3 lb of Red Delicious Apples: Apple Pie and Apple Brown Betty

Red delicious apples can only be appreciated in a tasty dessert. Red delicious apples may be red but they are not delicious. The only time I buy them is when they are on sale and I want a baked apple dessert. With a 3 lb bag, I can make a pie and a brown betty.

The first recipe, apple crumble pie, comes from the BH&G New cookbook. The lemon gives the apple the perfect tartness and the apples remain solid, not turning to mush when sliced into half moons.
APPLE CRUMBLE PIE

Oven 375 degrees

Thinly slice 6 cups of peeled apples.

Sprinkle apple slices with 3TBSP of lemon juice.

Combine

1/2 cup of sugar

2 TBSP all purpose flour

1/2 TSP grated lemon peel

dry peel is what I usually use, but fresh will add to the tartness even more.

Toss the apples with the sugar mixture.

Stir well.

Immediately add sugar coated apples to a frozen pie crust. Regular depth is fine if you gently press the mixture into the pan.

For the topping combine

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 TSP cinnamon

1/4 TSP ginger

1/8 TSP mace, a must for the best flavor.

Wisk well mixing all the spices into the flour.

Add 1/4 cup cold butter, divided well into 1/2 TBSP size.

Add butter to the topping mix.

Stir to coat the butter

Then using a pastry blender, incorporate the butter. You will be left with a grainy crumble when complete.

Top the pie with the crumble topping.

Line the edges of the pan with AL foil to keep the crust from burning. Done properly, the crust will end up glazed and beautiful.

Bake for 30 minutes at 375 with the foil in place. Then bake another 30 minutes with the foil removed.

Allow to cool before serving.
The Apple Brown Betty was found at cooks.com with a the ingredients listed and not much in the way of either instruction or spice. With a few changes, I've made it my own.

APPLE BROWN BETTY

350 degrees

Peel and slice 4-7 apples into half moon shapes.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar

and 1 TSP cinnamon

Sprinkle apples with the sugar mix and stir well.

Pour apples into an greased 8x11 pan.

Topping

Next combine

3/4 CUP all purpose flour

3/4 CUP brown sugar

1/8 TSP mace

1 TSP cinnamon

Dash of Nutmeg

Cut 1/2 CUP cold butter into the topping mixture.

Then stir in 3/4 CUP regular dry oats.

Add the topping to the apples.

** This makes a lot of topping. The first time I tried this I had so few apples I used an 8x8 pan and only half the topping. I saved the other half and used it to make an 8x8 blueberry brown betty later on. The kids preferred the apple version; my husband, the blueberry.

Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Stir in options & substitutions

Apple Brown Betty

Add 1/2 CUP walnuts and 1/4 CUP raisins

Blueberry Brown Betty

Substitute 2-3 cups of fresh blueberries for the apples.

Add 1/2 cup of pecans to the blueberry version if desired.

Substitution

Consider substituting 1 cup granola cereal for the oats.

This makes a great lunch addition for brown baggers.