Easy as (Apple) Pie

Ahh autumn. The air is crisp, the leaves are colorful, and there are cheap apples everywhere. My parents have an orchard in their yard, and my dad makes apple cider most years. It's fun to help in the process, and of course drink the results.

I haven't been home in a few weeks, so I bought a bag of apples at the big box mart here in town and intended to eat them. Well, I didn't, and they were starting to head south. Apple pie time!

As much as I try, I'm awful at making crusts for pie. My mom has shown me a hundred times, and mine just never turn out. Fortunately, I found a recipe where I don't have to roll it out or even dirty a bowl to make it. You mix it right in the pie pan. I found this recipe online, but it is originally from the Pillsbury Cookbook. It makes one 9 inch pie.

Pat-in-Pan Apple Pie

Crust
1.5 cups unsifted AP flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
.5 cup vegetable oil
2 T milk (or in a pinch, coffee creamer)

Filling
6 cups sliced, peeled apples
.75 cup sugar
2 T flour
.75 tsp cinnamon
1 T lemon juice
2 T margarine

Streusel Topping
1 cup unsifted AP flour
.5 cup packed brown sugar
.5 tsp cinnamon
.5 cup margarine

Preheat oven to 425. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the pie pan, then add oil and milk and mix until dough forms. Pat into the pan, fluting the edges if you wish.
Combine the apples and the rest of the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix to coat. Pour into crust and top with pats of margarine.
In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon for streusel topping. Cut in the margarine until it is crumbly. Sprinkle on the apples.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until top is browned.

I had a few things happen with this recipe that you might want to look out for. First, I think the temperature is a little hot. That might just be my oven, but you might want to knock it down to 400 or even 375. The top got a little bit more brown than I wanted. Second, The streusel topping makes more than you will probably need, so you don't have to make all of it. I had about a handful or more left.

I really like this recipe because I don't have to make a traditional crust, and I had everything on hand (except the lemon juice, had to shell out $0.88 for that). It was really good topped with vanilla ice cream and a dash of cinnamon.

This recipe could easily be made vegan by substituting soy milk for the milk in the apple filling. You should definitely try this one out if you have extra apples laying around the house!