Crunchy Carmel Apple Pie

Marsha Brooks, 2001 Apple Pie Contest Winner

From the kitchen of Marsha Brooks

Servings:6-8

Difficulty: Moderate

Cook Time: 60-120 min

When the leaves start turning colors in the fall, Marsha Brooks of Carmel, Ind., knows it is time to start baking her Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie.

It's the perfect comfort food for cooler weather, and a hit with Caramel's potluck dinner crowd. They can smell the fresh-from-the-oven pie as soon as Brooks walks in the door (See her story below). Emeril Lagasse, also lured by the mouth watering combination of caramel and apples, named Brooks' pie the winner of his Apple Pie of Emeril's Eye Contest on Good Morning America.

Brooks joined Emeril in New York to bake her pie at the Good Morning America studios. Enjoy her winning pie recipe.

Ingredients

1 pastry crust for a deep-dish pie 9-inch (homemade or store-bought)

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

6 cups apples, thinly sliced peeled (You may need more if your family sits by the bowl and sneaks the sliced applies when you are not looking. Marsha likes to use golden delicious and Fuji apples.)

1 recipe crumb topping (see below)

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup caramel topping

1 oz. of TLC (tender, loving care)

Crumb Topping

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2cup quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup butter

Cooking Directions

Crumb Topping

Stir together brown sugar,flour, rolled oats. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until topping is like course crumbs. Set aside.

Pie

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.

Add apple slices and gently toss until coated.

Transfer apple mixture to the pie shell (I remove the store-bought pie shell from the aluminum pie plate and transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate of my own, but you do not have to.)

Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture.

Place pie on a cookie sheet so the drippings don't drop into your oven.

Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and put back in for another 25 to 30 minutes without foil. Remove from oven. Sprinkle pie with chopped pecans then drizzle with caramel on top. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Recipe courtesy of Marsha Brooks, Apple Pie Contest 2001