Old Fashioned Crumb Topped Apple Pie

I took this pie to a birthday party last night and was told it tastes just like Cracker Barrel’s. Having never eaten at Cracker Barrel, I can’t say for sure this is true – but everyone seemed to love it and I brought home an empty pie plate!

The recipe came from one of my mom’s very old cookbooks; one of her well-loved ones that was falling apart and held together by a rubber band when I copied it down fifteen years ago. Those kinds of cookbooks usually have the best recipes and this is no exception!

It’s very easily made gluten free; simply use gluten free oats, gluten free flour mixture and a gluten free pie crust (I like the Gluten Free Pantry’s Perfect Pie Crust Mix.)  In fact, the photo is of the gluten-free version I made.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take many pictures so had very limited options to work with. Hopefully, these will suffice to give a tiny taste of just how yummy this pie is!

Old Fashioned Crumb Topped Apple Pie

Filling:

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons of plain flour (or any GF flour mix; I use Pamelas’s Baking Mix)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• 5 cups peeled, cored, chopped apples

Topping:

• 1/3 cup plain flour (or any GF flour mix for gluten-free version)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons oats (use gluten free oats, for gluten-free version)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons softened butter

Pastry:

• Pie pastry for one 9 inch crust – I used to make my own pie crusts. But, now, I have kids and an accident-prone potty training puppy and a part time job and a house that never stays clean so, long story short: I buy the premade refrigerated crusts that you roll out. For the gluten-free version, I use Gluten Free Pantry’s Perfect Pie Crust Mix. It works for me at this time of my life! But, feel free to use homemade pastry here, if you wish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place pie pastry in oven proof pie dish. Mix filling ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Place in pastry lined baking dish. In the same bowl you mixed the filling in, thoroughly combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle over filling. Tear strips of aluminum foil and cover crust edges before placing in oven, to prevent over-browning. Bake 25 minutes, then remove foil strips and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer until top is golden brown and pie is bubbly. Remove from oven, place on a cooling rack, and resist the temptation to eat an entire pie all by yourself!