This vintage pie recipe originated with Pillsbury and begins with a batter and apple pie filling. Once baked, the batter surrounds the apples and forms its own crust, making for a super easy pie that is outstanding!
Easy Crazy Crust Apple Pie
Apparently Crazy Crust Apple Pie originated with the Pillsbury company, likely sometime back around the late 60s to early 70s - yes y'all. That was more than 50 years ago.
I believe that qualifies this as a vintage recipe!
Folks tend to associate "vintage" recipes to those from the 50s and earlier and forget how long ago those 60s are now. Trust me I get it. It seems like it was yesterday, but nope. It's been a pretty long time now!
Crazy Crust Apple Pie was found as a folded recipe card promotion that was inserted inside of the Pillsbury Best branded all-purpose flour bag and quickly became a well-loved recipe because of its ease of preparation.
It didn't hurt that it also happened to produce a delicious apple pie that made its own crust.
Just a quick reminder.... this is a blog, not just a "recipe site," and yes, there is a difference! I want to first thank all of you who have supported my work over the years, but if you aren't interested in the chit chat, info, photos, tips and such in a post, as always, you'll find the complete recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post!Y'all. I'll be honest.
When I was making this, I really didn't have very high expectations because I am a bit of a pie crust snob. Pie is one of my top favorite desserts and to me, the crust is as critical as the filling, and I like my crust to be nice and flaky!
I was pleasantly surprised though because although this turned out to be different, it really was a delicious, excellent version of apple pie!
Initially, the ingredients were quite simple. A batter of flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, a little water, shortening and an egg, poured into a pie plate. Yes, that's right. Poured. Top that with a can of apple pie filling and pop in the oven and you're done!
The recipe card also offered a few variations as well, including cherry, pumpkin and mincemeat.
For whatever reasons, it doesn't appear to be promoted on their website these days, but can usually be found scattered around the web among food bloggers and in older community cookbooks, although often by other names. In Bell's Best I found it listed as Lazy Apple Pie and another version made it as a sheet cake, using canned fruits instead of pie filling.
Here's how to make this Easy Crazy Crust Apple Pie.
I used 4 medium sized Gala apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped, because that's what I had on hand already. I imagine a wide variety of apples would work just fine for this pie. If you prefer, you can skip the homemade apple pie filling and use a store-bought version. You'll need one (21-oz) can apple pie filling.
Whenever I work with fresh apples, I prepare a bowl of water with a half a lemon squeezed into it. This helps to slow the oxidation process, so as I peel and slice the apples. I just drop them in the water along with the lemon rinds and just keep stirring the apples around since they will float!
Once I've got those ready, I use a pair of kitchen shears to chop them up, dropping them back into the lemon water. I meant to, and forgot, to measure out the chopped apple but I don't think it's too critical. Just select some medium sized apples. When you get all the apples chopped, drain them well and use some paper towels to pat them dry before proceeding.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter a 9-inch, deep dish pie plate; set aside.
To season my filling, I'm using brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix that all together.
Add mixture to apples.
Melt butter in skillet.
xToss apple slices.
Add to butter and cover.
Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.
Mix together apple juice or water, lemon juice and cornstarch.
Pour cornstarch mixture over apples and continue cooking another 3 minutes, or until mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
For the crust, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add butter, milk and egg; mix well.
Pour into the pie plate.
Top with apples, leaving a border about 1-inch wide around edges. Do not stir together.
Mix together the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top.
Bake about 40 minutes or until batter has set, remembering that all ovens cook differently. Place on rack until fully cooled.
Serve it up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
For more of my favorite pie recipes, check out the collection on my Pinterest page!
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