I made this pie a few weeks ago and it came out pretty darn spectacular. I brought it to work and shared it with my “roommates”— room 109! And it was a Hit! I wish I could share some of the comments I received, but they aren’t appropriate.

This apple pie was fairly easy to put together since I didn’t make the crust. Most of the time I do, but honestly, store bought brands have actually improved. The crust was buttery and flaky, and all I had to do was unroll it out of the package. Plus, I made everything else. And it’s okay to cheat a little during the holidays. ::insert awkward smile here 😬::

After I baked this pie, I put it in the freezer for a week, just to see if it would freeze well, and it did. I gently reheated the pie at 350 for about 20-30 minutes. So this pie can be made ahead of time, and if wrapped properly, it could be frozen up to a month in advance.

Some Tips:

• I used pink lady apples. They are crisp, tart and sweet, and will not turn mushy on you.

• I used less sugar than the original recipe called for. Just because I was going to be throwing a streusel on top, as well as, sea salt caramel. Plus, I can’t stand overly sweet desserts. It’s about balance.

• When cooking the apples down, do not cook them all the way. They should still have some crunch or snap to them. They will finish cooking in the oven.

• Make sure you butter the pie pan generously. The last thing you want is your pie to be stuck to the rim of the pan.

• Cooling time is very important. It needs at least two hours to rest. You can leave the pie out up to 24 hours or chill in the fridge. But first, rest outside. Two hours.

• Put pie pan on a baking sheet to make it easy to pull in and out of the oven.

The holidays are here, so I hope you give this Dutch apple pie a try.

Dutch Apple Pie (adapted from food network)

Ingredients:

6-7 large pink lady apples, peeled and chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 all spice

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c sugar

2 -3 tbsp lemon juice

4 Tbsp. Unsalted butter

Store bought pie crust (only need one) or you can make your own

Streusel:

1 C. AP flour

2 sticks cold butter, cubed

1/3 C. brown sugar

1/4 tsp fine salt

1/2 C. chopped pecans

Salted caramel sauce:

24 pieces Werthers original caramel chews

Heavy cream

Flake sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

PIE CRUST: generously butter a pie dish. Carefully unroll store bought pie crust over the pie dish. As you unroll, gently let the pie crust sink to the edges of the bottom of the dish. With the excess pie crust at the top, use a knuckle to push into the side of the dish to create crimps. Keep in the refrigerator until the filling has completely cooled.

PIE FILLING:

put the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Peel and core the apples; cut each in half, and cut each half into 4 wedges. Add the apples and granulated sugar to the bowl with the lemon juice, and toss.

Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the sugared apples, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer, about 2 minutes. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the apples soften and release most of their juices, about 7 minutes.

Strain the apples in a colander over a medium bowl to catch all the juice.

Shake the colander to extract as much liquid as possible. Return the juice to the skillet, and simmer over medium heat until it has thickened and lightly caramelized, about 10 minutes.

Toss the apples with the thickened juice, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside to cool completely. (The cooled filling can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 6 months.)

STREUSEL: toss all ingredients together into a medium sized bowl. Using a fork, mix together until you reach a crumbly consistency.

COMBINE PIE FILLING/STREUSEL:

Pour filling into pie crust and evenly spread. Generously dab the streusel on top, until pie is fully covered.

Place pie dish on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, or until the streusel is golden brown. Let the pie rest for 3 hours before cutting. The pie can stay out up to 24 hours, or could be frozen and reheated.

SEA SALT CARAMEL SAUCE: in a microwave safe bowl, add 1/4 cup of heavy cream and 24 wherthers caramel chews. Gently microwave in increment of 20-30 seconds at 50% power. Stir gently until all caramel has completely melted. If too thick, add more heavy cream. If too thin, add more caramel chews. Drizzle over the cooled Dutch apple pie. Sprinkle flakes sea salt.

PRO-TIP:

When cutting your pie, make a small slit and pull out a small wedge. This way, you will have an opening to slide your spatula underneath the next slice of pie.