My fiancé, Andrew, has been making this pie for years. On our first date, we wandered a farmer’s market, where he picked out some green apples. On our second date, he made a version of this pie recipe for me. It has become my favorite apple pie recipe – its quick and tasty, and has never failed. The sour cream gives the filling a unique creaminess. Below, we’ve modified the recipe to make it vegan by replacing the egg with pear purée and the sour cream with Tofutti. We used a combination of Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, and Newton Pippin apples for this year’s pie (pictured here). It is delicious!
Filling
- 1 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-2 pears, cored and cubed, then puréed
- 3 cups peeled, sliced tart apples (about 1 1/4 pounds of slices)
- 9″ unbaked pie shell, frozen OR your favorite pie crust recipe (here is mine)
Topping
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/4 cup Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place the pears in a blender or food processor to puree. If the pears are not yet ripe, you can steam and soften the fruit in a small sauce pan or crock pot. You need about a fourth cup of purée for the next step. (The leftovers can be used to make pear butter).
- Beat together sour cream, sugar, flour, salt, vanilla and pear puree (can beat by hand). Add apples, mixing carefully to coat well.
- Put filling into a pie shell and bake at 400 degrees initially for 25 min.
- Mix together all topping ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with Cinnamon Crumb Topping. Bake for and additional 20 more minutes.
Let cool for a hour before serving. Serves 8. This recipe is inspired by Simply Recipes’ Sour Cream Apple Pie.
Kate is the executive director of City Fruit.