Rustic Apple Crumble Crostata

This Rustic Apple Crumble Crostata combines two of my family’s favorite apple desserts; an apple pie and apple crumble. It’s casual and rustic, and yet it has a lot of flair.

My parents were coming for dinner, so I wanted to make something simple for dessert with ingredients I already had on hand in my pantry and fridge. I took out the package of frozen pie dough and let it thaw on the counter as I pondered in my head what I would do with it.

I decided to make a simple open-face, rustic apple crostata. As I was peeling the apples that I’d had in my fridge the idea of making a crumble topping in order to dress up this rustic crostata popped into my head, and I ran with it!

I’ve made these Apple Crumble Crostata’s twice in a two-week period. Once for my parents, and once again to feed my husband’s family after my father-in-law’s memorial service. Both times they were a huge hit. Everyone will think you went to a lot of trouble to make this casual yet impressive dessert but only you need to know that they only take moments to put together using everyday basic baking ingredients.

APPLE CRUMBLE CROSTATA    {PRINT THIS RECIPE}
Yield: 2 crostata           Prep Time: 15 minutes        Bake Time: 40-45 minutes

For the Filling:
4 Pink Lady apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Topping:
2 cups quick cooking oats
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
pinch salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla 6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

2 frozen prepared pie dough rounds, thawed

For the Icing:
1½ cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon almond extract

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Place filling ingredients in a large bowl and toss to completely coat.

-Place the topping ingredients in a large bowl and use hands to work the butter into the flour, sugar and oats to form a mixture that resembles small peas or coarse crumbs.

-Use a rolling pin to gently roll the pie dough to increase the circumference of the circle about ½ inch. Transfer the rolled pie doughs onto 2 baking sheets that have been liberally sprayed with baking spray.

-Place half of the sliced apples into the center of each pie dough, making sure to leave an approximate 2″ border. *Note – Make sure to drain the liquid from the apples before adding them onto the pie crust. Fold the border crust over the apples in sections making sure not to worry that it’s not perfect. It’s rustic.

-Top each crostata with half of the crumble topping and bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the juices start to bubble. Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.

-In a small bowl, whisk together the icing ingredients until smooth. Drizzle the top of the cooled crumble topping with the icing, or fill a piping bag with the icing and pipe thin stripes of icing all over each apple crumble crostata. Transfer the cooled and iced crostata using a large, wide spatula.

-Cut into wedges, serve and enjoy!

Sorry that I don’t have a photo of a slice of the crostata for you, but because I was bringing them to feed family and friends, it didn’t seem right. Forgive me? LOL

I’ve been a very busy girl lately. When I’m not in the kitchen cooking and baking, I’m busy painting my new line of hand painted aprons that I’m super excited to introduce in my new Etsy Shop. I still have lots of aprons to add to my shop, so please bear with me as I do my best to fill the “shelves” as fast as I can. Here is an example of a recent logo apron. Pretty cute, huh?

I am now taking orders for custom aprons.  If I can paint an apron for you, please contact me.