Apple-Bacon Pie with Gingersnap Crust

Apple-Bacon Pie with Gingersnap Crust 

by Sandra Simmons
Adapted from Mims Bledsoe, Pie Shop, Atlanta 

When Carrie's Pie Challenge first hit the 37 Cooks scene, I was worried. I can't make pie! Pie is really, really hard! Then I made a couple pies and realized it's not that hard. I am Worst Case Scenario Girl. 

So then I started wondering if there were any famous Atlanta pie shops. Being fairly new to Atlanta and being a Thanksgiving-only, pie-eating kinda gal, I had to google. And I came up with Pie Shop. I saw right off it's owned by a gal names Mims. Mims? Best name ever! This blog post sealed the deal for me. Pie with gingersnap crust? Pie with apples, my husband's favorite? Pie with BACON? Let's go!

Gingersnap Crust
2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies
1 stick butter, melted
¼ cup sugar

Apple Filling
5 medium Granny Smith apples - peeled, halved and cored (I used this apple peeler, and as you can see in the photo above, it works!)
2 tablespoons lemon juice, about 1 lemon
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour

Bacon-Streusel Topping
6 slices bacon, fried crisp and drained*
1 cup flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 stick butter, chilled and cut into ¼-inch cubes

1. Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, fold together the crushed gingersnaps, melted butter and sugar. Press the mixture into a 10-inch pie pan until flat and even. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the edges start to set, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

2. Make the filling: Thinly slice the apples.  Place them in a large bowl and drizzle the lemon juice over the slices. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, sugar and 2 tablespoons flour. Fold the mixture into the apples until the apples are just coated. Spoon the apples into the crust.

3. Make the topping and bake the pie: Increase the oven temperature to 375°. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, mix the butter into the flour and sugar mixture until pea-size clumps form. Crumble the cooled bacon and add it to the flour mixture. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of the apple filling and place the pie in the oven. Bake until the top is browned and the apples are tender, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

*We cook our bacon in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. We take a rimmed baking sheet and cover it with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup) and put a cooling rack in the backing sheet. Then add your bacon slices and you're ready to go. No mess and no watching the bacon to make sure it doesn't burn! That said, you can cook your bacon any way you like.