Mmmm, break out your spoons and warn the tooth fairy...this pie is beyond delicious and certainly worth the effort it takes to pull it all together.

This is NOT a recipe for the faint of heart nor is it for those that want to watch their waistlines (unless your goal is to put on a bit of weight!) It's called a spoon pie because it's just ooey-gooey enough that it's easier to eat it with a spoon than a traditional pie which can be removed from the pie pan in wedges.

Think you can handle this sinfully delicious treat? This pie is what Adam and Eve were thinking of when they first fell from grace in Eden...and this pie is worth every guilty bite of delicious decadence.

Put your dentist on speed dial and get ready to bake like a beast!

Step 1: Ingredients

This pie is a well rounded balance of sweet, tart, and a hint of salty and comes with a few different "steps" that need to be completed in order to make this puppy sing like it should.

You're gonna need:

PIE GUTS:

1 homemade pie crusts or 1 ready-made pie crust

5 1/2 cups peeled cored sliced cooking apples (roughly 5 apples)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Salted Caramel sauce (recipe below)

PIE TOPPING:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup butter room temperature

1 cup oatmeal (I prefer the crunch you can get from the Quaker Oat Quick Oats but it's up to you)

1/2 additional stick of butter

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE:

1 cup granulated sugar

6 Tablespoons salted butter, cut up into 6 pieces

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

Step 2: Salted Caramel Sauce (aka Salty Golden Crack Syrup) WARNING!!!

First thing you want to do is make your caramel sauce. This is the golden ooze of happiness that will bring your whole pie together so make sure you have plenty of this on hand. Sure, the recipe I have below will quickly make you almost 2 full cups of this liquid gold, but trust me when I say you'll try it...and then try it again...and keep trying it and suddenly find yourself with less than you actually need for your recipe...so be strong, young grasshopper...either learn to restrain yourself or do what I do and double the recipe so you have plenty to snack on while you're baking with it.

This bit of advice is especially true when you get to the guts section of this apple pie recipe because trust me, there is little in this world better than a good slug of this sauce on a freshly sliced wedge of Granny Smith apple. You'll try one little bite (just to see how it is) and before you know it, you've eaten half your pie before it's even made it into the dish.

Plan accordingly. You've been warned!

Okay...onto the recipe...

Step 3: Making Your Liquid Gold

Now that you've been warned, let's make this caramel awesomeness!

1 cup granulated sugar

6 Tablespoons salted butter, cut up into 6 pieces

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

To make the caramel sauce you first need to heat your granulated sugar. Pour your sugar into a pot on the stove and turn the heat up to around medium.

The sugar will clump as it melts, but don't worry, that's normal. Just keep stirring it as it melts and the clumps will break up and slowly ooze down into an amber colored clear syrup. KEEP STIRRING and be sure to keep an eye on it as well...the last thing you want is a pot of burned sugar. Not fun.

Step 4: Liquid Gold Meets Solid and Liquid Dairy Happiness

Now that your sugar has melted, it's time to incorporate our dairy. Start out with your butter, chopped into little cubes. Add them into your liquid sugar and stir. This is a good time to remind you to use a pot that is big enough for a little bubbly action as the sugar will foam as the butter hits it. Don't worry...it'll bubble and foam rapidly for a moment but should settle down as you mix it all together.

Once your butter has stopped foaming, slowly drizzle in your cream. I'm in Idaho which means lots of dairy farms and we get our cream in the heart stoppingly house paint thick variety. This stuff is like Elmer's glue, it's so thick. If you don't have access to a dairy farm, don't worry, store bought heavy cream is acceptable.

Allow your sugar, butter and cream mixture to come to a boil for one minute, stirring constantly.

Step 5: Ya Salty Dog!

Once that minute is up, remove it from the heat and sprinkle in your salt. I prefer large chunk sea salt because I love the taste and texture, but regular iodized salt is just as acceptable.

Stir until it's all smooth and mixed up.

At this point you can cover your caramel and store it in the fridge for up to two weeks (ha, like it would last that long!) but we're gonna use it for the rest of our pie...so for now, just set it aside for a bit and let it cool down. It will thicken as it does.

Now is also a good time to taste it. Go ahead. Grab a spoon full or so...but remember my earlier warning--don't eat it all!

Step 6: Apple Guts!

Now it's time to make the guts of our apple pie!

PIE GUTS:
1 homemade pie crusts or 1 ready-made pie crust

5 1/2 cups peeled cored sliced cooking apples (roughly 5 apples)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.

Peel, core and dice your apples into small chunks. For this version of my pie, I used four Granny Smiths and one Fuji, but feel free to use whatever type of apples you'd like.

In a large bowl, mix sliced apples, lemon juice, both sugars,flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Stir to coat all slices of your apples evenly.

Step 7: Avengers, Assemble!

For your first layer, put down a generous spread of your caramel sauce into your pre-prepared pie crust.

Next pour in your apples.

Then add a generous drizzle of caramel sauce to the top of your apples.

Pop this pie into the oven (remember, it's 425 degrees) for 10 minutes ONLY!

Step 8: Top That!

While your pie is warming up in the oven, it's time to tackle the topping.

PIE TOPPING:
3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup butter room temperature

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 additional stick of butter (cut into little slices)

Mix everything together EXCEPT the additional stick of butter...set that aside and save that for a bit.

To help ensure that your topping ingredients are all fully incorporated, it helps to zap the butter in the microwave for a few seconds. Mix to coat evenly.

Once your ten minutes are up, pull out your now warm and happy apple pie and turn down the oven to 375 degrees.

Slice up that last 1/2 stick of butter into little pats and put them directly on top of your gooey warm apples and then top with your crumble.

Feel free to liberally drizzle the entire pie (topping and all) with even more caramel sauce.

Put your pie back into the oven and let it simmer away for a full 50 minutes. If your crust starts to get a little too toasty, feel free to over the edges of the pie crust with tin foil and continue baking.

Step 9: Declare Yourself the Undisputed Lord/lady of Apple Pie Perfection and Enjoy!

One your pie is done in the oven, pull it out, let it cool for about 30 minutes, and dig in! Like I said earlier, it's not a sliced pie sort of recipe, it's a spoon pie, so be sure to get a good one that will really let you dig out the absolute scrumptiousness that is this pie!

Top it with ice cream or whipped cream as desired...and if you have any caramel sauce left, drizzle that on top of the whole shebang for an absolutely mind blowing experience!

Enjoy!