Carmel Apple Pie

I'm not one of those people that grew up making pies. I have friends who say that is what they did with their moms, but my mom made more of the cookies and cakes. So I didn't grow up with a love for pies like some people. So a pie has to be really good in order for me to swoon and ahh over it.

This pie. This pie made me take a trip straight to heaven with one bite. Oh. My. GOODNESS!!!!

Remember my post about picking apples? My husband was chomping at the bit to eat some baked goods from all the delicious apples. So, I set out to find a good apple pie recipe.

Now, I don't follow recipes. I can't remember the last time I followed a recipe to a T. I'm that person who substitutes everything, and puts in a dash and a pinch instead of getting out my measuring cups.

This time was no different.

I pulled a little from this recipe, and a little from that, and since we still haven't unpacked all of the kitchen boxes, the only measuring utensil I have is a 1/2 Tablespoon. But, the two recipes I stole bits from was this one for the crust, and this one was the base for the rest. I know I used more and less of a few things, so I'll write my list of ingredients for you if you want to try it out :) Also, I didn't want a recipe with Crisco or Lard, so I went with a buttery crust!

Ingredients for the crust:

2 1/2 cups of flour
2 TBLS of sugar
1 TSP of Sea Salt
1 C. of Salted Butter (usually I use unsalted, but my husband bought salted)
6-8 TBLS of cold water (I ended up using 8)

The original recipe said to use a food processor and other fancy smancy things... like measuring utensils... but I don't have a food processor, but it's totally possible to do this without it.

Instructions:

Mix dry ingredients, then cut up the chilled butter in half inch increments and add it to the bowl.

We don't want the butter to get too soft when doing this all with your hands, so use only your finger tips to crumble everything up and mix it together. If it gets pasty, you're probably using too much of the palm of your hand and not the finger tips. Gradually add one TBLS of water at a time until the dough starts to form moist clumps.

Split dough in half, and form two balls, and place each in a ziploc bag. Flatten into circles, and pop into the freezer for 20-30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the fixings.

Ingredients for Filling:

7 C. Peeled cubed apples (I used the ones from our apple tree)
3/4 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Flour
1 TSP Sea Salt
1 TSP Cinnamon
1/2 TSP Nutmeg

Mix all ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Ingredients for the Crumble Topping:

1 1/2 stick of salted butter
1/2 cup Flour
1 C. Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Rolled Oats
1/2 TSP Sea Salt
1/2 C. Chopped Walnuts
1 C. Carmel Sauce.

Mix the flour and butter the same as you did with the crust. Then add in the brown sugar, oats, and salt. It will become thick and pasty, perfect for plopping on top of the pie!

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Take the crust out of the freezer and place onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out until about 1/8 - 1/4in thick, or large enough to fit into your pie plate with 1 inch to spare on the edges. Place in pie plate, and trim edges to fit pan, and fold in and pinch the edges.

Place prepared apple mixture into the prepared pie crust, and press down to fill in all the spaces and create and even surface.

Spoon topping onto the top of pie filling. It will be enough to cover the entire surface and will be ever so delicious!

At this point I took one look at the pie, and knew it was going to make a mess in my oven. So before putting it in to bake, I placed it on a cookie sheet to catch any delicious drippings that might sneak out.

Bake pie for 1 hour at 375 degrees. Try not to die from the divine smell that fills your kitchen.

Also, if you're anything like me, you may just turn on the oven light and watch in awe as the pie bakes, and the filling bubbles with flavor.

Once pie has baked for 1 hour, top pie with chopped walnuts and bake for another 5 minutes.

Once pie is done, place on cooling rack.

Now it's time for carmel!

I didn't measure how much I put on, but I covered the surface, and then to be extra naughty, I got a chop stick and poked holes into the pie and filled the holes with carmel... I like to live on the edge!

Allow to cool slightly before serving!

Enjoy!!!!