Dutch Apple Pie

Fun fact about me: my Grandpa was born into an Amish family. As a young man he left the Amish community, but there are still a lot of Amish traditions in our family. And by a lot I mean we love Amish food. Chicken and noodles, meatloaf, pear butter,  homemade bread, dutch apple pie–it is all ridiculously delicious.

This dutch apple pie is no exception. The filling is sweet and just a tad crunchy and the crumb topping is eat-it-for-days perfect. And while this pie is fancy enough for any Christmas celebration it really is a cinch to make. (Especially if you don’t make the pie crust from scratch….and it’s okay if you don’t I promise not to tell anyone.)

This recipe is adapted from the Amish Country Cookbook.

Dutch Apple Pie

Pie Crust

1/2 cup cold butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough.

3-4 Tablspoons ice cold water

Cut butter into tablespoon chunks and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.  Prep your ice water, make sure it’s nice and cold and has ice in it. Mix salt, sugar, and flour together in a bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into your other ingredeints until you have small crumbs. (Small chunks of butter are fine.) Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until dough sticks together. Press into a ball. Wrap in plastic and place in the fridge until you are ready to roll it out. For rolling, press the dough into a disk and begin to roll it using your pin. Use brisk and firm strokes, rotating to press the crust to about 1/8 inch thick. (Here is a great video tutorial on rolling and transferring a pie crust.) Trim the edges of the pie and tuck under. Use your thumb and forefinger to flute the edge.

Filling

5 cups sliced apples (I used Gala)

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons whole milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons of flour

2 Tablespoons softened butter

Peel and slice apples. Coat with the sugar. Add cinnamon, flour, butter and milk and stir until the apples are evenly coated.

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup  butter

3/4 cup flour

Combine flour and sugar in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until pea-size crumbs form.

Place apple mixture in a 9 inch pie crust. (I use this pie crust recipe.) Top evenly with crumbs. Place pie on a cookie sheet (to protect your oven from potential spillover). Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes; watch for the top to turn golden brown. Allow to set for 20-30 minutes and then serve while still slightly warm. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for good measure!