Apple Crumble Pie

.  Fall, Fall, Fall.

Unfortunately my Fall baking hasn't occurred quite as rapidly as I would like, but hey, life happens.

However, I did manage to set aside some time to make this pie.  This Apple Crumble Pie.  Or a more approrpiate name may be the Apple [Mile High] Crumble Pie.  Seriously.  Ain't no joking around when it comes to the crumble in this recipe.

Last weekend Robbie's [good looking, single] brother came into town for the week from Houston, Texas, and it's a rare treat that we get to see him.  His brother works ridiculously hard, and thus, finds it hard to get away most of the time. So you can bet everyone was happy to see his smiling face ☺

So due to his arrival, I decided to make this pie for him.  Robbie told me his brother especially likes fruity desserts, so in order to stay within my Fall mantra, apple pie it was.

I would say this pie is your classic apple crumble pie.  The crust is rather basic, letting the homemade cinnamoney-apple filling and thick-as-can-be crunchy crumble topping completely steal the show.  Personally, I could eat the crumble all.  day.  long.   For reals, it's splendid.

On a side note, I'll be traveling to Washington State this weekend to visit my dad, who's out there for the month with Tasty Bites.  I'll be visiting Yakima, where most of my relatives live [yay!!] and where my dad has planted the trailer at the Yakima State Fair.  Fair food?  Count me in!  So unfortunately this will be my only post for the week.  Sorry guys...

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and weekend though.  Bake lots!  .

My Notes:

• I'm not kidding around when I say that this pie has a lot of crumble.  So much so that you probably won't know where to put it all when you're piling it on the pie before baking.  But fear not, put it all on there.  The pie and crumble bake down quite a bit, so it'll all end up just perfectly.
• I used Golden Delicious apples, which were indeed very good, but I would recommend going with something a bit more tart such as Granny Smith's.  The Golden Delicious were very tender but didn't quite pack the punch I was hoping for.

Adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients:

Crust:

1-1/3 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. solid vegetable shortening

1/4 c. unsalted butter

3 tbsp. iced water

Filling:

3 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 c. peeled, cored, and sliced tart apples

Crumb Topping:

2-1/4 c. all purpose flour

1-1/2 c. light brown sugar, unpacked

1 c. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F.  For crust, place flour in a large bowl and using pastry blender or your fingertips, cut in shortening and butter until pieces are pea-size.  Sprinkle ice water by tablespoons over flour mixture, tossing with a fork until all dough is moistened.  Form dough into a ball.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to fit into a 9-inch pie dish.  Fold edges under all around and crimp.
2. For filling, in a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Add apple slices and toss gently to coat.  Transfer apple mixture into pie crust.
3. For topping, in a medium sized bowl, mix together flour and brown sugar.  Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture until well covered.
4. Bake 10 minutes, then turn down oven to 375°F and continue baking additional 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown on top.  

Yield: 8 servings