RECIPE: Homemade Apple Crumble Pie

My favourite part of fall, specifically during thanksgiving, is the smell of fresh baked pie in the oven. Apple pie to be exact. And not just any apple pie, I like my apple pie with some crispy crumble on top. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and you are golden friends.

So today I am sharing with you all my recipe that is a combination of many different recipes over the past years right in time for thanksgiving next week. And just to make sure it's thanksgiving worthy, I made sure to recipe taste it this weekend!

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes of the Tenderflake 18 mini pie crusts or 1 box of the Tenderflake 2 regular pie crusts

Apple pie filling

• 6 smaller sized Granny Smith apples (use 4-5 if you are using larger apples)

• 3 tbsp water

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1/3 cup of brown sugar

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 2 tsp cornstarch

Crumble Topping

• 1 cup of rolled oats

• 1 cup of all purpose flour

• 1 cup of brown sugar

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter

• 1/2 tsp of baking powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• pinch of salt

1. Peel and slice apples. If you are making pie, I would slice it as you would normally but don't make the slices too thick. If you are making mini tarts/pies, I would cube the apples because it is easier to stuff into the shells. 

2. In a pot, melt the butter. Add in the brown sugar, cinnamon and water. Once the ingredients are combined (it should look like a watered down caramel sauce), add in your apples. 

3. Coat the apples with the sauce and add in your cornstarch. The cornstarch is used as a thickening agent to make the sauce less watery and more sticky. Leave it cooking as you stir the apples (around 2-3 minutes). You don't want the apples to be mushy! Take the pot off the heat.

4. In a separate medium/large sized bowl, melt your butter in the microwave. I find it easier to cut the butter into tiny pieces so that it melts easier. You can also melt the butter using a saucepan on your stove! If you are using a microwave, start with putting the butter for 30 seconds and if it is not completely melted, add increments of 15 seconds. Trust me, I've had my share of butter exploding in the microwave.

5. Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt (a very small pinch). Mix until everything is combined - I usually use my hands to do this mixing! 

6. To make it easier for yourself, especially if you have 500 other different things you need to do that day, buy a premade pie shell. I love using Tenderflake! They have the normal 9 inch pie shell and the mini ones too! Follow the instructions on the packaging!

7. Preheat your oven to 350F. Fill your pie crusts with the filling and liberally put the crumble on top of your filled pie. If you are going to pre-bake your pie shells (usually for 8-10 minutes), put the crumble to about 15 - 20 minutes depending on your oven. I would check on it after 10 minutes. Basically you want your crumble to be a bit brown and slightly crispy, but not burnt! If you are making the mini tarts/pies, I put mine in for about 10 minutes and it came out great!If you are not pre-baking your crust, I would put it in for about 30-35 minutes! I tend to pre-bake my shells! 

Let me tell you friends, I can just eat the crumble topping by itself because it is so yum! I've also used the crumble topping on top of a baked peach (cut the peach in half and bake it in the oven with the crumble on top for about 15-20 minutes) and it is delicious.

Don't forget to put a good heaping of vanilla ice cream on top of your sliced pie!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend my friends! May it be filled with lots of blessings, love, and happiness!

Cheers,
Kim