Crumb Topped Apple Pie To Bake Now Or Freeze For Later Food

CRUMB TOPPED APPLE PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in the shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until easy to handle., Preheat oven to 450°. Roll out pastry to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges., For filling, place apples in crust. Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples. , For topping, combine flour and sugar in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°; bake 50-60 minutes or until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

CRUMB-TOPPED APPLE PIE TO BAKE NOW OR FREEZE FOR LATER

Steps:

• Roll out pie dough and fit into a 9-inch pie plate (regular pie plate or deep dish), fluting the edges. If baking right away, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a large bowl, toss the sugar, flour & cinnamon with the sliced apples together and transfer to prepared pie crust, spreading with a slight mound in the center and pressing down to fill evenly.
• For the topping, add the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter (cut into pieces) to a bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture starts to hold together, forming some large clumps (or use a pastry blender to cut in the butter by hand in a small bowl, but make sure to mix until large clumps form to get the big crumb topping).
• Break off pieces of the topping (it should be solid enough that it can't be "sprinkled" - press the crumbly topping in the bottom of the bowl together to form clumps) and evenly place over the top of the apples, covering them completely. Gently pat mixture down.
• To bake now:
• Place pie on a baking sheet and cover entire pie loosely with foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes more until top is golden and apples are tender (I also usually remove the baking sheet so the crust browns well). Cool on a wire rack.
• To freeze and bake later:
• After topping apples with crumbs, wrap entire pie - plate and all - with heavy duty foil (or double thickness of foil). Label and freeze up to three months.
• When ready to bake, remove foil and place frozen pie on a cookie sheet. Use the same foil to cover the pie loosely with foil (just attach it loosely to the edges of the cookie sheet).
• Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, remove foil and bake for 40-50 minutes more until it's bubbling, the top is browned, and the apples are tender.