Homemade Apple Pie

Since last week was the trip to Oak Glen, CA, I knew this week would be based around APPLES!!!! I borrowed an awesome book from my mother called The Apple Lovers Cook Book. On my trip, I found the exact same book and bought it to add to my own collection, also so I could give back my mother's cook book. One whiff of this cook book and you can tell it has been sitting in an apple gift shop for a while. This book has more recipes containing apples, apple juice, and apple sauce than I will ever need. But with one or two read-throughs, I found several recipes I will definitely use, and I have already dog-eared some pages. I started out with an American favorite (which is strange because the origins aren't in the US, but instead a Dutch recipe): apple pie. I could have bought a pre-made pie crust from the store, but that's a no-no! Since I'm a beginner with pie crusts, I had my husband help me make the pies. He says "I know how to bake, I just don't like to bake." And yet, he had fun and enjoyed the outcome! The recipe is actually extremely easy, but the pie crust was a pain in the butt. Plus, slicing, peeling, and coring all the apples was a timely process. But, overall? Success, and absolutely amazing!

Pie:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Makes: 1 9" apple pie

Crust:
Information:

Prep Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Makes: 2 9" pie crusts

Ingredients:

2 C sifted unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 C shortening

4-6 tbsp cold water

1/4 C extra flour

Directions:

1. Lay out wax paper and sprinkle with a generous amount of flour.

2. In a small to medium mixing bowl, cut the flour, salt and shortening together using your hands.

3. When the dough is crumbly and pea sized, sprinkle some water on the dough and form into a ball.

4. Cut the dough into two parts.

5. Using your hands, flatten out the smaller ball of dough on wax paper. 

6. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into as good of a circle as you can, 1/4 inch thick.

7. However you can maneuver, put the crust into the pie pan. (I flipped the crust over the pan and then slowly peeled the wax paper off the pan.)

8. If you need to fix any cracks in the pie crust, use dry, floured fingers to press the crack together.

9. Once the pie is filled, repeat steps 5 and 6 for the second small ball of dough.

10. Cut the dough into strips and set aside (or leave alone, if you have the space) for later use.

Filling:

Information:

Prep Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Makes: Enough for one pie

Ingredients:

6-8 medium sized apples*

1 1/2 C sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

4 tbsp butter

* I used Granny Smith apples for one pie, and Macintosh for another

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Peel, core, and slice all of the apples being used for one pie. (I used a Pampered Chef Peeler/Corer/Slicer.)

3. Mix the slices with the sugar and cinnamon until completely coated.

4. Fill the pie and evenly space out the top of the pie to be as level as possible.

5. Dot the top of the apple filling with butter.

6. Lay the strips of crust across the apple filling.

7. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown.

8. Serve warm with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream!