Several years ago I used to receive the Dean and Deluca catalog in the mail. Before tossing it in the trash along with the rest of my junk mail, I would naturally flip through the pages and study the photos of the food items (you never know where you’ll find inspiration!).

They always featured a famous sour cream apple pie with walnut streusel by the Little Pie Company that had me drooling. And because I’ll take a good piece of pie over a sophisticated pastry any day, I just had to taste what looked like pie heaven.

I scouted the Internet for this famous recipe. Dozens of websites claimed they had the exact Little Pie Company recipe—but they were all vastly different. Because I couldn’t compare all these recipes to the original pie, I was on my own.

What renders this pie unique is the combination of different varieties of apples to produce a mélange of textures and flavors that is perfectly complemented by the walnut streusel. I also love how the sour cream gives this pie a slightly piquant flavor, so it doesn’t taste overly sweet. Although I can’t vouch for how my version compares to the original recipe, it doesn’t matter. This beats regular apple pie any day.

Ingredients:

  • 2 9-inch frozen deep-dish pastry shells

APPLE FILLING

  • 1¼ cups sour cream
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced
  • 3 Cortland apples, thinly sliced
  • 1 Gala or McIntosh apple, thinly sliced

WALNUT STREUSEL TOPPING

  • ¾ cup chopped walnuts
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Optional garnish: Store-bought caramel sauce.

Directions:

To prepare the filling: Preheat the oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, whisk the sour cream, sugar, flour, salt, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the sliced apples. Pour the filling into the two frozen pastry shells and bake for 55 minutes.

Prepare the walnut streusel topping: In a bowl, combine the walnuts, flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the softened butter and mix until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the topping over the two pies and bake until golden, 30 minutes longer.

Allow to cool at room temperature for several hours before serving. If the pie has been refrigerated, bring to room temperature before serving. Plate the pie slices garnished with the caramel sauce on the side, if desired.

Serves 12