- 1 recipe best Butter Pie Pastry or three-grain butter pastry, refrigerated
- 10 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples (a mixture of firm-textured and soft apples is best)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup raisins
- Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
- 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
- If you haven’t already, make the pastry and refrigerate it until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.
- On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the pastry into a 13½-inch circle with a floured rolling pin. Invert the pastry over a 9- inch deep-dish pie pan. Center it, then peel off the paper. Gently tuck the pastry down into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge. Place the pie shell in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
- To make the filling, mix the apples, sugars, raisins, lemon juice and zest, and nutmeg together in a large mixing bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Sprinkle the flour over the apples and mix well. Turn the filling into the frozen pie shell, smoothing it with your hands to even it out. Place the pie on a large, dark baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and bake on the center oven rack for 35 minutes.
- While the pie bakes, make the crumb topping. Put the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor, pulsing several times to mix. Remove the lid arid scatter the butter pieces over the dry mixture. Pulse the machine repeatedly, until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Empty the crumbs into a large mixing bowl and rub them between your fingers to make large, buttery crumbs. Refrigerate.
- After 35 minutes, remove the pie from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Carefully dump the crumbs in the center of the pie, spreading them over the entire surface with your hands. Tamp them down lightly. Put the pie on the baking sheet back in the oven and bake until the juices bubble thickly around the edge, an additional 35 to 40 minutes. Loosely cover the pie with aluminum foil during the last 15 minutes of baking to keep the top from browning too much.
- Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.