Easy Giant Apple Pie

Cool weather is here, hurray! I rarely cook in the summer (except for grilling), but now that autumn is on the way, I am getting the “cooking bug” once again. And right now, apples are everywhere. The kids have been busy picking, peeling, and dicing apples for our freezer. All winter long, I have access to instant-cubed apples that I can easily thaw and throw into a pie or crisp or anything we fancy.

So today I made Easy Giant Apple Pie. If you have peeled and diced apples and ready-made packaged pie crusts, this recipe takes about 15 minutes to throw together– it’s SO easy! And I call it “Giant” because it is a huge pie, baked in a casserole dish. This is nice if you have a lot of kids to feed (like me) or a big crowd, if you love leftover pie, or if you’re skipping the appetite suppressant and just want to bake a big pie.

Technically, this kind of apple pie is called “French” apple pie, because it has no top crust. Rather, it has a crumbly streusel topping. It’s fabulous with coffee or ice cream.

Regarding the spices– add to your own liking. I rarely use measuring utensils (I’m a hands-on kind of cook) so the measurements here are approximate. Also, make sure your pie crusts are room temperature. This makes them more flexible without tearing– you are going to need to pull at the crusts a little to fit them into a rectangular 13×9 casserole dish.

Easy Giant Apple Pie

2 pie crusts
1 13×9 casserole dish

for the pie mix:
10 cups (or so) of pared and diced apples (thawed)
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup molasses (optional)
1/4 cup ground flax seed meal (optional)
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup flour

for the topping:
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Blend the topping ingredients and mash in the butter until the mix looks gravelly.

Mix up the apples and other ingredients for the pie filling.

Take your pie crusts. Make sure they are room temperature.

Gently unroll one of the crusts and place it into the casserole dish. You want to stretch it a little to make the crust fit up along the sides of the dish.

Unroll the second crust and overlap the first a little. Press the seam together where the two meet. Again, make sure your crust fits up along the inner sides of the dish.

Dump the pie filling in the dish. Sprinkle the topping evenly on top.

Bake in a hot oven at 400 degrees for an hour and twenty minutes. The pie should be bubbling. The baking pie makes the house smell INCREDIBLE.

Doesn’t it look scrumptious?? Yum!