Tasty Tuesday: Crumb-Topped Apple & Pumpkin Pie

I have never really been a fan of apple pie. (I know. How un-American of me). But when I came across this recipe in my Light & Tasty magazine it sounded promising. I made it for the first time for Christmas last year and it received rave reviews. I made it again this past weekend when I hosted a game night and a separate dinner night at my house. It received even more rave reviews and several requests for a copy of the recipe. They plan to make this for their Thanksgiving dinners.

Crumb-Topped Apple & Pumpkin Pie

APPLE LAYER:

1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
2 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

PUMPKIN FILLING:

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

TOPPING:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons cold butter
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

On a lightly floured surface, unroll pastry. Transfer pastry to a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges. In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon. Spoon into crust.

In another large bowl, whisk the pumpkin filling ingredients. Pour over apple mixture. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

For topping, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly; stir in walnuts. Sprinkle over pie. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until a knife inserted into pumpkin layer comes out clean (cover edges with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning if necessary).

Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 10 servings


Note: I made a couple of changes from the original recipe out of convenience. Instead of a sheet of refrigerated pie pastry, I used a deep-dish pie shell (from the freezer section). I also used 2 eggs instead of the egg substitute. I eliminated the chopped walnuts in the topping due to allergies. I also found that I had to add at least around 1 tablespoon of butter to the topping in order to get it to crumble properly.



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Tasty Tuesday: "Sam's Favorite Muffins"

In my great quest to find sneaky ways to get Owen to eat vegetables, I came across these awesome muffins. I think the recipe came from some 25 year old Disney cookbook from my mom's house. They were originally called "Good Morning Muffins", but I changed the name after Sam (my 5 year old "step-son"), kept raving about how they were his favorite. So now they are "Sam's Favorite Muffins", although everyone in the house devours them. Enjoy!



 

Sam's Favorite Muffins              

3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup grated apples
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper liners and set aside. Blend the eggs, sugar, and oil until well combined. Stir in the grated apples and carrots. 

In a separate bowl, sift* the flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Blend the dry ingredients with the apple mixture until just combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.


Note: I do find these muffins to taste slightly "eggy", so I usually add a little more cinnamon than what is called for. I have also substituted 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce for half of the vegetable oil a few times in an attempt to make them a little healthier. This does give them a slightly more apple flavor, and also makes the texture a little denser. I only bake mine for 20 minutes, otherwise they are dry and over-cooked.


*Possibly a sign of how old the cookbook is? Does anyone sift anymore? I'm pretty sure most of these ingredients are sold pre-sifted now.