Apple Pie with Oat Streusel Topping

For most people, Thanksgiving’s centerpiece is the turkey. For me, it’s dessert. I love my mother in law’s apple pies so much that I save 3/4 of my plate for dessert and call dibs on the leftovers. She shared this recipe with me and I am so excited to share it with you. The original recipe is here but after reading reviews and some other tips/tricks, I’ve edited it to include all the suggestions that I found helpful. I make the pie crust the night before since most well-rated recipes call for letting the dough chill overnight to ensure a flaky and tender base. There are a lot of debates about which type of baking dish is best: glass vs. metal. I like the glass since you can see the color of the crust to ensure that it’s cooked all the way through.

Ingredients:

Filling:

3 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 4-5 medium apples)
1/2 cup sugar (less if you use sweeter apples)
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Crust:

1 butter pie crust (recipe here) removed from refrigerator 10-20 min prior to rolling out
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

Topping:

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
7 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

Directions:

Crust:

Position rack in center of oven; pre-heat to 400°F. Place aluminum foil rimmed baking sheet in bottom of oven to catch spills. Place sheet of parchment paper on work surface, flip the pie dish over and trace the outline with a pencil to measure out 9 in diameter; lightly flour wax paper. Place dough disk on wax paper; sprinkle very lightly with flour. Cover with another sheet of parchment; roll to 9-inch round. Remove top parchment; sprinkle oats evenly over crust. Cover again with top parchment; roll to 12-inch round, rolling oats into crust. Remove top parchment. Using bottom parchment as aid, invert crust, oat side down, into 9-inch diameter glass pie dish. Remove parchment. Press crust gently into pie dish. Turn dough overhang under, forming high-standing rim 1/2 inch above sides of dish. Crimp edges. Return to refrigerator until the remaining filling and topping is ready for assembling.

Filling:
Toss all ingredients in large bowl. Let stand while preparing topping. Drain before using, you’ll have about 1 cup of liquid in the bowl after draining.

Topping:
Blend first 6 ingredients in food processor. Add butter; pulse until moist dough forms (mixture will resemble wet sand). Add oats; pulse briefly, leaving half of oats whole.

Remove pie crust from fridge and let sit 10 minutes. Drain apple filling before using, you’ll have about 1 cup of liquid in the bowl after draining. Stir filling; transfer to crust. The apples end up shrinking a bit so don’t worry about the apples being higher in the middle than the crust edges. Sprinkle topping evenly over.

Bake pie at 400°F until topping is golden, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until apples are tender when pierced with small sharp knife, covering pie loosely with foil if topping and crust are browning too quickly, about 35-40 min longer. Cool pie on rack until slightly warm, at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.