Recently friends from LA came for the weekend, and I made this apple pie for dessert after a meal of Beef Bourguignon. It is such a great apple pie, perfectly spiced in my opinion… cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves…
The recipe for the Spiced Apple Pie which you will find here on a previous post makes 2 pies so if you are only making one double crust pie be certain to cut the recipe in half for the crusts and the filling.
However, if I am only making one pie I will always make the full recipe for the dough because with almost the same effort that will give me enough dough stored in my freezer for a double crust pie or two single crust pies, whenever I might need it.
After my Thanksgiving pie baking I had a enough dough left for a single crust in the freezer. Perfect !
I decided to improvise and make the spiced apple pie with this walnut streusel topping to save a whole lot of time. I knew the streusel topping would complement this apple pie and it is now one I will add to my repertoire!
Here is the delicious streusel topping that would be great on fruit crisps as well as pies…
For the streusel: (from Dutch Apple Pie recipe from Chowhound online)
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup uncooked rolled oats (not instant)
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon fine salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (¾ stick), cut into small pieces
½ cup walnuts, finely chopped
To make the streusel:
Whisk the flour, sugars, oats, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl until evenly combined.
Add the butter and walnuts and, using your fingers, squeeze the flour mixture and butter together until they form large clumps and all of the flour is totally incorporated into the butter, about 5 minutes. (Make sure there are no dusty bit at the bottom of the bowl.)
Using your fingers break the large clumps into irregularly shaped pieces about the size of kidney beans.
Cover and place in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, make the spiced apple pie filling.
Streusel topping assembly:
Heat the oven to 425 degrees and arrange a rack in the lower third.
You will want to bake the pie on a rimmed baking sheet to catch the juices as the pie bakes. You can line the sheet with foil if you choose.
Place the prepared baking sheet on the rack.
Pour the filling, ( this time I used a combination of Cortland, Gala, and Fugi apples), into your pie pan lined with your pastry crust. Spread into an even layer and dot with some butter pieces.
Place the pie on the hot baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of the pie.
Carefully pat the streusel onto the apples to adhere.
Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and return the pie to the oven.
Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is thick and bubbling, about 40 to 50 minutes more. (Check the pie after 30 minutes: if the streusel is starting to look too dark loosely cover the top of the pie with a sheet of aluminum foil.)
When the pie is done, remove it from the oven, discard the top sheet of foil (if using), and let the pie rest on the baking sheet till the fruit stops bubbling, about 5 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and let the filling set before slicing, at least 3 hours. If you can!
