Best Apple Pie you'll ever eat!

Deep Dish Crumble Top Apple Pie   

Deep Dish Crumble Top Apple Pie

This is the best apple pie I have ever made.. 

Everyone loves it & Im asked over & over to make one for just for them 

so they dont have to share. ;)          

This is the crust I always use when I make it but

feel free to use any crust you like.  You will need 1 bottom crust.  This recipe 

makes 2 crusts and I usually will make fried pies with the extra or save it for another pie.

This recipe is made in a food processor but you can always make it by hand if you like.

 

DEEP DISH CRUMBLE TOP APPLE PIE  

 

      PIE                                                                   CRUMBLE TOP     

6 Cups Apples                                                     1 Cup Brown Sugar 

1/2 cup Sugar                                                      ½ Cup Flour 

3 Tablespoons Flour                                            ½ Cup Oats 

1 teaspoon Cinnamon                                         ½ cup Butter, room temperature.  

1/8 teaspoon salt  

 

    Peel, core & slice apples  thinly.  Sprinkle the next 4 ingredients over the apples and mix until covered.   Add the apples into the pie pan. 

Mix the Crumble Top, gently by hand.  Pinch the ingredients together using your fingers or with a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs, then spread evenly over the top of the apples.  

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes with foil/crust protection, then remove & bake additional 25-30 minutes until pie is caramel colored and bubbly. 

I bake my pies on a preheated cookie sheet on the lower rack for the first 25 minutes, then  

when I remove the crust protection, I raise it to the top rack.   This provides a better bottom crust.  

 

Original recipe from Marcia Brooks, via Emerril Lagasse Pie Contest in 2001 

The original recipe includes sprinkling the baked pie with toasted pecans and caramel.   

My taste testers prefer it without it. 

pre-baked pie

pre-baked rustic tart

                                                                       Baked Rustic Tart

 

                                                   CROCK POT APPLE BUTTER

Its been a good long while since I posted anything here but I've been asked often how I make my Crock-Pot Apple Butter so here it is. 

I had ZERO experience making apple butter so I just came up with my own after reading dozens of recipes online about 15 years ago.  Back then there were no recipes to do it in the Crock-Pot online so I just kind of winged it. It worked out perfectly.   

This recipe has won many Blue Ribbons in canning competitions at county & state fairs too.. (mine & others entries too)   Everyone loves it!! 

 Over time, I adapted it to make larger batches in an 18 quart roaster...  The times are basically the same and you just multiply everything by 3.  The roaster temperature is 200°-225°F. the equivalent to Low on a Crock-Pot. 

 th

Lets get started!!  

INGREDIENTS

  

• 25-30 pc. apples (about 8 lbs) (I use a mixture of varieties in mine)*
• 1 cup water (or apple juice, cider if desired)
• 4 cups brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• Makes Approx: 8-9 pints
• Using your favorite method, wash & slice apples, remove the cores and add your sliced apples & peels (if desired) to the Crock Pot to the very top of the lid. (Peels aren't necessary but I always add mine as long as they look good.) 
• Add 1 cup of water 
• Turn the Crock Pot on low, covered, and let cook untouched for 10-12 hours. I usually start this in the afternoon or evening so the next step is ready in the morning when I wake up.
• In the morning or after 10-12 hours, using an immersion blender, puree the apples until it is completely smooth if that is your preference. (its ours) 
• Add 4 cups brown sugar & 4 tablespoons of cinnamon to the puree using the immersion blender to blend them in well.  You can add less sugar if you desire.. make it yours. 
• Replace the lid on the puree but turn it slightly skewed about 1 inch so that steam will be able escape. 
• Continue to let it cook down on low for another 8-10 hours. You don't need to stir this but you certainly may occasionally if you wish.  It will be ready to can when its thick, and the spoon makes pool ridges are obvious as in the picture of the open jars above or the open roaster below.

To fill the jars:

• Using your canning funnel fill the jars using your ladle. Fill the jars to 1/4" head space.
• Using a wet paper towel wipe the rims of the jars.
• Add hot lids/ring and water bath 5 minutes for half-pints or pints, 10 minutes for quarts. Adjust per altitude. 
•  If you don't have brown sugar you can add 4 cups of white sugar and 5 T. of unsulfured molasses.
•  You can easily reduce the amount of sugar if it seems like too much to you..  I've seen recipes where it was double what I use so this seemed like a good amount to me.   Make it your own.
•  *  Use a combination of sweet & tart apples for the best flavors. 

That is it!!  Super Simple, Super Delicious!   Hope you try it & hope you enjoy it!!  

Week 5 & 6 and a garden update

The CSA veggies continue to shine..week 5s share included 2 pints of beautiful red raspberries.

Week 5

You don't find raspberries looking this fresh very often.

Are these organic veggies gorgeous what?


Week 6 share was a beaut too.
Good eating right there..  This is the first of the basil to come in our shares this week...  it's hanging upside down drying now.

 Time for a garden update.
 We got our fence up and veggies planted a little later than I would have liked but it seems like we always are 2-3 weeks behind everyone else in our community garden.

 We've got loads of squash plants

 A good stand of both pickling and slicing cucumbers...

 Squash blossoms...

 6 different types of tomatoes and 5 plants of each.. wrapped around a 5 gallon bucket with holes in the bottom for slow constant watering.

 These are 2 rows of black eyed peas..this Southern girl has been missing really good black eyed peas.  Can't wait to get a mess of these in my belly. ;)

 A row of green beans, a row of yellow wax beans and a double row that has beets, turnips, kohlrabi and radishes.

 Lovely dill...it's so pretty.

 Tomatoes are looking healtho
So far.

Fingerling potatoes are in this double row.  They were leftovers from last year's CSA harvest.  I wasn't sure how they'd do since they were pretty shriveled but they are looking great!

Looking forward to the bounty of my labors. 

CSA Weeks 5 & 6, Gardening, Rhubarb, Strawberries, and Peaches.

I got really busy for several weeks.
But we always get our CSA produce,  rain or shine.
Week 5.

 We put our garden in and got it going a little later than we would have liked, but we had lots of help so it went quickly.

We've got 3 plots in a community garden about 2 miles from my home.

The rhubarb and strawberries started coming in right about that time too, so I had more than enough to do. 

 I made a few jars of rhubarb jam and a few jars of Strawberry jam as well.