You can top a pie with all sorts of crusts, but we’re partial to this crumble. In addition to its incredible taste and delightful texture, it shrinks down with the pie during the cooling process, so you can say goodbye to that huge gap between the crust and filling.
Ingredients:
Topping:
- 2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled or instant oats
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1/3 cup walnuts
Filling:
- 2 pounds mixed baking apples such as Granny Smith and Golden Delicious, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- One 9-inch unbaked deep-dish pie crust
Directions:
For the topping, combine the oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and work into the mixture with fingers. Once the butter is nearly incorporated, add the walnuts. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine the apples, cranberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt. Stir until the apples are coated with the other ingredients. Pour into the pie shell. (The volume of apples may seem like too much, but the fruit will shrink.) Pat the topping onto the apples.
Bake in the oven covered until bubbly, about 55 minutes. Uncover the pie, then bake for another 10 minutes. The apples should be tender when pierced with a sharp knife. If not, bake longer, but keep a close watch to make sure the top does not get too brown. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature before serving.
Tip: Vanilla ice cream and whipped cream make excellent accompaniments to this sweet and tart pie.
