Apple Crumble Pie
- Carbohydrate 74.1230993208553 g
- Cholesterol 30.6562499998706 mg
- Fat 25.4551958333023 g
- Fiber 2.13992923195163 g
- Protein 1.64935437494369 g
- Saturated Fat 9.155661380189 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (166g)
- Sodium 102.492270832492 mg
- Sugar 71.9831700889036 g
- Trans Fat 1.55224550520673 g
- Calories 516 calories
Step-by-step
- Crust: Mix up all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and then pat into a pie pan. Do not roll out.
- Filling: Peel and cut up 4-5 large apples. I used some Golden Delicious fresh from my mom’s apple trees. I used those cool spinny apple slicer tools that make short work of apples. Turn ‘em into little apple slinkies. Then I chop them up and mix in the other ingredients. Put your apples into your unbaked pie shell.
- Topping: Cut up your butter into little cubes and then mix in the sugar and flour until they are in little crumbles. Put on top of the pie.
- Put the whole pie into a brown paper bag and seal. Bake it at 350 degrees for 1½ hours and don’t peek! Serve with vanilla ice cream!
Why does enclosing an unbaked pie in a brown paper bag change the entire baking outcome? Enclosing the pastry inside heavy paper traps circulating moisture while shielding the delicate crumble topping from direct heat. This environment steams the fruit rapidly while allowing the butter and sugar topping to brown without scorching over ninety minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Adjusting proportions for different pan sizes requires maintaining precise ratios between the fruit filling, the fat-to-flour ratio in the crust, and the crumb topping density. Multiplying ingredient quantities by a factor of 1.5 scales a standard recipe upward effectively, though standard pie pans hold a finite volume of sliced apples before structural integrity fails. Substituting oil with solid fats in the crust alters the flakiness entirely, replacing the tender layered crumb with a more compact texture due to differing melting points during mixing.
Scaling and Adjustment Mechanics
When doubling quantities for multiple pies, mix individual crust components separately rather than combining massive batches in a single bowl to prevent gluten over-development. Stacking paper bags is unnecessary; use one heavy-duty grocery bag per pie to ensure proper vapor containment.
- If the paper bag begins to char during baking, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees immediately.
- Measure flour by weight rather than volume when scaling ingredients to maintain the exact 1-to-1 ratio required for the crumble topping.
- Cool the finished pie completely on a wire rack for two hours before slicing to allow the sugar and starch filling matrix to set firmly.
