Friday is PIE DAY!

The other day, my mother asked me if I had ever made a sour cream apple pie.  My answer was no, but I thought that this weeks Pie Day was a great excuse to finally try one.  I also happened to have a bunch of granny smith apples rolling around in the fridge that I kept meaning to use up in some delicious way.  After perusing a few recipes, I came up with an adaptation using yogurt instead of sour cream (mainly because that was what I had around, and didn't feel like running to the store this morning), and a nutty streusel topping.  It's in the oven right now, so I will update when it comes out, taste test and post the recipe!  I hope that the recipe works-it sure smells yummy right now.......

The finished product.

I just sat down with a slice of the new pie and a cup of coffee-such a lovely thing to be doing on a snowy Friday afternoon.  So, I am eating and writing at the same time, and I have to say that I think this recipe is a success.  The apples don't cook down as much as a traditional apple pie, so I'm getting still slightly crisp and wonderfully tart slices of apple enveloped in a sweet, creamy custard, and all of this is crowned with a bite of crunchy, sugary, slightly caramel-y streusel.  wow.  I was worried that the yogurt (fat free, no less!) would not produce the same thick, rich custard as sour cream, but it is every bit as creamy and delicious.

Now that I've taste tested, I feel confident passing the recipe along-this would be a wonderful treat to make this weekend.

Apple Custard Pie with Walnut Streusel 

1 unbaked 9" pie crust

6-7 medium granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1 1/2 c yogurt

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

3/4 c sugar

1/4 c flour

1/4 t salt

2 t vanilla

-prepare single pastry crust

-preheat oven to 400

-mix yogurt, sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla until well blended

-fold sliced apples into mixture

-spoon filling into crust, making sure that apples are lying flat and fill out crust

-bake for 15 minutes at 400 (like most custard base pies, this pie gets baked at a high temp for a short time to "set" it, then it gets finished off at a lower temp)

-reduce temp to 350 and bake for 30 minutes more

-while this is baking, mix streusel topping

Walnut Streusel

3/4 c flour

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

3/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1 c chopped walnuts (feel free to eliminate these if you're allergic, or just not a nut fan)

6 T melted butter

-mix all dry ingredients

-add walnuts

-add melted butter and mix until well combined (sometimes this is easier to do with your hands)

-remove pie from oven and spread streusel on top of pie

-bake at 350 for 20 more minutes, until steusel is nicely browned

-cool on wire rack for 2 hours