Week 12: Sour Cream Apple Pie

Every October for the past 5 years, we've made our way up to Apple Holler for some apple picking.  And every year we pick WAY more apples than we can actually eat.  This year, I decided to chop up a good portion of the apples to make a couple pies.  I can't remember where I found this recipe, but I've been baking it for years now.  And it seems like each time I bake it, someone ends up asking for the recipe.  So here it is for all to enjoy!

We had Chuck's bandmates over for dinner to help us knock out part of the pie bounty.  And the second pie made its way into the office for my coworkers.

I usually peel the apples before chopping & adding to the pie.  But I decided to leave them on this time around.  I really like the color these Jonathan peels brought to the pie, and it gave the apples a nice tangy flavor.

Lessons learned and recipe thoughts:

1. One of these days, I'm going to break down and make my own pie crust.  Til then, I'll keep picking them up from the freezer section of the grocery store.  Marie Callendar's makes a particularly nice frozen pie crust.

2. I've tried this recipe with a graham cracker crust before & it was very good...but also sweet.  If you're into sweet, go for it.

3. I've made this pie dozens of times & it always comes out perfectly.  This makes me suspect it's a relatively forgiving recipe.  It's certainly an easy one to throw together.

4. I prefer this pie warm, so I always warm up my leftover slices in the microwave.

Sour Cream Apple Pie
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbls flour
3-4 cups apples, chopped
1 unbaked 9" pie shell

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, chilled

Preheat oven to 450

Beat egg.  Add sour cream, vanilla, and salt, mixing well.  In a separate bowl, combine sugar and flour.  Add to sour cream mixture, beating well.  Stir in apples.  Pour into shell and bake at 450 for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 and bake 30 minutes more.

Mix topping: combine flour and brown sugar, cut in butter until crumbly (if you don't have a pastry blender, you can use a fork or a pair of knives).  Sprinkle on pie and bake 10 minutes more.