Friday, June 14, 2013

Apple Crumble Slab Pie - Eating the Alphabet!

Some days just call for pie. In the Fall it makes sense: fire up the oven to keep the house warm, bake 1 or 2 (or 8 if you're us after apple season), enjoy them with your holiday meals. In the Summer, though, there are fewer "fancy" events like sit down dinners, and it's just too darn hot to crank up the oven to make two or three pies for the company picnic or family BBQ.

Yet nothing still says Summer like a good old fashioned pie, and if you're American and follow the adage, you know there's nothing better than apple. I adore my mom's au naturale style of pie myself, but that really only works with small scale 9" or 10" covered pastries. When I was faced with the prospect of having to make an apple dessert for school dessert a few weeks back, I knew that a bunch of round pies weren't practical - for one, the kids basically do snack with their hands (excepting items like applesauce and yogurt), and for another, there are 40 kids (plus teachers)! So I started planning a conglomeration of sorts. My favourite pie dough (made eggless for allergies) got rolled out nice and thin and placed on a cookie sheet, then my mom's Apple Square topping made it into a bowl for the crunch. For the filling, I tried something new, using a blend of Pyure Bakeable Blend Stevia Sweetener, "regular" sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch along with a healthy (pun intended) pile of sliced Jonagold and Honeycrisp apples. The combination makes for perfectly sweet slices you can hold in your hand (carefully!)or serve up on a plate with a scoop of ice cream. With the "J" in Jonagold, these are my entry to this month's Eating the Alphabet Healthy Recipe Challenge ("I" and "J") on Meal Planning Magic.

Apple Slab Crumble Pie


Apple Crumble Slab Pie
Makes one "cookie sheet" pie, 28 "adult" pieces
Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup non-hydrogenated shortening or butter
1/3 cup cold water
½ tsp vinegar

Filling:
2 tbsp butter
7 apples - peeled, cored and cut into thin wedges (I used a mix of 3 Honeycrisp and 4 Jonagold)
½ cup sugar
½ cup Pyure All Natural Bakeable Blend Stevia Sweetener
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cornstarch
¼ cup cold water

Topping:
½ cup flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter
¼ cup milk

Crust:
  1. In a large bowl, combine flour, flaxseed, salt and baking powder.
  2. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  3. Mix egg, water and vinegar together and mix into flour until it forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour or up to overnight.
Filling:
  1. In a pot, combine butter, apples, sugar and cinnamon. Place over medium heat and cook until apples begin to soften.
  2. Whisk together cornstarch and cold water, pour into the apple mixture and cook until liquid thickens, about 1 minute. Let cool at least 30 minutes.
Topping / Assembly: 
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Roll out the crust to fit the bottom of a 10x15 inch sheet.
  3. Pour filling into pie crust, smoothing into an even layer.
  4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, butter and milk until crumbly.
  5. Sprinkle over apples.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 165.5
Total Fat: 5.3 g
Cholesterol: 11.3 mg
Sodium: 48.5 mg
Total Carbs: 29.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
Protein: 2.3 g

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