Between this post and Thanksgiving month, I’m debating adding an “American” food tag. I guess I just don’t typically think of foods as being distinctly American, but some of them are!
Anyway, this is a recipe I found in an “easy college cooking” cookbook that is supposed to be a super-easy variation of a Brown Betty. However, in multiplying the original recipe by three to make a whole pie, the amount of sugar that went into this pie was enough to make even my eyes pop a bit. Hence, the name change.
So in case you’re wondering, a real Brown Betty is a colonial American dessert similar to a cobbler, bread pudding or crisp made by layering sweetened fruit and buttered bread crumbs. The most common is made with apples and brown sugar (and ‘Betty’ was the name of the British pudding it was based on). This is an incredibly simplified version that’s more of an applesauce and brown sugar pie than anything else, but it makes for a tasty treat!
[Prep: 5min / Cook: 45min]
Ingredients– 3 cups applesauce
– 3/4 cup brown sugar
– 1/3 cup sugar
– 4 tsp lemon juice
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– a dash each of ground ginger and allspice
– 1 tube of croissant rolls (about 6 rolls)
Steps
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C.
- Roll-out croissant dough, split and arrange as necessary to roughly form a square.
- Spray a round pie pan with baking spray and layer with the dough. Tear off excess dough and redistribute to generally coat the pie pan.
- In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Pour into pie shell.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes.
- Let cool and ready to eat!
Adapted from Easy Brown Betty by The Everything College Cookbook
Note- The pie has to cool. I over-baked mine thinking it wasn’t cooking, but it will still be pretty liquid when it comes out. It will solidify/gelatinize as it cools.
- Thus, this is a good cold/chilled pie. Just top with whipped cream or ice cream when you’re ready to eat it. You need not heat it up.