If you follow me on Instagram or Pinterest, you may remember a post I did over the summer about an exceptionally delicious pie Mary Jeanne and I encountered on one of our food adventures.
There’s a fabulous local bakery that we frequently visit, Royal Bakery. Actually, I’ve been enjoying pastries at Royal Bakery since I was my daughter’s age! It’s a Ventura County favorite, and I will never forget the sweet memories of my mom taking me on special outings to Royal Bakery, usually for one of their to-die-for sugar cookies. Royal Bakery is a tradition I’m proud to pass along to my daughter!
Anyway, on one of our visits this summer, Mimi and I saw a delicious looking pie in the bakery display case. And it was Apple Coffee Cake Pie.
Can you think of a better infusion of desserts?!!!
Apples?
COFFEE CAKE?
PIE!!
No, it does not get any better.
Our slice of pie was gone in a flash, and creating my own Apple Coffee Cake Pie at home has been on my to-do list ever since.
My Apple Coffee Cake Pie is quite different from the Royal Bakery pie, mostly because I really wanted to find a way to incorporate a streusel filling. To me, that’s the best part of coffee cake, so I found a way to get that buttery, crumbly yet gooey, streusel filling into my Apple Coffee Cake Pie recipe. And I’ve got to say, the result is addicting!
Better yet, I developed this recipe to easily be made vegan and/or gluten free! To make this pie gluten free, simply use a gluten free pie crust, and sub out the flour in the liquid filling with a gluten free flour blend.
To make this pie vegan, simply substitute the butter with your favorite vegan butter, such as Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, and substitute the egg with a flaxseed egg (instructions included in the pie recipe.)
Two things before I send you down to the recipe!
I have always been a real stickler for homemade pie crust. Like what’s the point of making a pie if you’re going to settle for a lackluster crust? And in my experience, store-bought crust ALWAYS disappoints.
But…
This year I finally broke down and tried the Trader Joe’s pre-made pie crust. It even comes already perfectly rolled out for you. It seriously can’t get any easier! And I must say, I was really, really, REALLY impressed! I still say homemade is always best, but if you are making lots of pies and need a shortcut, or simply don’t have time for a homemade crust, but still want homemade pie, I highly recommend the Trader Joe’s pie dough!
Also, this pie recipe includes apples. And you really have to peel them…I know, not the funnest task.
So why not make it fun and easy with a super cute veggie peeler? This adorable peeler is a new addition to my kitchen tools [aff. link]. I’d been using the same old (rusted…I must admit!) peeler for far too long when some research led me to this ceramic peeler.
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YES, it’s ceramic, how cool is that?!!! So the blade is super sharp (watch those fingers!) and it doesn’t rust or discolor your veggies and fruits! The Y-shape of the peeler also makes it ideal for peeling larger fruits and veggies, like apples and potatoes.
If you’re like me, and you’re in the market for a new peeler, give this one a try! Here it is on Amazon [aff. link]. I have been so happy with mine. Plus, look at all the cute colors you can choose from. I chose the pink, of course!
Now go make this delicious Apple Coffee Cake Pie for your Thanksgiving feast! I will not be surprised if you find yourself making it again for your Christmas, Hanukah, or other special holiday meals this season!
AND, if you would like step by step pictures with instructions for making your own homemade crust, take a look at my pie crust tutorial here!
Apple Coffee Cake Pie
Ingredients
For the streusel filling:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup butter, or vegan butter, such as Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, cold and cut to small cubes
For the liquid filling:
- 1 cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup butter, or vegan butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 egg
- OR
- 1 flax seed egg, 2 Tbsp ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp water
For the crust:
- 3 cups flour
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ cup cold butter, or vegan butter, cubed
- ½ cup cold shortening, cubed
- ½ cup very cold almond milk, or milk of choice
Everything else:
- 2 apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (preferably Granny Smith apples)
- Cinnamon, for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the pie dough
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and salt with a fork.
- Now add in the cold butter and shortening. With a pastry cutter or your hands, cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients. I always use my hands. Basically, just work the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until you end up with a crumb topping-like mixture, with little balls the size of peas.
- Add in the cold almond milk, and mix until the pie dough comes together. If it feels a little dry, add an additional tsp or two of cold almond milk.
Refrigerate the dough
- Split the dough in half, and form it into two evenly sized disks. Put the disks in the refrigerator, and refrigerate the dough for at least a half hour. (You can also wrap the disks in saran wrap, and freeze them if you won’t use the dough for a few days.)
- After a half hour, or whenever you are ready to make the pies, take one dough disk out of the refrigerator. (Keep the second dough disk in the refrigerator for now. We’ll come back to it later!)
Roll out the dough
- Roll the dough out on a floured surface. (Rolling the dough on a floured surface will make lifting the dough into the pie dish easier!) Roll the dough out to the point that if you were to place the pie dish on top of the rolled out dough, there would be 2-3 extra inches of dough around the circumference of the pie dish.
- Now that the dough is rolled out, gently fold it in half, taking care not to press it together! Fold the dough in half one more time. So you have effectively folded the dough into quarters.
Put the dough in the pie dish!
- Oil your pie dish. Gently lift the folded pie dough and place it in the pie dish so that the two folded sides of the dough are in the pie dish, and the edge of the dough is going out over the edge of the pie dish.
- Now carefully unfold the pie dough. Start by unfolding it from the quarter so it is now just folded in half. Then gently unfold it so it is no longer folded in half, and is completely open, and on top of the pie dish.
- Gently press the dough down into the pie dish. Place the pie dish in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
Make the liquid filling
- In a small saucepan, add the butter and maple syrup. Heat over medium low heat until the butter melts and the syrup is warm, but not hot, about 3 minutes.
- Take off the heat and mix in the vanilla extract.
- Now slowly whisk the flour into the warm maple syrup mixture until it has fully incorporated and there are no lumps.
- Let the maple syrup mixture cool slightly.
- (This is the time to make your flax seed egg, if using, by whisking together the flax seed meal and water, and allowing it to sit for at least five minutes to get goopy.)
Make the streusel filling
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk together. Now cut the butter cubes into the mixture, using your hands. Keep massaging the butter into the sugar/flour/salt mixture until small clumps form, about the size of peas. The streusel filling is done!
Back to the liquid mixture!
- Now go back to the liquid mixture, and whisk the egg or flax seed egg into the maple syrup mixture until completely incorporated.
Compile the pie!
- Take your pie dish out of the refrigerator. Arrange the apple slices evenly in the bottom of the pie dish.
- Now sprinkle half of the streusel evenly over the apples.
- Take the maple syrup mixture and pour it evenly over the streusel and apples. Shake the pie dish if needed to get the maple syrup mixture evenly distributed throughout the pie dish.
- Now take the second half of the streusel mixture and sprinkle it evenly over the rest of the pie filling.
Roll out the second dough disk
- Finally, take the reserved second disk of pie dough out of the refrigerator, and roll it out evenly over a floured surface, again to the point where the dough extends 2-3 inches out further than the pie dish.
- Once the dough is rolled out, carefully lift it up with your hands, and as best you can, carefully lower it, centered, over the pie. You can trim some of the excess dough if desired, but I usually do not.
Finish the pie crust
- Now crimp the bottom and top pie crust edges together with your fingers to create a seal—this will keep the filing inside the pie while baking—then fold the crust edge in half, down towards the pie dish. With the crust edge that remains above the pie dish, use your index finger to make a scalloped edge.
- Phew! I know making a pie crust can be hard to visualize without photos, and I will have a pie crust tutorial to reference with pictures later this week!
- Sprinkle a little cinnamon over the top of the pie.
- Last, make a vent in the top pie dough. I like to make a small “V” in the middle of the pie with a sharp knife.
Bake the pie and serve!
- Bake the pie in the oven at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until the crust is golden and firm to the touch.
- Remove the pie from the oven and let cool for at least a half hour.
- Serve this Apple Coffee Cake Pie alone, or with some whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
6 Responses
Let’s get one thing straight: I’m never looking for an alternative to pumpkin pie. But I’m always looking for something in addition to pumpkin pie. How you managed to put two of my favorite things into one pie: apples nd coffee cake is amazing. This sounds fantastic.
Haha, I’m with you Jeff! Pumpkin pie is irreplaceable in my book as well! Thank you so so much! Agree with you on that point as well, coffee cake and apples are two things I can’t ever get enough of. Hope you’ll enjoy this pie!
I just love this recipe, Shannon! It sounds and looks like cozy autumn family evenings to me. All those flavours and textures – utterly delightful! And I love that you’re passing traditions onto your daughter – it’s so fun, isn’t it?
Thank you so much Katerina! I love the fall flavors in this pie! Absolutely, it’s so so fun passing traditions on to our little ones! ❤️
Now this is quite unique! An apple coffee pie. I think you’ve put 2 of my most favourite things together, apple and coffee. Actually 3 as it’s a pie! Ha ha! Yum!
Thank you so much Neil! Totally agree, apples, coffee cake, and pie are three of my favorites too! I had to find a way to feel like I was eating them all at the same time haha.