I wanted to make something special for Thanksgiving for my family and friends. My family’s favorite pie is apple pie. I thought I would make homemade apple pie my first time.
I <3 Apple Pie!!!
The recipe was adapted from Best Bites, thanks to Megan.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/07/apple-pie.html
I recommend making the crust first if you decide to make the crust from scratch and setting it aside in the refrigerator before putting it all together. You can also buy pre-made crusts. It is actually really easy making the pie crusts.
Apple Pie Filling:
6 cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith and Fuji apples (about 1 1/2 pounds)[about 2 Granny Smith apples and 3-4 fuji apples)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp. butter, chopped
-My first pie was a little tart. So I mixed fuji apples to even out the tartness of the pie. It turned out wonderful.
I thought cutting the apples was going to the hardest part. It wasn’t because I had a good system going. I would peel the apples and then use apple slicer to slice the apples all at once. I know the using the apple slicer at once creates a larger slice then what we wanted so I sliced them again creating a thinner sliced apple. Mix the rest of the ingredients together.
My pie plate is 9 inches. The recipe only makes one pie crust so we need to double the recipe if you decide to add the top crust.
The recipe for the pie crust was also adapted from Best Bites.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/05/pie-crust.html
9-Inch Single Pie Crust ingredients.
1 1/4c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c.+ 1 Tbsp. shortening (I prefer butter flavored but either works)
Ice water (probably about 1/4 c.)
1. First combine the flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cut the shortening in small cubes until about pea-sized and add it to the bowl.
2. This is a tricky part. Add a tablespoon of ice water to the mixture overtime. I thought about using a mixer the first time and it totally shredded my crust. I recommend using the two knife method. This method crosses the shortening and flour together. Or use your fingers to get the mixture exposed to the water. It’s really not mixing the ingredients together but moistening it. Pat it into a ball and wrap it in suran wrap and place it in the refrigerator until we are ready to use it.
3. When you are ready to roll out the dough, liftly flour your work surface. Megan bought me a rolled out baking mat which I love! I also lightly floured my rolling pin. Since I doubled the crust recipe I divided the dough into two. One for the bottom and the other for the top. Roll out the dough to about 1/8” thick. Then gently fold the crust over the rolling pin and place it on top of your 9 inch pie plate.
4. You can do something fancy with your edges. I cut off some excess dough but left about half an inch from the edge to later fold over the crust.Don’t forget to poke some holes at the bottom of the crust so that the pie doesn’t explode in the oven. I used a fork to accomplish this task.
5. Add the mixture of apples evenly. Top the apples with butter.
6. Now we just place another crust on the top. I did a lattice pattern on the top. It’s really easy to do. Roll out the dough to the desired thickness and cut the dough into strips and lay them out.
After I laid out the strips I cut the excess dough and folded them in. I also cut out leaves and placed them on the edges to give it a nice look.
7. I sprinkled some brown sugar + cinnamon on top of the pie. You can also brush a little of beatened egg on top to create a shiny look.
8. Preheat the oven for 450 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 50 minutes more.
8. You want to keep an eye on the pie as it bakes. You don’t want it to over bubble and have burnt sugar on it. To keep it from browning the top too early I placed a piece of foil on top with a hole in the middle of the foil.
9. Serve with a scoop of Tillamook’s old fashioned vanilla ice cream!
