Apples

Last weekend I went apple picking with my sister, and 3 of my younger cousins, and we had so much fun!!
And, of course, we brought home a whole bunch of apples, a few pears, and some cider donuts!

I decided I needed to make something good with these, but I couldn't make up my mind on what to make. Pie? Crisp? Tart? bah!
So I decided to just do what I always do, and wing it.
I had a crust in the fridge, so I put that on the bottom of the new pan I got, filled it with some cinnamon-y apples & pears, and topped it with a crumbly mixture. It ended up being a half pie- half crisp.
Here's how it all panned out:

Slice up your apples and pears:

Throw them in a bowl and squeeze a little lemon juice onto them:

Then toss them with some sugar, cinnamon, a tiny pinch of allspice, and a spoonful of corn starch:

 Mix that all up and toss them into the crust:

Next, make the crumb topping by adding a stick of butter, some cinnamon, some sugar, and a bunch of brown sugar to a bowl:

Crumble this all up with a pastry knife, a couple knives, or a fork. Whatever you have. Just don't use your hands, or the butter will melt.

When that mix is nice and crumbly, and the butter is small like peas, crumble the donuts into the bowl and gently mix it all up:

When it's all mixed, put it on top of the pie, then pop it in a 350* oven for about 45-50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is nice and bubbly.
You can also stick a fork into the pie to see if the apples are tender.
Once they are, it's definitely done.

Next, let the pie cool.
This is the most difficult step, but trust me, be patient and let it cool.
You see, the corn starch and the sugars and juices from the apples will turn into something amazing if you let them cool down.
Just trust me.

Once it's cooled down and thickened, you can dig in.
And oh man, this was so amazing!
Adding the cider donuts to the topping may be one of the best decisions I have made while cooking in a long time...