Caramel Apple Pie

I'm back from my weekend shopping trip and had a fabulous time! Besides spending all day with my BFF from high school, I was also able to meet my cousin and one of his friends for lunch and cocktail as they were shopping at Mall of America also. I finished shopping for Drama Queen, I am about 90 percent done with Hermit Crab, and I need just a few things for Dude. After I post, I'm off to order some car things for him. He is so hard to shop for!



I said that I would be posting a pumpkin roll and a bourbon pecan pie, and I will soon, but I didn't have enough pecans and I had already been to town and didn't feel like making another trip for just some nuts. My friend Scott from work had brought me a bag of Harrelson apples so I found the recipe that was a big hit at a family party about a year and a half ago. It is from Ree Drummond-The Pioneer Woman. I changed it a bit to comply with requests from the family from the first time I made it. In it's original form it was delightful, I just tried to make it fit into my family's tastes a little more.




Caramel Apple Pie
(I think she calls it Scrumptious Apple Pie?)



1 refrigerate pie crust
6 to 7 cups cored, peeled and sliced tart apples
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup sugar
4 TBSP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp. baking spice-not in original recipe
1 tsp. cinnamon-not in original recipe
Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1-1/2 sticks butter, slightly soft
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping *her recipe calls for 1/2 a jar, and also 1/2 cup of pecans


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour, salt, baking spice and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside. For crumb topping, cut butter into flour. Add brown sugar and oats. Place pie crust in pie tin. Pour in apple mixture. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top of apples.
Place pie protector (or tin foil strips) over crust and bake for 25 minutes. Remove protector/tin foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes and then drizzle with caramel topping.



I didn't add walnuts this time since Bob will probably want some tomorrow night at work and he doesn't like nuts (he is spoiled) and I don't use as much caramel topping as Ree does as my family thought it overwhelmed the pie to much. All they tasted was caramel and not the apples. I also used the spices to make it taste more like an apple pie.

I also made a pan of bars for Drama Queen. She likes regular apple pie-well, mainly she likes the crust, but since this has a crisp-like topping, she may try it as she likes apple crisp. To appease her in case she doesn't want to try it or doesn't like it, I made one of favorite bars.

Peanut Butter M & M Bars

1 package dry peanut butter cookie mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1 egg
1 TBSP water
3 TBSP oil
1/3 cup M & M's

Stir together cookie mix, egg, water and oil until combined. Stir in candy until dispersed well in the dough. Pat into a brownie pan (10x8). Bake at 350 degrees F. for 22 minutes.

Ahhh, nothing like the smell of peanut butter baking!

I probably won't see you until towards the end of the week since this starts our long week at work. I am off to find some of my favorite bar recipes as we are having a bake sale/craft sale and luncheon at our church the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. There is a huge tree farm about 4 miles south of our church and many people travel from the Twin Cities to come get trees. We offer them a place to grab some good lunch, pick up some treats and a place to 'powder their nose'. Since we are going to visit Hermit Crab that weekend, I need to have my treats ready to go beforehand. My neighbor, who is hosting us for Turkey Day, offered to bring in my stuff as she is working the sale. I love a good bake sale.......