

Stir together crumb topping ingredients: brown sugar, flour and oats.

1. Cut in butter with pastry blender until topping resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Sprinkle over apple pie.

Cover edge of pie with foil.

1. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes.
2. Remove foil from pie and bake another 30 minutes or until top is golden.
3. Remove from oven.
4. Drizzle with caramel topping and sprinkle with pecans.
5. Cool on wire rack for 20+ minutes before serving. Enjoy with vanilla bean ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream. Ohhhh yummmmm!!!

Source: Adapted from Recipezaar

Easy Peasy No Roll Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 c vegetable oil (use a FRESH, good quality oil)
• 2 tbs milk

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients together with fork in pie pan.
2. Make a well in center and add oil and milk.
3. Mix with fork until it makes a ball.
4. Flatten and press into pan and flute the edge if you have enough crust to do so.
5. Bake at 374 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Notes: This crust is perfect for cream pies and crumb-topped pies. Give it a go...it's easy peasy!

Source: Recipezaar