Perfect Fridays: Apple Pie

I'm not a pastry chef.  I'm not a baker, not a cooker; I'm just a girl who loves a good dessert.  The Dr (my little brother, recently graduated and returned home) invited us over for a BBQ.  If you ever get the chance to meet The Dr, you will understand how this all came about.  He's fun, he's adventurous, and when he gets an idea in his head, there is no stopping him.  We planned the menu (he decided to grill one of every single kind of meat - in every cut as well - in existence.)  We had salmon, lamb, four different types of steak, and glazed carrots (and some others I'm sure I am forgetting!)  My contributions were black bean chipotle burgers and the dessert.  Remember when I said I wasn't a cook?  I mistakenly thought I could use half a can of chipotle peppers in my burgers..........people bravely ate it (saved by the Lamb sauce, sigh.)  I threw mine away.  Lesson learned.

The Apple Pies though.......(capitalized to show my deference and pride in creating, lol!)

Triple P Apple Pie

8  apples, washed and dried, room temperature
1  lemon

½ C brown sugar*

½ C walnuts*, finely chopped
2  tsp cinnamon

½ oats*, chopped

4  T butter, cut into small pieces

Combine the sugar, nuts, cinnamon and oats in bowl and mix thoroughly.  Cut-in butter pieces.  Being sure not to puncture the bottom of the apple, core the center and make a nice little space for the filling.  Squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over/in each apple.  I don't have a melon baller, so I used my Pampered Chef grapefruit knife and a spoon.  Fill the apples to the brim with filling, place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes (depending on the tenderness of the apples.)  I grilled mine (laying down a piece of foil), at approximately 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

*I used ½ cup coconut sugar instead of brown sugar the second time around - it worked well.

*My favorite is pecans. After all, no one has ever heard of Walnut Pie.......

*Oats are optional, of course