Apple Pizza Pie

It was one of those weekends when my kids had a late breakfast and nobody wants any lunch. So I browsed thru my cookbooks to look for something that I could make for tea-time instead, as I'm pretty sure when the clock strikes past 3 o'clock, they would want something for their tummy! I found this wonderful recipe, Apple Pizza Pie, the name certainly caught my attention! Since I have some apples, which I really wanted to clear anyway, this is a perfect way to use them.

According to the book, the base which is a yeasted butter pastry,  is even suitable to make the regular savoury pizza.

Let's get started on the Apple Pizza Pie :

1. Mixture of Fuji and Granny Smith apples, and some thymes from my garden.
2. The risen dough is placed on a pizza pan, the base coated with cornmeal. To make the dough, refer to the instructions in the recipe below. 
3. I use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to fill the pan and press the edges at the sides so that it forms an upstanding rims all around. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
4. Scatter with bits of butter all over.

5. Prepare the apples as per instructions below. Arrange apples slices on the crust and sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon, sugar and rosemary (I use thymes) over the apples evenly.
6. Bake for 8 minutes in a preheated oven at 425F (I baked mine for 10 minutes),  remove pan from oven, then lower the oven temperature to 375F.
7. Scatter the top with shredded cheese and continue baking for another 5 minutes until cheese has melted but not bubbling. (It took mine an additional 10 minutes more as it was not brown enough).
8. The baked pizza pie is ready!

Testing time : Of course a slice was quickly cut barely 5 minutes out from the oven!

Let me just admire the pizza pie first!!  Haha!

Review : I like it, the kids love it, my hubby not so! When you take a first bite, first you taste the saltiness and softness of the cheese on top, then you get the next taste of the apples, a little bit sweet and tender.

The crust is lovely, with crusty crispy sides and bottom. Soft, spongy and tasty bread-like texture in the centre. It is especially good when eaten warm, my hubby does not like the combination of sweet and salty in this bake.  My kids love it, there was no leftovers!

Great with a cup of warm Earl Grey tea. I'll be using this easy crust for other savoury future bakes!

I'm sharing this with :

• Twelve Loaves, hosted by Cake Duchess, Creative Culinary and Life's A Feast, where the theme for the month of September is Cheese!
• Bake Your Own Bread (BYOB), hosted by Girlichef, Delectable Musings and My Discovery of Bread
• Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Apple Pizza Pie
(Apple Pie by Ken Haedrich)
1 recipe yeasted butter pastry (below)
fine cornmeal or semolina

Filling :
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 Golden Delicious or other firm-textured cooking apples, peeled and cored
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
big pinch of finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (I use thyme leaves)
2 cups sauerkraut (optional), drained and warmed
2 cups grated Gruyere or extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry and set it aside to rise for 1 hour. Meanwhile, lightly oil a large baking sheet and dust it with the cornmeal.
2. When the dough has risen, without punching it down, turn it out onto the center of the baking sheet. Using oiled fingers, press the dough out into a 13-inch circle, smoothing it, if you like, with a floured rolling pin. Try to keep it of even thickness; you want to aviod making thin spots you can see through. Pinch the dough around the edge, forming an upstanding rim. Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
3. Dot the surface of the dough with the butter. Halve the apples lengthwise. Place each half cut side down on a cutting board and cut into very thin slices. Arrange the slices on the crust, overlapping them slightly. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and rosemary together in a small mixing bowl and sprinkle evenly over the apples.
4. Place the baking sheet on the center oven rack and bake for 8 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle with the sauerkraut, if using. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese.
5. Bake the pizza for another 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted nicely; it shouldn't bubble. Do not overbake, since this is a buttery, porous dough, it tends to get fairly brown after about 15 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve as soon as possible.

Yeasted Butter Pastry

(makes enough pastry for 1 large pie)

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 package (about 2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 large egg yolk

1. Measure the water in a 1-cup glass measure. Sprinkle the yeast over the water, mixing briefly with a fork. Set aside for 5 minutes to dissolve the yeast.
2. Meanwhile, put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse several times to mix. Remove the lid and scatter the butter pieces over the dry mixture. Pulse the machine 7 or 8 times, until the butter is broken into very small pieces.
3. Add the egg yolk to the yeast water; blend with a fork. Remove the lid from the processor and add the liquid. Pulse the machine repeatedly, until the dough coheres, then run the machine nonstop for 8 to 10 seconds to knead the dough. Remove the dough and place it in a medium-size oiled bowl, rotating the dough to coat the entire surface.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise in a warmish spot for 1 hour. If for some reason you're called away and you need to delay the rising, simply put the dough in the refrigerator.

kitchen flavour's notes :
For the filling :
~ Use a mixture of Fuji Apples and Granny Smith Apples
~ Use thyme leaves instead of rosemary leaves
~ Omit the sauerkraut
~ Use Cheddar cheese
I rolled the dough out with the help of a small rolling pin into an 11-inch pizza pan. Baking time extended by another 10 minutes as the pastry was not brown enough.

Dense Apple Crumble Pie

We had a gathering last week and I wanted to bring an apple pie. Since I only decided that very morning to make an apple pie, I wanted a crust that is simple and quick to put together. Found this easy crust, actually it is more a crumble than a crust, but it works pefectly as the base for the apple filling. The only changes I did was, I use golden raisins instead of dates as the original recipes calls for.

Since I do not own a food processor (on wishlist!), I mixed the crumbles by using a pastry blender, which takes about 5 minutes or so. I'm sure with the food processor, it takes only seconds!! The ingredients for the crust are mixed until the coarse crumbs can stay together when mould into a ball. More than half of the amount are then used to line the lightly greased tart pan, at the base and halfway up the sides. Do not fill the sides to the top, as it bakes, surprisingly it will puff up right to the rim of the tart pan. Use the back of a spoon to evenly spread crumbles. I use Fuji Apples and golden raisins for the filling.

Melt some butter and stir in the chunky apples, stirring for about 3-5 minutes until apples are somewhat soften. Add in the brown sugar, raisins or dates, and lemon juice. Stir for a minute or two and remove from heat, cool for about 5 minutes.

Spread apple filling onto pie shell, spread out evenly. Scatter the balance crumbles over the top, evenly cover apples as much as possible, pressing gently over the apples.

Bake in a preheated oven until pie is golden brown and apples are tender.

Brought the pan of pie to my sis's place and of course by the time we wanted to have this for dessert, it had already gone cold. Simply reheat in the oven for about 10 minutes to warm it again.

We had this with some vanilla ice cream.

I'm sharing this with :

Cookbook Sundays hosted by Couscous & Consciousness
See Ya In The Gumbo # 23 Potluck hosted by Ms. enPlace

Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Bake with Bizzy at Bizzy Bakes

Dense Apple Crumble Pie
(Adapted from "Apple Pie" by Ken Haedrich)
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Crumb Crust and Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1-1/4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces


Filling :
3 large apples, peeled, quartered, and cored
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. To make the crust and topping, put the flour, oats, brown sugar, coconut, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and pulse several times to mix. Remove the lid and scatter the butter pieces over the surface. Pulse again until the mixture forms coarse crumbs that hold together when you press them between your fingers. Stop the machine after several pulses to fluff the crumbs with a fork, pulling them up from the bottom of the processor.
2. Evenly spread a little more than half of the crumbs in the bottom and halfway up the sides of a lightly buttered 9-inch pie pan, pressing them into the pan. Refrigerate the crust and set the remaining crumbs aside as you make the filling. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Cut each quarter section of the apple in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into chunks. Melt the butter in a medium-size nonreactive skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and cook, stirring, to soften somewhat, about 3 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar, dates and lemon juice and cook for 1 minute more. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
4. Scrape the filling and all the juice into the pie shell and spead it out evenly. Scatter the remaining crumbs evenly over the top of the pie, pressing them gently into the apples.
5. Put the pie directly on the center oven rack and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until the top of the pie is golden brown and the apples are tender, another 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature before slicing.

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