They were eating out of my hand

Well, almost.

When I saw this posted on Noble Pig, I knew it would put to perfect use the apples I had received from a co-worker, whose family owns a local apple orchard. Cathy had seen the recipe over at The Cutting Edge of Ordinary. Every person who tried this pie could not say enough good things about it. You will see two pies above (and below). One of my co-workers does not like nuts, so I totally spoiled him and made him his own pie. Yeah, I'm crazy like that.

Upside Down Apple Pie

6 TBSP butter, melted and divided * see notes below

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp vanilla extract * not in original recipe*

2 refrigerated pie crusts

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking spice *not in original recipe*

5 large apples, and for the life of me I can't remember what kind I used, but Scott brought me crisp apples for baking-peeled, cored and sliced into pieces, mine were about 1/3 inch slices

Coat a deep dish pie pan with nonstick cooking spray. I used my Grandma's tin deep dish pan, which is about a quarter inch deeper than my Pyrex deep dish pan. Line pie plate with parchment paper and coat that with the cooking spray also.

In a small bowl, combine 4 TBSP melted butter, the brown sugar, vanilla and the pecans. Mix well and spread onto parchment paper. Cover with one of the pie crusts, pressing the crust into the topping and up the sides of the pan. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking spice (if using) and remaining butter. Mix well. Add apple slices and stir gently to combine. Spoon into pie crust. Top with remaining crust and fold the crust over other crust and crimp or press edges to seal all the juicy goodness inside. Put small slits on the crust to vent. Place on a baking sheet and place in a 375 degree F. oven. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Mine baked about 70 minutes.

After baking, let pie cool for 5 minutes, then place a plate larger than the pie over the top and invert so now the pecan caramel topping is face up.

Prepare for oodles of ooohs and aaaahs from your adoring fans.

**Notes: I used a full half cup of butter and upped the brown sugar by a couple tablespoons because I wanted to make sure I had enough of the topping to use in my single serve pie for Bob.


Also-use a baking sheet under the pie. I used my regular pie guard and because of the parchment paper sticking out over the sides of the pie dish, the caramel crawled up and over and was not caught by the pie guard. Lesson learned.