So… mom put me in charge of Christmas Eve dessert this year. I wanted to make something a bit non-traditional, but I knew that I had to please a crowd that has varying levels of palate sophistication. I also wanted to go to the beach during the day (a Christmas Eve tradition of mine), so I wouldn’t have the luxury of spending hours in the kitchen baking up something fabulous. Never mind the fact that my mom wouldn’t have let me spend all day in the kitchen – we’d probably be pulling each other’s hair out after a few hours of bumping into each other. Given these conflicting parameters, I needed a tasty, semi-traditional recipe that would take about 10 minutes to whip together and still impress – easy, right? Cue the Oatmeal Apple Crumble Pie:
I found the recipe on the Averie Cooks blog – I started following her on Pinterest after I tried a prior recipe of hers (White Dark Bars). The result was surprisingly good, given the amount of effort it required. It revolves around adding a bit of this and a bit of that to a premade can of pie filling and a frozen pie crust. Recipe below:
Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely measured
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each of allspice, cloves, and salt (if you don’t have allspice or cloves you can sub more cinnamon, ginger or pumpkin pie spice – just taste as you go to spice it how you like it)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole rolled old fashioned oats (not quick cook or instant)
One 21 oz can of apple pie filling
One 9 inch frozen pie crust (I use Trader Joes)
Caramel sauce and ice cream for topping if you prefer (We used TJ’s Fleur de Sel caramel sauce and Talenti Gelato sea salt caramel flavor)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Let the butter stand for a few minutes to cool; you don’t want to scramble the egg when you add it. Add the egg, sugars, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt, and whisk to combine until the batter is smooth.
2. Add in the flour and oats and stir to incorporate.
3. Fold in the apple pie filling and pour into the pie crust.
I dropped my iPhone into the batter as I was taking this photo – now when I talk to people, they sound hollow and far away. Awesome.
4. If you have leftover dough, add some decorations to the top if you’re feeling particularly artsy. Bake in the 350 degree oven for 55 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the center is not jiggly. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes prior to cutting.
Serve with caramel sauce and ice cream, and enjoy! 
What did everyone else make for dessert over the holidays? Let me know in the comments below!
