Happy Pi Day! What better way to celebrate than with actual pie? I asked John for a request and, unsurprisingly, he asked for an apple crumb pie. Here we go!
Domestocrats’s Apple Crumb Pie
For the crust:
2.5 cups AP flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
Roughly 1 cup ice water
For the apple filling:
5 apples (I used Braeburn)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon (I use King Arthur’s Vietnamese cinnamon)
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
The zest and juice of one lemon
For the crumb topping:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup AP flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
Let’s start with the crust. Homemade pie crust is so much simpler than it looks and it’s totally rewarding too; nothing else in the world looks or tastes like a homemade crust! Mix the dry ingredients together in a big glass bowl. Cut the butter into cubes. The most essential part of making homemade pie crust is keeping the dough cold. If the butter warms too much or touches your hands too much as you cut it, throw it back in the fridge for 10 minutes before mixing it into the dry ingredients.
Have 1 cup of water with ice cubes in it ready. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.
When the butter is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients, slowly pour the ice water in a few tablespoons as a time. Mixing with your hands will probably make the most sense at this point.
Make sure to knead the pie crust until it’s sticky to the touch but not too wet. When the dough is ready, divide it into two pieces, wrap each in plastic wrap, and store in the fridge for at least 2 hours but overnight works well too. The pie crust is done! Not too bad, right? If all else fails, check out Smitten Kitchen’s pie crust tutorial. It’s the best.
When the dough has thoroughly chilled make the apple filling.
Peel, core, and slice the apples. Mix together in a big glass bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients.
Roll out the pie crust with ample flour sprinkled on the surface you use.
Carefully move the rolled out dough to a pie dish. Use your fingers to crimp the edges and make it look fancy.
Fill the crust with the apple filling and set aside.
Quickly make the crumb topping – combine the butter, flour, and sugar together, again with the pastry cutter. Sprinkle over the apple filling and top with a few more pats of butter.
Bake the pie on 375 degrees for 45 minutes. When it’s finished let it cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting.
Serve warm – by itself or better yet, with some cinnamon ice cream.
Domestocrat 
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