Apple crumble cobbler

This is a recipe I cobbled together on my own. I used a pie crust recipe from my grandmother, a filling recipe from an apple pie recipe, and a crumbly topping formula from a muffin recipe. The result is really amazing on a cold winter day! It makes one 9 by 13 inch pan of dessert.

Crust

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp cool water

Apple filling

• 6 red sweet apples
• 3 green sour (Granny Smith) apples
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice

Crumbles

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) soft butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400^oF

• To make the crust, mix the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut shortening into the flour mixture until it forms small crumbs. Add two tablespoons of water at a time to the mixture, tossing the mixture lightly in between with a fork. Once all the water has been added, form the dough into a ball and roll it out to about a square foot. Cut a rectangle 9 by 13 inches to fit the bottom of the pan, and cut the rest of the dough into narrow strips lengthwise. A pizza cutter works well for this.

• Peel, core, and thinly slice all of the apples, mixing the two kinds of slices together in a large bowl. Layer about one half of the apples on the crust in the bottom of the pan. Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and allspice thoroughly, and sprinkle half of the mixture evenly over the apples. Layer the rest of the apples in the pan and spread the rest of the sugar mixture evenly over the top. Place the strips of dough over the apples in a crosshatch pattern.

• For the crumbles, mix the flour and sugar well in a bowl, and cut the butter into the mixture until crumbly. Crumble evenly over the top of the dessert.

• Cook for 45 minutes. Serve warm

NOTE - The more health-conscious may leave out the butter, shortening, and salt. Since this really messes up the crumbles and crust, leave those steps out too. For that matter, too much sugar is bad for you, and the flour is all starch. You really don’t need the spices without that other stuff, so you may as well just eat the apples like they are.

Addendum - When tweaking this recipe to make Blueberry crumble cobbler I found a neat and effective shortcut for the crust: mix up the crust as directed, but only roll out about a third of it for the strips. The rest can be simply dumped in the pan and patted down flat - makes it a LOT easier!