Cinnamon Oatmeal Crumble Strawberry Pie

I realized that I hadn’t baked a crumble topped pie in at least 3 years so I decided it was time to do a crumble pie again.  I’m using Kenji Lopez-Alt’s pastry recipe again because it is now my go to recipe.  It is a reliable way of baking a buttery yet tender pie crust every time.  Rather than cutting in butter, you make a  butter flour paste with ⅔ of the flour.  This essentially coats ⅔ of the flour with butter.  So later when water is added that flour encapsulated in butter cannot form gluten and guarantees a tender buttery crust.  I’ve posted the recipe in an earlier post so if you’re interested have a look.

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Brown Sugar Crumb

MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS; ENOUGH TO TOP 1 (9-inch / 23-cm) PIE OR 12 (2-inch / 8-cm) MINI PIES

½ cup / 40 g rolled oats

½ cup / 62 g all-purpose flour

½ cup / 96 g packed light brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon fine salt

6 tablespoons / 85 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Put the oats in the bowl of a food processor and pulse the machine to grind the oats to the texture of coarse cornmeal. Add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and pulse the machine 5 times to combine.

Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and blend with a fork or your fingers until the butter is incorporated and the mixture gathers into small clumps. Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator and chill the crumb for 5 to 10 minutes before topping a pie.

2 pounds / 906 g strawberries, hulled and quartered

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup / 144 g granulated sugar

¼ cup / 48 g finely ground instant tapioca (see page 45)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Follow the instructions on pages 20–23 to roll, pan, and flute the dough. Transfer the pan to the refrigerator to chill the crust while you make the crumb and filling.

Prepare the crumb as directed on page 81. Set the bowl in the refrigerator and chill the crumb while you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the strawberries with the lemon juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Toss to combine.

Whisk the sugar, ground tapioca, and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the strawberries and toss to combine. The mixture may seem dry at first; let it sit 5 to 10 minutes, and the lemon and sugar will draw the juices out of the fruit. Then give the mixture another good tossing to thoroughly moisten all of the sugar and tapioca granules.

Retrieve the prepared crust and crumb from the refrigerator and set the pan on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Top the pie with the crumb, spreading in an even layer and covering all of the fruit.

Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake 25 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C) and bake 25 to 30 minutes more, or until the juices bubble up through the crumb. Tent the top with foil if the crumb or crust starts to over-brown.

Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the pie cool and set, uncovered, at room temperature, overnight (or up to 3 days) before slicing and serving with buttermilk ice cream.

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My Index of Bakes