This week was our twice a month Activity Day for the 8-11 year old girls at church. When I asked them what were some of the things they wanted to learn in Activity Days one of the answers I got from quite of few of them was cook/bake. So this week we decided to teach them to make pies. We made French Crumb Apple Pie. Teaching 9 girls how to make a pie in one hour is a little overwhelming. My first word of advice is – get help! I have a co-leader who was there and then we asked one of the moms to stay and help and I am so glad she was there!. I wanted each of the girls to be able to go home with a pie -ready to put in their oven and bake so their family could enjoy it. Thanks to a lot of help we were able to do that.
The focus of the activity was to learn how to make a good pie crust. I used my Perfect Pie Crust Tutorial and the tips I share with you there to teach the girls. Each of the girls brought a bowl, a rolling pin, butter, shortening and apples. I provided the flour and the other ingredients need for the pie. We had a little lesson in the best way to measure flour which is scoop and level. 
The girls weren’t afraid to jump in and get their hands dirty! 
They each rolled out their own pie crust. 
And took a turn at peeling the apples. Fortunately we had 3 apple, peeler, corers. 
We decided to make a French Apple Crumb Pie so they only needed one pie crust. 
The hardest thing was to try to get the girls not to overhandle their pie crust and sneak all the cinnamon sugar coated apples out of the pie!! 
Since we didn’t have time nor the space in my oven to bake 9 pies the girls took them home ready to pop into the oven. 
I think they were pretty proud of themselves and had a great time. Let’s just say my kitchen was a wee bit dirty but the girls had fun!! The pie was delicious and was perfect with a scoop of ice cream and I got several emails from mom’s letting me know how much their family enjoyed french apple crumb pie that night!! 
For some other delicious apple recipes check out these:
Enjoy! Leigh Anne
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French Crumb Apple Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 perfect pie crust tutorial
- Recipe makes two pie crusts only need one for pie
Apple Filling
- 6-7 C sliced peeled apples (about 7) I like to use a tart apple such as granny smith
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 C sugar
French Crumb Topping
- 1/3 C butter
- 1/3 C brown sugar
- 1/2 C flour
Instructions
Apple Filling:
- Combine apples, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and toss to coat apples. Place apples in unbaked pie crust. Top with French Crumb Topping. Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes or until apples are tender. If pie begins to brown too much cover with a piece of foil and remove for the last 5 minutes of baking.
French Crumb Topping:
- Mix together butter and sugar. Add in flour and combine until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of apples in the pie plate.
Made this for Thanksgiving. Only the second pie I ever made. It was incredible! The biggest hit. Served warm with vanilla ice cream. Thank you so much for the detailed instructions and video. They helped my sons want to participate too. So yum!!
What a terrific activity. I bet all of those girls will remember that day forever. The pies look delicious and they all look like they did an excellent job. It is amazing how many stories my grown children remember about cooking and baking in the kitchen. Those are their fondest memories. They also learned many important lesson about math and organization.
What a fun and great activity!! I love it!! The pies look delicious!
French apple is so good. I’m sure the girls had a blast.
Did you also have them bring their own pie pan or did you provide those? I was expecting to see disposable foil pans & was surprised to see all that glass. =) Looks like a great activity; my daughter would have loved it (& I’m sure she would have been an apple snitcher.) =)
They did bring their own pie plate, rolling pin, bowl, butter and apples.
This is not a true French apple pie..very good but not a true French pie.
How fun and what a cute group. My daughter has that calling.
I want to invite you to my link party tomorrow at http://www.memoriesbythemile.com/
xoxo
Wanda Ann @ Memories by the Mile
I’m not going to lie… I’m impressed! I’m impressed you taught the girls to make pie crusts, and pies. I’m impressed that your kitchen was only a “wee bit” dirty. 🙂 I’m impressed with the deliciousness of the pies. I’ll definitely attempt this one.
So my kitchen may have been a bit more than a “wee bit” dirty!! It was a mess!!! The pies turned out great though.