Brown Bag Apple Pie

I love a good idiom. And the word pie seems to creep into our social interaction on a regular basis: “Pie in the Sky” “Eat Humble Pie” “To Have Your Fingers in Too Many Pies”

Green Apples make the BEST Pie Apples

And Apple Pie even has its own sayings: “Motherhood & Apple Pie” or try “In Apple Pie Order” and even “As American as Apple Pie”

Talk about Pie in the Sky…

Well, on that most American of holidays, Thanksgiving, I wanted to share my family’s Apple Pie recipe. It is the pie I remember my mom making for the holiday – it has a rich streusel topping and is baked in brown paper grocery bag.

Here comes the brown bag part of a Brown Bag Apple Pie

Yes, you read that right. You actually put the pie in a brown paper bag, put that bag in the oven and bake away. The first time I did it, I was in mortal fear of burning down the house. But, paper bag doesn’t burn (much like parchment paper) and locks in the pie’s moisture while keeping the crust and streusel topping from burning. It comes out of the oven like an unopened (but very hot) present that you get to unwrap and enjoy.

Spicing it up – with Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves and Allspice

Brown Bag Apple Pie

Ingredients:

Filling:

4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced; enough to make 8 cups
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves
1/8 teaspoon Allspice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
1 Pre-made Pie Crust – OR use Greg’s Vegan Pie Crust Recipe HERE

Topping:

1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into pats

Brown Bag Apple Pie Filling

Method:
To make the filling:
Put the sliced apples in a big bowl, and add in the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and lemon juice. Stir the mixture and set aside for 5 minutes. This lets the flavors blend and the juice to start flowing. Stir in the flour. Again, let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat the over to 425. Remove the crust from the fridge (if it is a frozen crust, let it defrost). Lightly grease a 9” pie pan and lay the crust in the pan. Spoon the filling into the crust

For the Streusel Pie Topping: butter, pecans, sugar & flour

To make the topping:
Combine the sugar, flour, butter and nuts, working them together until they are mixed and crumbly but not smooth. You want a chunky streusel-like topping.
Spread the topping over the filling.

For the topping – mix it together, but keep things chunky. I found my fingers are the best mixing tools here…

To bake:
Place the pie flat in a brown paper grocery bag that is laid on it’s side. Fold up the top, and crimp it closed. Place the pie in the bag on a baking sheet (to catch any drips)