Caramel Apple Pie

                                                                               

Scrumptious Apple Pie with homemade Caramel Sauce, easier than you think & better than you could hope for. 

Caramel Sauce:

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/3 Cup Water

3/4 Heavy Cream

2 TBS Butter

In a heavy saucepan place the sugar evenly in the bottom. Now pour the water over the sugar evenly so it covers all the sugar. You can just give the pan a gentle swish to do that. Have the heavy cream & butter close at hand. Now cook the water & sugar over medium high heat & DO NOT STIR just let it happily cook on a high bubble. Let it bubble until you have a honey colored mixture, like amber. Now turn off the heat & pour in the heavy cream, let it bubble up & the settle add the butter & now stir like crazy until smooth. You will get hard glass like sugar at first but this will all stir into smooth delicious caramel sauce. Let cool while you go to the next step of the pie which is the crust.

CRUST:

2 Cups Flour

1 TBS Sugar

1 TSP Salt

1 TSP Sugar

1/3 Cup Butter

1/3 Cup Crisco Shortening

4 to 5 TBS Cold Water

1 TSP Vanilla

Stir all the dry ingredients together. Cut in butter & shortening until you have fine crumbs. Now add the water & vanilla & stir just until dough pulls together. Divide dough in half & roll out on a well floured surface to make a round large enough for a 9 inch deep pie pan. Line the bottom with one round & save the other for the top. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & now make the apple filling.

APPLE FILLING

4 Large Honey Crisp Apples peeled & pared, if using regular sized apples of your choosing you will need 8 apples, Places apple slices in a large deep bowl & toss with 1 TBS Lemon Juice to keep the apples from browning.

2 Heaping TBS Flour

2/3 Cup Sugar

2 TSP Cinnamon

Dash of Salt

1 Tsp Vanilla

Dump all the ingredients into your apples & stir well. Now dump the mixture into your lined pie dish. Now take that caramel sauce & pour it over the apples. Cut some slits in the top crust so pie has vents & cover the pie with your top crust, crimp the edges & sprinkle the top crust with about 2 TBS of sugar just for fun! Bake in the preheated 350 degree oven 45 up to an hour or so, crust should be nicely brown & you should see some bubbling of caramel coming up through the slits. Remove from oven & let cool. Slice & dig into all that caramel apple goodness!

Crumb Topped Apple Muffins

                                                                                 

Now this is a muffin! Sweet crunchy crumb topping, tender chunks of apple tucked inside a moist, huge & delicious muffin! You get 12 of these big bad boys, but they won't last long!

MUFFIN BATTER:

1 Cup Sugar

2&1/2 Cups Flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder, YES, tablespoon

1 TSP Salt

1 Tsp Cinnamon

2 Eggs Beaten

1/4 Oil

1 Cup Vanilla Yogurt, or Heavy Cream, or Half & Half all 3 work well but yogurt is the best.

1 Tsp Vanilla

Spray your cupcake or muffin pan well down into each well the sides & the top of the pan. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees

In a deep bowl add the following

The sugar, flour, baking powder, salt & cinnamon. Stir well, Make a well  in the middle & add the 2 beaten eggs, the oil, vanilla, & yogurt or whichever wet ingredient you chose. Stir with a heavy spoon until combined. Batter will be thick. Set aside & make the apple filling.

APPLE FILLING:

2 Large Apples peeled, cored, & chopped

3 TBS Butter

2 Heaping TBS Flour

1/3 Cup Sugar

1 Tsp Cinnamon

Dash or 2 of Salt. In a heavy saucepan melt butter, add the apples & stir. Add the rest & cook & stir over medium heat until apples are tender.  Let this cool for 10 minutes. Now stir this into your muffin batter. Divide the apple batter between 12 wells of your prepared pan . Wells will be almost full. Now make that crumb topping!

CRUMB TOPPING:

1 Cup Flour

2/3 Cup Sugar

2 TBS Brown Sugar

Dash of Salt

1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

1 TBS Butter

Mix all the dry together, I use the pan I used to mix up the muffins, the wet batter left behind will not hurt the crumbs at all. Rub the butter in to make fine crumbs. Now place about 1 TBS or so of crumbs onto the top of each muffin. Press crumbs down lightly. Now bake for 20 to 23 minutes until the muffins test done with a toothpick inserted, it should come out with no wet batter! Remove muffins from oven & let cool in the pan for 6 minutes.  Then invert pan on to a clean surface, if muffin sticks into the pan just gently run a sharp knife along the edges to loose. Set each muffin upright to finish cooling! Great warm or at room temperature! ENJOY!