Caramel Apple Pie

By srumbel

The tender apple filling is fragrant and sweet with subtle hints of cinnamon. A crumbly mixture of butter, sugar and oats is baked on top of the pie adding a scrumptious flavor. But the star of this recipe? The highlight of all highlights….the big Kahuna? (whoever Kahuna is… I am not entirely sure, it just seemed like the right thing to add at this point for dramatic effect, dear read…thank you). The best feature of this apple pie is the silky caramel topping and crunchy pecans that are baking over the top of the pie during the last five minutes. It gives it a FABULOUS crunchy sweet kick.
from jamiecooksitup.com

Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch) pastry crust, unbaked
• 7 C apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 Tb lemon juice
• 1/2 C sugar
• 4 Tb flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 C flour
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C oats (I used quick cooking oats)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 12 Tb cold butter
• 1/2 C pecans, chopped
• 1/2 (12 ounce) jar caramel topping

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Peel and slice 7 cups of apples. I used Gala, because they are not overly tart.
3. To the apples add 1 Tb lemon juice, 1/2 C sugar, 4 Tb flour, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp cinnamon.
4. Stir it well and gently place the mixture into an unbaked pie crust. I bought this Marie Calendar's crust at my local grocery store. :)
5. Into a medium-sized mixing bowl combine 1/2 C flour, 1 C brown sugar, 1/2 C oats and 1/4 tsp salt. Give it a stir to combine.
6. Cut 12 tablespoons of cold butter into small pieces.
7. Using a pastry blender mix the cold butter into the oat mixture. You want it to resemble coarse crumbs.
8. Lay two large pieces of tin foil onto a large cookie sheet. Place the pie onto the foil and press the butter/oat mixture over the top.
9. Cover the pie loosely with the foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil from the top of the pie and allow it to bake for 25 more minutes.
10. Take the pie out of the oven and sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans over the top.
11. Grab some caramel ice cream topping...yum. :) Pour half of the jar evenly over the top of the pie. It will look kind of goopy, like this. No worries.
12. Place the pie back in the oven and let it bake for 5 more minutes. The caramel and pecans will make a wonderful crisp coating. You can dig in right away, or allow it to cool and then slice. The inside will set up nicely if you allow it to cool to room temperature. If you cut into it while it's still warm the texture will be more runny...but still wonderful.
Enjoy!