Recipes: Apple Pie with Granola Crumb Topping

If you have a craving for apple pie, but don’t have the time to mix up a traditional pastry crust, try Lynch Ford Chevrolet's quick and easy recipe for apple pie with granola crumb topping. Thanks to a store-bought pie shell, it takes less than a half-hour to prep and only one hour to cook, meaning that you’ll be enjoying a warm, crumbly slice in no time flat.

Prep time: About 20 minutes
Cook time: 60-65 minutes
Serves: 8-10

Ingredients
9 ½-inch pie shell (chilled)

For the apple filling:
7 cups Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 lemon (for juice and grated zest)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

For granola crumb topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter (cut into 1/4-inch pieces)

Directions

1. Because you’re using a store-bought pie shell (chilled), you can get right to preparing the apple filling. To really make things easy on yourself, use a combination apple corer/slicer to quickly prep peeled apples. Golden Delicious apples will stay nice and firm, but can be bland in a pie, whereas Granny Smiths are nice and tart, but can get a bit mushy. You might consider using a combination of the two. In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, 1/3 cup sugar, lemon juice and zest. Mix well, and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Combine remaining tablespoon of sugar with nutmeg and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add to the apple mixture, and stir well.

4. Turn apple mixture into chilled pie shell. Use your hands to smooth and even it out. Place pie directly onto preheated oven’s center rack. Bake for 30 minutes.

5. While your pie is baking is the perfect time to create your granola crumb topping. Using a food processor, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, pulsing several times to mix. Remove processor lid and add butter, scattering 1/4 pieces over your dry mix. Pulse repeatedly, until mixture becomes fine crumbs. Transfer crumbs to a large mixing bowl. Using your fingers, rub fine crumbs together to create larger, buttery crumbs. Refrigerate while pie continues cooking.

6. Remove your pie from the over when the 30 minutes is up. Place on large, foil-lined baking sheet. Reduce oven temp to 375. Carefully dump crumb topping in center of pie, and, using your hands, spread it over the entire surface, pressing down very lightly to help it adhere.

7. Return pie to oven, placing directly on center rack. Position foil-lined baking sheet on rack below, to catch any juices that may bubble over. Bake pie an additional 30-35 minutes, or until the granola crumb topping is dark golden brown and juices bubble thickly at the edge. To keep the granola topping from over-browning, you can cover the pie with a loose aluminum-foil tent for the final 15 minutes of baking.

8. Transfer pie to wire rack, and let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. Slice and serve a la mode or with fresh whipped cream.