Apple Pie

Well - I guess I'm in the mood to share my favorite desserts tonight! I don't have many on my website, so I guess this is a good thing for my readers! It has to be the Christmas season...and the fact that I'm cooking right now in preparation for our family Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow!

My husband LOVES apple pie, so one day I decided to make one for Christmas dinner. And he LOVED it! It is now a Christmas tradition and he only gets it once a year!

I get to claim this recipe as my own, excluding the Double-Crust recipe. I found this recipe in a cookbook, but I completely re-vamped the filling; therefore, I get to call it mine :) This one is NOT gluten free (sorry guys).

This one takes some time to make. If you want to take short cuts and save time, you can buy a pie shell and a pie crust top and just make your filling. But if you make your own crust...it's so good!

Enjoy this one! We love to serve it with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream on top!

Recipe for Double Crust Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 10 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

• In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt with a hand whisk.
• Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea sized.
• Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of the flour mixture. Gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time until all the flour mixture is moistened.
• Divide in half; form each half into a ball
• On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten 1 dough ball. Roll dough from center to edges into a circle 12 inches in diameter.
• To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin and then unroll it into a 9-inch pie plate (or I re-use my aluminum pie pans)
• Ease pastry into pie plate without stretching it. Trim the pastry even with rim of pie plate. 
• Transfer apple pie filling (recipe below) to pastry-lined pie plate.
• Roll remaining dough ball into a circle, about 12 inches in diameter.
• Cut slits on top to allow steam to escape. Place the pastry on top of the filling, then trim 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate. 
• Crimp the edges as desired (there are so many cute ways to do this!!)

Recipe for Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe for Double-Crust Pie (above) or use a store bought ready made pie shells and topping if you are short on time.
• 6 cups of thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith Apples (about 5-6 apples)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice from fresh lemon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon milk (for topping)
• 1 teaspoon sugar (for topping)

Directions:

• Prepare and roll out pastry for Double-Crust pie (see recipe above).
• Take your Granny Smith Apples and core them and cut into slices.

• Peel the apple slices and cut slices until they are thin. Place in a large bowl.
• Take 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and sprinkle over the apple slices. Combine the apple slices with a spoon to ensure that the juice is covering all apple slices.
• In a separate bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined.
• Pour mixture over apple slices and mix well until all apple slices are well coated.
• Transfer apple mixture filling to the pastry-lined pie plate. Trim the bottom pastry to edge of pie plate.
• Place on filling, cut slits in pastry and crimp edges as desired.

• Brush top pastry with milk and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. This gives your pie a nice brown topping.

Chef's Note: To prevent over browning, cover edge of pie with foil or a pie edge cover.

• Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes.
• Remove foil or pie edge cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven an cool on a wire rack.