Dutch Crumb Apple Pie

I am not a fan of long spiels before getting to the actual recipe on blogs. In my experience, people look at recipes for the recipe, not for a narration. So, without further ado, here is my recipe for Dutch Crumb Apple Pie!

Yields: Two Pies
Total Time: About 2 hours

Ingredients:

Flaky Pie Crust:

• 2 heaping cups of flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• About 1 cup cold water
• 2 pie tins 

Apple Filling:

• 18 Gold Delicious apples
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream

Streusel Topping:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Flaky Pie Crust:

• Preheat oven at 375 degrees F.
• Mix together flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
• After softening the butter (do not melt it all the way), cut in butter until there are pea-sized pieces of dough. I prefer to hand mix the dough to make it the perfect consistency.
• Slowly add cold water (you may not need the full cup, depending on how "heaping" your cups of flour were). Mix until the dough clumps together in one big ball. It may be slightly sticky, but you don't want the pie dough to be as wet and sticky as, say, roll or scone dough. 
• Sprinkle flour over the kitchen counter and roll out the dough (half of it per pie).
• Place rolled out dough in a pie tin. Cut extra dough that hangs off the edges of the pie tin (leave about a 1/4 inch hanging over the edge, it will shrink a little when cooked). Shape pie crust edges how you wish (I pinch the edge and give it a little twist for my design). 
• Using a fork, gently poke a few holes at the bottom of the crust. 
• Cover pie crust dough with tin foil, place beans (or some other type of weight) on top of the foil to stop the crust from bubbling up.
• Bake pie crust for about 20 minutes. Remove the weights and tin foil from the crusts. Bake the crusts again for another 5-10 minutes until it is fully cooked and lightly golden on the edges.
• Place pie tins on cooling rack.
• Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. 

2. Apple Filling:

• Peel, core, and slice apples into pieces about 1/4 inch thick. 
• Toss the apples in a (very) large bowl with sugar, cinnamon, and salt. 
• Heat butter in a large pot, over high heat, until foaming subsides. 
• Add the apple mixture to the heated butter; toss to coat. 
• Reduce heat to medium-high. Cover pot, stir occasionally. Cook apple mix until apple slices are softened, about 10 minutes. 
• Set a large colander over a (very) large bowl; transfer the cooked apple mix to the colander. Drain off as much of the juice as possible. 
• Set cooked apples in a large bowl and set aside. Pour juice back into the heated pot. Add heavy cream to the juice mixture and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, until thickened and spoon leaves a trail in the mixture.  
• Transfer the cooked apples into the pre-baked pie shells.
• Pour the juice and cream mixture over the apples and smooth.

3. Streusel Topping:

• Combine flour, brown sugar, and sugar in a medium bowl.
• Drizzle melted butter over the flour/sugar mixture. Mix with a fork (or by hand) until evenly combined and mixture forms small chunks. 
• Sprinkle the streusel mix evenly over the pie filling. 
• Bake pies (at 425 degrees F.) until the streusel topping is golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. 
• Cool on wire rack. 
• Serve and enjoy! 

In my most humblest of opinions, this apple pie is best served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Although, my husband would argue and say that it is actually best served in a bowl, smothered in milk. 

Enjoy,

JR