Vanilla Bean Apple Pie

Directions

1. Into a food processor, add flour and salt, and pulse for about 10 seconds to sift.
2. Evenly distribute butter into food processor bowl and pulse for about 14 seconds, until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
3. Slowly add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until a dough ball forms. (You may not need all the water.)
4. Gather dough to form into a flat disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and move rack to lower part of oven.
6. Roll out dough disk to 1/4-inch thick. Place in a 10-inch pie plate and gently form to bottom and sides. Chill in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
7. While dough is chilling, prepare pie filling: place apple halves in food processor bowl and chop into roughly 1/2-in slices. Alternatively, for thinner apple slices, insert slicing blade into processor, insert apple halves vertically into processor tube, and slice.
8. Transfer sliced apples into a large bowl and add sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, salt and vanilla bean paste (or vanilla bean scrapings).
9. Remove pie crust from refrigerator and, using a fork, lightly prick chilled dough evenly all over, but not entirely through the dough. Transfer apple mixture into pie shell.
10. Create the crumb topping: In a medium-sized bowl, combine brown sugar and butter. Mix until well combined, then add flour and oats, and mix well again. Spread evenly over pie filling.
11. Bake pie for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake another 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown. Let pie rest on a cooling rack at least 40 minutes before serving.

1. Use a mix of tart and sweet apples for more well-rounded flavor. Cortland, Fuji, Granny Smith, Jonagold and Rome Beauty are all good choices for baking.
2. A store-bought unbaked pie crust works fine with this recipe if you prefer for shortening the prep time.