I’ve always thought I was better at cooking “regular food” dishes rather than sweets. The reason for that has something to do with that I like to add “a little bit of this” and “a touch of that”- that doesn’t work well with baking.
I’ve learned over the years to discipline myself enough to become a pretty good baker! Anything we are willing to work on we can improve- (I have to keep telling myself this in other areas of my life lol) buuuuttt……….
If I look back to find the one thing that made me feel like I could cook, it wouldn’t be the trays and trays of cookies that I attempted to make and had to throw away- It definitely wouldn’t be all the cakes that I slid off the cake savers right into the trash while shaking my head disappointed for more wasted ingredients….
it was THIS apple pie. This Apple pie even won 1st place in a pie contest! It wasn’t just me who loved it, everyone loved it!!
It was the one thing I could take to a covered dish event that I knew everyone would like….and I took it everywhere! Picnic- no problem, I’ll bring my apple pie. Covered dish church event-apple pie. A covered dish at the office- oh, no problem, I’ll bring my apple pie. It was hilarious, and I like to think everyone enjoyed it.
How to make a delicious spiced apple pie
- I like to start out with a homemade crust. I know it’s much easier to buy one, but making a homemade crust tastes soooo good! It could very well be my favorite part of the pie. If you haven’t made pie crust before it’s not hard. Just make sure to start with COLD ingredients like really cold butter and ice water. This will give you the flaky crust you’re longing for.
- I like to slice the apples really thin. Chunky slices of apples have a harder time cooking all the way through. I personally love a soft apple in my apple pie.
- Use good quality apples. It’s not like baking banana bread with old over-ripe bananas. A good apple makes a good apple pie!
- Don’t forget the spices! I love to use cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg. These spices work wonderfully with the apples making a delicious apple pie!
I noticed most apple pies have a cup OR MORE of sugar! If the apples are sweet, why are we putting all that sugar? I think a lot of times we do it because that’s how our moms or grandmas did it. Well, with the average American eating anywhere from 150-170 lbs of sugar per year, I think its time to do things a little differently. This apple pie only has 5-6 tablespoons in it, and if you did a crust topping, it would only have 1-2!
For other pie recipes try my Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!
Spiced Apple Pie with Crumb Topping
Ingredients
Apple pie filling
- 1 pie crust here's my homemade piecrust
- 4-5 medium apples I like to use Gala
- 2 tablespoon unbleached flour
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar depending on the sweetness of the apples
- 3 tablespoon refined coconut oil melted you could also use butter
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon of pink salt or sea salt
Pecan Oat Crumb Topping
- ¾ cup unbleached flour
- ½ cup pecan halves
- 1 cup oats
- 6-7 tablespoon butter melted (or melted refined coconut oil)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom like this one
- 6 tablespoon brown sugar
- couple dashes of nutmeg
- A couple pinches of pink salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Make pie dough, and roll it out, and put it in the pie dish. I'm using a deep-dish pie plate. Set aside.
- Peel apples, then slice them thin and put them into a large mixing bowl.
- Melt the coconut oil (or butter in a small saucepan then stir into the apples.)
- Mix in the flour, and the spices, and sugar, and set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl make the topping.
- Mix together all dry ingredients.
- Melt butter or coconut oil and pour over dry ingredients. Make sure nothing looks dry.
- Place apple mixture in the prepared pie dish.
- Sprinkle crumb topping over the top evenly.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350. Continue to bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until apple are soft when a knife is inserted.
Notes
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