When I was ten, I loved an apple tree. It sat in the backyard of my childhood home. Every time I make this pie, I think of this tree. To me, the branches looked like an elderly person’s hand with long knobby fingers reaching for the apples at the top (funny what you think about when you’re spending quality time with cute little birds in a tree).
The tree was an easy climb and a fun place to hide from the noise of being a kid and having five sisters. Sadly, this beautiful apple tree was hit by lightening which literally split it in half – what are the chances?
Eventually, the tree had to be removed because it died, and so did my days of hanging out in an apple tree. I dedicate this recipe to my favorite tree.
Recommended Books About Cooking With Apples
RECIPE: The Apple of My Pie
For the Crust:
- ⅔ cup shortening
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 tablespoons very cold water
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Make the dough:
- Blend shortening, butter, flour and salt together in medium-sized mixing bowl with dough hook
- Add one tablespoon of very cold water and mix.
- Continue adding the remainder of water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough starts to come together
- Sprinkle flour over dough and knead for one minute by hand
- Form dough into a ball, cut in half and refrigerate both pieces in an uncovered bowl for 15 minutes
- Place a piece of parchment paper down over your work area
- Flour your counter or cutting board where you’ll be working
- After 15 minutes, remove ½ the dough from refrigerator
- With a rolling pin, roll out the dough on parchment paper to form a circle
- Gently fold the dough in half by lifting one side of parchment paper.
- Place the dough in the pie plate. Unfold dough using the parchment paper and press into a pie dish
For the Filling:
- 5-6 apples (Granny Smith, Royal Gala, Empire, Cortland, and Golden Delicious recommended)
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (to keep apples from turning brown)
Make the “Apples of your Pie”:
- In a large bowl, peel and cut apples into ¼” pieces
- Add lemon juice, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well
- Put 2 Tablespoons of butter in saute pan and cook apples for five minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly
- Place the apple mixture in the pie plate and create a heap of apples higher than the pan in the middle
- Cut a stick of butter into 4 even pieces and place in different areas over the apple mixture
Cover it up:
- At this point, you’re ready to preheat your oven. Put a full-sized sheet pan on the bottom oven rack and preheat to 425°.
- Roll out the remaining dough into another circle from refrigerator
- Fold the dough in half as you did with the first piece.
- Place the dough on top on one side of filling and gently unfold to cover entire pie
- Trim dough about 1″ out from the edge of the pie pan
- Fold the top crust over the bottom crust and then tuck under
- Crimp the dough around the entire pie between thumb and finger
- Make 4 slits in dough around the center to release air while baking
- Brush top of pie dough with beaten egg and sprinkle w/ brown sugar and cinnamon
Bake the Pie
- Put the pie directly on the hot baking sheet and reduce the oven temperature to 375°
- Cover the edges of the crust with tin foil to protect it from burning
- Bake for 50 minutes
- Remove foil from crust and bake a final 10-15 minutes, or until the pie is bubbly and crust is golden brown
- Let cool for at least an hour before serving
Fun Facts
We’ve all heard that apples are American — mainly stemming from the legend of John Chapman, or “Johnny Appleseed,” as we know him. While today’s children’s books depict Chapman as an apple-munching, carefree pioneer, every reliable historical source tells us that he mainly cultivated crabapples to make hard cider!
Tips from the innkeeper:
Hot apple pie fresh out of the oven sounds amazing, but letting it rest for a couple of hours will give you better results in the end. If the pie is too hot when you cut into it, it’ll be runny and fall apart. The pie crust also fares better at room temperature, it’ll have a flakier and have a crisper texture.
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