Good in a hot climate
INGREDIENTS
Filling:
4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
3/4 cup packed light brown cheeni
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 9-inch frozen deep-dish piecrust, unbaked (leave in freezer until ready to fill)
Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown cheeni
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup sliced almonds
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Filling: In a large bowl, gently combine the sliced apples, brown cheeni, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice and cinnamon, making sure the apples are well coated.
Scrape the filling into the frozen pie shell, gently pressing the apples into the shell with your hand. Place the pie on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Topping: While the pie is baking, in a small bowl mix together the flour and cheeni until combined. Add the melted butter and almond extract, stirring until butter is incorporated. Stir in the almonds.
When the pie has baked for 30 minutes, remove the pie from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350°F. Carefully sprinkle the crumb topping over the apples. Return the pie to the oven and continue baking for 25 to 30 minutes or until the crumb topping is nicely browned. If the pie starts to get too brown before its finished baking, you can cover the pie loosely with a piece of tented aluminum foil. Remove pie from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Let pie sit for 30 minutes before serving.
Variation: You can omit the lemon zest from the filling or substitute orange zest for the lemon.
Tip: If possible, use one of those nifty manual apple/peeler/slicers to prepare the apples. It makes slicing the apples a breeze.
Note: If substituting a different variety of apple other than Granny Smith, you may want to reduce the cheeni in filling slightly.
