Apple Pie in a Bag

I was recently asked to join the MOPS leadership team at our church and take over crafts... umm yes please! I am so honored to join this group of amazing women! This week was the first craft that I was in charge of. I, personally love edible crafts so we did something a little different. We made apple pies! We didn't fully assemble them but we did them "Dream Dinners" style. Click here if you don't know what Dream Dinners is-- it is a lifesaver. I did it for a few months after Laurel was born and it made my life so much easier. Anyway, their whole concept is putting everything into ziplock bags so that when it comes time to cook all you have to do is assemble and cook. This works especially well for an apple pie because if any of the ladies wanted to take theirs home and freeze for the holidays, I didn't want the inside of the pie to be super runny from thawing. I also have to throw in there that buying the ingredients at CostCo on Sunday was hilarious. I must've had 3 employees come up to me and say something along the lines of "You do realize how many apples that is, right?" Yes, yes I do. This is 250 apples because I am buying the ingredients to make 50 apple pies. Then I had to explain that no I was not making all 50 pies. Then they left me alone.

Long story short: fun was had by all, pies were assembled, many pies were baked on Wednesday, and now there are many happy mamas! All of the feedback I have received is that the pies were delicious! I have also heard a lot of moms say that they had never made a pie before because they thought it would be too hard and now they are no longer afraid of pies. Yay! I made the pie on Saturday to ensure its deliciousness and it is indeed delish.

Ok I will now stop rambling and give you the recipe. I certainly did not create this recipe but I combined a few different ones to get this one. Obviously, you don't have to use the bags if you are just making it at home.

Apple Pie in a Bag

Filling:
5 Granny Smith apples
2/3 C sugar
2 Tbs flour
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
1/4 Tsp nutmeg
1 to 2 Tsp lemon juice
1 pie crust (store bought or your own from scratch-- click here for a great scratch recipe)

Directions:
1. Peel, core, and thinly slice all the apples and place in large Ziplock. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Thin is the key here, thick slices lead to crunchy pies.
2. Mix together sugar and the next 3 ingredients in same bag as apples and toss.
3. When ready to make pie, empty contents of plastic bag into prepared pastry (refrigerated pie crust in the section with slice and bake cookies).
4. Use instructions below to create pie topping.
6. Bake uncovered at 425 for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Topping:
1/2 C butter (1 stick)
1 Cup brown sugar
3/4 Cup flour
3/4 Cup oatmeal (any but instant)
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
1/4 Tsp salt

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl (or Ziplock bag) combine all of the ingredients except butter.
2. Cut the butter into mixture with a pastry blender until mixture resembles course bread crumbs OR add butter to bag and mush until mixture resembles course bread crumbs. Even if I was making this at home, I'd still do the topping in a bag. Mushing was WAY easier than using a pastry blender.
3. Spread crumbs over prepared filling.
4. Do NOT add a top crust. Bake as directed above. If crumbs become too dark while baking, cover loosely with foil, but remove the foil the last few minutes of baking so the topping will crisp.
NOTE: If you add this topping to a different pie recipe and the recipe calls for butter in the filling, omit it. Trust me, there is plenty of butter in the topping!

It would've been great if I had taken a picture of the finished pie or even of the ladies making their pies but I of course did not. If you want to do this "craft" with a group of ladies (because peeling and slicing 5 apples is wayyy more fun while chatting with friends), you will need the above ingredients and 3 ziplock bags. I used one bag for the filling, one for the topping, and then one to hold the other 2 bags, pie crust, and recipe. Enjoy!

Happy Friday!