Amazing Pumple Pie Recipe

So, my mom's version of this pie is extremely easy... You take a deep dish pie pan and put a pie crust in it. Take a can of apple pie filling and layer it in the bottom. Top it off with pumpkin pie filling and bake like a pumpkin pie. Easy, right? I grew up on this recipe and it is quite good.

My version is a little more complicated, but the texture is much improved by making the filling from scratch. I say "make the filling from scratch" because I can't make pie crust to save my life, so I use Pillsbury's prepared pie crust, or Marie Calendar's pie crust (this one comes with the pie pan and is found in the freezer section). If you have a favorite pie crust recipe and have the talent for making it from scratch, feel free to do so. Another alteration I made to the recipe is to make it egg-free because of my egg allergy. I can eat some baked goods that include eggs (cakes, cookies, etc), but pretty much anything that is custard-based causes me to itch.

So, to make everything from scratch, it takes several hours (I won't lie to you). You must start with the pumpkin. I used The Pioneer Woman's recipe for Pumpkin Puree. The only deviation I made to it was to use my stick blender to puree the pumpkin after it was roasted (tried mashing it first, but the texture was too chunky). The good thing about this website is the exact step-by-step instructions that she gives (and the permission not to be thorough). It also comes with recipes for Roasted Pumpkins Seeds (Pepitas) and awesome Pumpkin Butter (another post for another time).

Once the pumpkin puree was prepared (and set aside to drain as it was rather moist), I started on the apples. The canned apples are rather slimy, but they are pre-cooked, which helps the texture of the pie. I found a recipe for a pre-cooked apple pie filling in my Joy of Cooking cookbook, but it needs some modifications before I can use it in the pie (primarily, a reduction in quantities). So, here's what I do for one pie:

• Peel, core, and chop 4 apples (Braeburn, Fuji, or a mix of the two)

• Saute the apples in 2 Tbsp. butter for about 4 minutes.

• Add about 1/4 cup of brown sugar and about 1/4 tsp. of Pumpkin Pie Spice, and a dash of salt.

• Continue cooking the apples until the sauce thickens, then remove from the heat and spread the apples in a thin layer on a baking sheet (or glass cake pan) to cool.

While the apples cool, the pumpkin pie filling can be prepared with the drained pumpkin puree. I found a recipe for an egg-less pumpkin pie filling Cooks.com.  The comments on this recipe claim that it makes a very liquidy filling batter, but I found that it was about the same as when I make pumpkin pie the old way. I followed this recipe pretty closely, but I did use lactose-free milk, pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon, and vanilla instead of lemon extract.

To make the pie, layer apples (without a lot of the sauce from the apples) in the bottom of the pie pan. Top off the pie with the pumpkin pie filling. IMPORTANT - Put the pie pan on a baking sheet before baking - the apples will bubble up and it will make a mess of your oven if you skip this step. Bake the pie according to the pumpkin pie recipe. When done, let cool.

I make the pie the day before I want to eat it, but this is primarily because I don't have time to make it on the day I make a big feast. It doesn't need to be refrigerated (at least, my family has never refrigerated the pie, we just let it sit on the counter with a clean cloth over top.. I've never gotten sick, but if you worry about it, feel free to refrigerate it)

Serve with your favorite whipped topping :) In my experience, those that do not like apple pie (like myself) and those that do not like pumpkin pie (like Aaron) enjoy the combo in this pie. And it does make a difference to make it from scratch. You can make a very good pie by using canned pumpkin and canned apple, but the texture and flavor of ingredients from scratch make the pie PHENOMENAL! Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the pie, but I will when I make it again for Christmas :)