Bacon Apple Pie To DIE For

Last week I attended our Cooking Club's first meeting of the year.  With a fall theme, this is a favorite time of year for flavorful comfort food.  But when my friend, Kristi, walked in with this Bacon Apple Pie, taking pictures of any other dish kind of went out the window.

Bacon Apple Pie.

I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into this one.

It was as tasty as it looked.  The combination of the cinnamon, nutmeg and clove apples with the saltiness of the bacon, was over the top.  I loved it.

The only modification Kristi suggested was to leave the bacon slices a little longer because they do shrink quite a bit during the baking process.

Here's the original recipe from, The Loveless Cafe.

Bacon Apple Pie

Ingredients:

9-inch pie shell, unbaked

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

6 cups 1/2-inch-thick sliced peeled apples (1 1/2-2 pounds) ~ My favorite for pie is the Granny Smith Apple

8-12 slices uncooked Loveless Cafe Country Smoked Bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pie shell on a sturdy baking sheet and set aside.

In a large bowl, rub the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves together with your fingertips until blended. Add the apples and toss to coat. Dump the spiced apple slices into the pie shell, including any sugar and juices that have accumulated in the bowl.

Weave the uncooked bacon on top of the pie filling, starting from the center and working your way out to the edges. For a lattice topping you should have an over-under pattern with 5 pieces going vertically and five pieces going horizontally. Trim the edges and pinch into the crust to seal. Cover pie with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour. Remove cover. Continue baking for 15 minutes until golden brown and bacon is crisp.

Let pie cool for 1 hour before cutting.

For more information about different apple varieties, please visit U.S. Apple Association or the California Apple Commission